Cherry Blossoms in Hirosaki

My bucket list has included a cherry blossom viewing trip in Japan for some time.  I’ve wanted to see that sea of delicate white blossoms overhead for myself. But it’s not quite that easy a task to accomplish.  When is the best time to travel to Japan? What is the best city to visit?  I was finally able to see cherry blossoms in Hirosaki after answering these questions. We planned the trip last minute so we were limited to a few cities.

Here’s a quick guide to how we planned our cherry blossom viewing trip.

1. Check Japan Guide for 2018 which lists the approximate dates when blooms would appear in major cities.
2. Narrow down the cities you would want to visit and your port of entry into Japan.  Since we had to be in Tokyo, we didn’t want to be too far from Tokyo.  I considered our dates and shortlisted Hirosaki because of the timing.
3. We considered Hokkaido and could also have flown directly into Hokkaido.  But it was getting too expensive and the bullet train ride back to Tokyo would have taken much longer because of its Northern location. So I dropped it and settled on Hirosaki.

Hirosaki is located in Aomori prefecture and about 4 hours from Tokyo via a combination of bullet train and local train.
The center of the town’s cherry blossom festival is in Hirosaki Park and Hirosaki Castle is located inside the park. More than 2,000 trees are planted here and it also offers a view of Mt. Iwaki as well. The park is quite manageable (coming from someone who went with two small kids!)  The festival is organized well with plentiful food stalls, musical performances, and lots of volunteer tour guides. Hirosaki Castle is a relatively small castle that was rebuilt after 1647 and can easily be ascended.  Unfortunately, Hirosaki Castle has been moved to a nearby location while its foundation and walls are being fixed.  We didn’t get the iconic picture of the castle by the red bridge, but still enjoyed the Castle and grounds.

While we went the first few days of the festival and blooming, we still got to see quite a bit. I enjoyed seeing the different varieties of cherry blossoms including the different colors.

It was also great to enter the Castle grounds itself (pay a separate entry fee) and see Mt. Iwaki in the distance.

I’m so glad that I got to make this bucket list trip with my family.  Even though we got on the wrong train (twice, lol – check if trains are reserved seats only!) and I left my backpack in the Hirosaki train station (I realized quickly though), I’d make this trip again in a heartbeat!

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