Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival

Marking the end of winter and beginning of a fresh and sunny spring, Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival brings people far and wide to enjoy the beauty of sakura’s short lived delicate blooms. From the time the first buds burst, to the time the petals fall only lasts a week or two and the timing varies based on the location and weather conditions. We were lucky to have caught the very end of the season in Hirosaki, in the northern Aomori Prefecture of Japan in conjunction with Golden Week.

For weeks we had been carefully following the updates on the Hirosaki Tourism Facebook page to see if our trip would coincide with Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival to see Japan’s best cherry blossom, known as sakura.

When we arrived we were greeted with blue skies, majestic mountains, vibrantly blooming cherry trees and a castle. It was like a dream world and is a spot I’d recommend people to visit at least once.

Hirosaki Park has over 2600 trees with varieties of Somei Yoshino, Shidarezakura and Yaezakura. Back in 1715 25 Kasumizakura cherry trees from Kyoto were planted in the grounds of Hirosaki Castle and by the Taisho era the castle was surrounded with impressive trees. The Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival hosts over 2 million visitors who come each year between 23rd April and 5th May for Kanoukai (cherry blossom viewing). Visitors can be enchanted at night, seeing the trees illuminated or paddle a small boat to view the blossoms reflecting on the moat surrounding the park. Pink cherry blossoms hang over the water and their reflections make a beautiful site. The grounds where the locals party under trees are beautiful carpeted in falling blossoms.

Most popular areas have annual blossom forecasts they publish each year offering plenty of seasonal information on cherry blossom hotspots to assist planning to get the most out of sakura season.

In Hirosaki at the foot of Mt Iwaki there is a road lined with a spectacular view of 6500 Oyamazakura cherry trees that stretch for 20km.

When we arrived at Hirosaki castle there was a little hanafubuki, a beautiful blizzard of the fragrant petals falling like snow. This is a magical time, a time for celebrations, when people get outdoors at the beginning of warmer, spring weather. The grounds were covered in blue tarpaulins with families enjoying hanami. The younger children are seen having fun making piles from petals to throw around. The season for blossom picnics is like a festival atmosphere with street stalls and vendor carts, a real fun environment. There is marching from the local fire brigade.

Shades from white through to delicate and deep pink tones with a gorgeous heady aroma line trees surrounding the river banks, public gardens and temples.

A lot of places get into the celebrations with pink food to celebrate. Starbucks offers a sakura frappe and many places have Japanese sweets with sakura cream or custard.

We took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Shin-Aomori which took 3.5 hours and then transferred to a local train which took about 40 minutes to get to Hirosaki. We stayed near to Hirosaki station at Art Hotel Hirosaki City and took a Loop bus to get to the castle where we experienced a Sakura wonderland.

Near the end of April each Aomori prefecture becomes pink with the blossoms of cherry trees and sakura carpet.

Hirosaki City is one of the best places for Hanami, not only when they are blooming, but also hanafubuki, when the petals start to fall. It creates a beautiful sight with cherry petal storms and the inner and outer moats of the castle fill with pink petals.

With Aomori in northern Japan, the cherry trees bloom later than in other parts, usually from late April to early May. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, when the whole city turns into a pink wonderland. This is when the Hirosaki Park lights up the trees at night and the crowds fill the park for Sakura Matsuri, Cherry Blossom Festival.  Hirosaki Park, home to Hirosaki Castle greets droves of visitors every spring when the park is filled with food stalls and boat rental touring the moat. Looking out towards Mount Iwaki from the park, gazing through the weeping cherry blossoms swaying in the gentle breeze is stunning. The sight of cherry blossom in all their glory is what everyone wants to see and the hanafubuki, a cherry blossom blizzard at the end of the season is also truly spectacular. This is when the wind carries thousands of blossoms whirling in the air, like a snow blizzard.

Visitors from all over the country and overseas gather to admire the paradise of petals from the cherry blossoms with Mount Iwaki still snow capped in the distance. It is said the Hirosaki cherry blossoms are more spectacular than anywhere else in Japan because of the special pruning techniques adopted from apple tree pruning as the area is famous for its apple growing. The pruning method creates more flowering buds than normal cherry blossoms. The blossoms, known as the best in Japan, bring visitors to the area during national Golden week holiday. Typically cherry trees live 60 years, however there are over 300 trees in Hirosaki Park that are already over 100 years old. The elegance and majesty of old trees make the cherry blossoms here very special and when combined with the refined atmosphere of the castle, even moreso.

We made Hirosaki our first place to travel and used our JR pass not even sure we would see any cherry blossom, but it was worth a try. We had to travel during Golden Week which was extremely busy this year with the emperor ascending the throne, making a once in a lifetime, full 10 day holiday throughout the country. During Golden Week Japan becomes extremely busy and transport is super crowded. We had seen visions of Japan’s bullet train, the Shinkansen crammed, platforms brimming with travellers, but we were not put off. Surprising with last minute planning we managed to reserve JR tickets and make a booking at a Hirosaki hotel to take our chances of seeing sakura. It was without the expected hassle of massive crowds and queues, I think most were travelling into Tokyo, not away from it like we were. This is one of Japan’s best cherry blossom spots and although the peak of the season was a few days prior, for us who have never witnessed hanami before, this was a real pinch me moment.

We were joined by many families and couples, who were stepping out to the park for a weekend picnic to see this short lived spectacular season. Hanami is a quiet moment of enjoyment and reflection on nature’s beauty. And best of all, you can come back at night, when the entire park is illuminated. It creates a completely different experience seeing the trees and castle lit from below.

Seeing the Cherry Blossom in person is one of our favourite experiences in Japan. It was even more exciting than seeing the first snow of winter. And just like the first snow, if you blink you might miss it. But for the duration of the Cherry Blossom Festival there was a breathless magic, a perfect place to recharge your relationship and squeeze in a little romance.

I can honestly say I don’t think we were prepared for how stunning it would be. Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival is one of the most talked about Cherry Blossom Festivals in Japan. Hirosaki is the true definition of a hidden gem. There were very few western tourists in this part of Japan.

Spring cherry blossom season is powerful, glorious and intoxicating, but tragically short lived, like life. Sakura reminds us of mortality, mindfulness and living in the present.

Have you been to a Cherry Blossom Festival? Have you tried some of the special Sakura sweets?

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The authors travelled courtesy of Jetstar Australia

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