Every pin on the map, written out. Open a group to read its stops.
Viewing Spots (15 stops)
Ueno Park
Viewing Spots · Ueno · Ueno Park, Uenokoen, Taito City
Tokyo's original blossom party, running since the Edo period, when the monk Tenkai had trees brought down from Mt. Yoshino. About 800 trees line the central Sakura-dori promenade and ring Shinobazu Pond, in more than 50 varieties, so something is in flower for weeks: deep pink Kanhi-zakura first, the pale Somei Yoshino wave, then double-flowered Yaezakura last. During the festival the promenade is lit by about 800 paper lanterns after dark.
Typical bloom: Early varieties from early March; main wave late March to early April; late varieties to mid April
Bloom character: Long season, several varieties
Hours: Open around the clock; the museums and the zoo keep their own hours
Cost: Free
Getting there: JR Ueno Station (Park Exit), or Ueno Station on the Ginza and Hibiya lines, 2 to 5 minutes
Good to know: Space under the promenade trees is claimed early on peak weekends. Weekday mornings are the calm version of the same park.
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Viewing Spots · Shinjuku · 11 Naitomachi, Shinjuku City
A 58 hectare former imperial garden holding about 900 cherry trees in some 70 varieties, which is why its season runs from February into late April while single-variety parks are done in a week. Lawns, a landscape garden, a formal French garden and a Japanese garden with ponds give it room to breathe even at peak. Alcohol is banned and bags are checked at the gate, and that rule is exactly why this is the quiet hanami.
Typical bloom: The longest season in the city: early varieties from mid February, main wave late March, late varieties to late April
Bloom character: Long season, several varieties
Hours: 9:00am to 6:00pm in the spring season, last entry 30 minutes before close; closed Mondays outside the blossom period, open daily during it
Cost: ¥500 adults; ¥250 students and seniors; junior high age and under free
Getting there: Shinjuku-gyoemmae Station (Marunouchi Line) 5 minutes; Shinjuku-sanchome, exit E5, 5 minutes; JR Shinjuku Station south exit 10 minutes
Good to know: If your trip misses the main wave by a week either way, this is the park that saves it. Come at opening for the lawns to yourself.
Official site
Chidorigafuchi Moat and Boat Pier
Viewing Spots · Chiyoda · Chidorigafuchi Green Way, Kitanomaru and Sanbancho, Chiyoda City
The northwest moat of the Imperial Palace, where some 170 Somei Yoshino lean out over the water along a 700 meter promenade and the blossom reflects in the moat. The signature move is a rowboat from the Chidorigafuchi pier: you row under the branches while petals land on the water. In blossom season the moat is lit after dark, to about 10pm.
Typical bloom: Main wave: late March to early April in an average year
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: The Green Way is open around the clock; the boat pier runs about 10:00am to 5:00pm, closed Mondays, with longer hours in blossom season
Cost: Free to walk; rowboats ¥800 for 30 minutes in blossom season (¥500 off season)
Getting there: Kudanshita Station (Hanzomon, Tozai and Shinjuku lines) or Hanzomon Station, about 5 minutes
Good to know: The boat queue is the season's worst line; two hours at peak weekends is real. Go before 10am on a weekday, or take the evening walk instead.
Official site
Yasukuni Shrine
Viewing Spots · Kudanshita · 3-1-1 Kudankita, Chiyoda City
The shrine that starts the season. On its grounds, beside the Noh stage, stands the Somei Yoshino specimen tree the Japan Meteorological Agency watches for Tokyo: when five or six blossoms open on it, first bloom is declared for the whole city, and full bloom follows at about 80 percent. Around 500 cherry trees fill the grounds, Somei Yoshino alongside weeping cherries and early Kawazu-zakura, and the approach from the great torii is one of the city's classic blossom walks. The shrine honors Japan's war dead, and the grounds carry that solemnity even at the height of hanami.
Typical bloom: Main wave: late March to early April in an average year; this shrine's tree is the one the official call is made on
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Grounds open 6:00am to 6:00pm (to 5:00pm November to February); the Yushukan museum keeps its own hours
Cost: Free (the Yushukan museum charges its own admission)
Getting there: Kudanshita Station (Hanzomon, Tozai and Shinjuku lines), Exit 1, about 5 minutes
Good to know: Come for the specimen tree in the morning, then walk five minutes down to the Chidorigafuchi moat. The shrine's own night viewing event ran in late March in 2026; 2027 dates are announced with the bloom.
Yoyogi Park
Viewing Spots · Harajuku · 2-1 Yoyogikamizonocho, Shibuya City
The big lawns park beside Meiji Shrine, with more than 600 cherry trees spread across open grass instead of one promenade. This is where Tokyo hanami gets loud and happy: circles of friends, guitars, elaborate picnics. The blossom is Somei Yoshino, so it all happens in the main wave, and the park is at its best on the sunny weekend in the middle of it.
Typical bloom: Main wave: late March to early April in an average year
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Open around the clock
Cost: Free
Getting there: Harajuku Station (JR Yamanote) or Yoyogi-koen Station (Chiyoda Line), about 5 minutes
Good to know: Pair it with Meiji Shrine in the morning, then claim grass by noon. The convenience stores on the Harajuku side stock the full picnic kit.
Sumida Park
Viewing Spots · Asakusa and Mukojima · Sumida Park, along the Sumida River between Azumabashi and Sakurabashi, Taito and Sumida Cities
About a kilometer of cherries on both banks of the Sumida River, planted in the Edo period and replanted after the war, with Tokyo Skytree standing over the far bank. Walk the Asakusa side for the classic photo, or cross to Mukojima for the quieter bank and the old sweets shops. The trees are lit in the evenings during the season, and the river cruises below run the same corridor.
Typical bloom: Main wave: late March to early April in an average year
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Open around the clock; evening light-up during the blossom period
Cost: Free
Getting there: Asakusa Station (Ginza, Asakusa and Tobu lines) 5 to 7 minutes; Honjo-azumabashi for the Mukojima bank
Good to know: Sakurabashi, the pedestrian bridge at the north end, is the frame: river, trees and Skytree in one shot, best in the first hour of light.
Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens
Viewing Spots · Korakuen · 1-6-6 Koraku, Bunkyo City
One of Tokyo's two surviving Edo daimyo gardens, built in the 1600s around a pond with borrowed hills, a full-moon bridge and a small rice paddy. Its cherry moment is the big weeping tree near the gate, which blooms a little ahead of the Somei Yoshino around the pond. Small, dense and composed: the opposite of a picnic park, and all the better for it.
Typical bloom: Weeping cherries from mid March; main wave late March to early April
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: 9:00am to 5:00pm, last entry 4:30pm; closed Dec 29 to Jan 1
Cost: ¥300 adults; ¥150 seniors
Getting there: Iidabashi Station (Oedo Line, exit C3) 3 minutes to the West Gate; Suidobashi (JR Sobu) 5 minutes to the East Gate
Good to know: An hour is enough, and it pairs with Tokyo Dome City next door. The garden is the calm stop on a busy day.
Official site
Asukayama Park
Viewing Spots · Oji · 1-1-3 Oji, Kita City
Hanami was more or less invented here. In the 1720s the shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune opened this hilltop to the public and planted it with cherries so ordinary Edo townspeople had somewhere to feast under the blossom. About 600 trees stand here now, a mix of Somei Yoshino and later Sato-zakura, and the picnic culture Yoshimune started never left. Three small museums sit in the park, and a free mini monorail climbs the hill.
Typical bloom: Main wave: late March to early April in an average year
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Open around the clock; evening light-up during the blossom period
Cost: Free; the little monorail up the hill is free too
Getting there: Oji Station (JR Keihin-Tohoku, Namboku Line) a short walk; Asukayama stop on the Tokyo Sakura Tram at the park gate
Good to know: This is the locals' hanami: family groups, proper food, no rush. Come by tram and stay for the light-up.
Inokashira Park
Viewing Spots · Kichijoji · Inokashira Park, Gotenyama, Musashino City
A spring-fed pond ringed with cherry trees, about 250 of them leaning over the water, in the middle of Tokyo's favorite suburb. Rent a swan boat and you are inside the picture everyone else is photographing from the Benten bridge. Kichijoji's shopping streets and ramen alleys start at the park gate, which makes this the easiest half-day escape in the city.
Typical bloom: Main wave: late March to early April in an average year
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Open around the clock; boats from morning to late afternoon, weather permitting
Cost: Free to enter; swan boats and rowboats for a fee at the boathouse
Getting there: Kichijoji Station (JR Chuo, Keio Inokashira lines), about 5 minutes
Good to know: Local legend says couples who boat here break up; the line at the boathouse suggests nobody believes it. Go on a weekday for the pond to yourselves.
Koganei Park
Viewing Spots · Koganei · Koganei Park, 1-13-1 Sekinocho, Koganei City
One of the biggest parks in Tokyo, and the connoisseur's pick: about 1,700 cherry trees in dozens of varieties, including old Yamazakura and deep pink late Yaezakura that keep the color going a week after central Tokyo fades. The sakura grove runs along the old Tamagawa aqueduct. Inside the park, the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum keeps rescued farmhouses and storefronts from old Tokyo.
Typical bloom: A long local season: main wave late March, late varieties into mid April
Bloom character: Long season, several varieties
Hours: Open around the clock
Cost: Free to enter; the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum inside charges admission
Getting there: Musashi-Koganei Station (JR Chuo), then a short bus ride or a 20 minute walk; Higashi-Koganei is also close
Good to know: If you arrive a few days after the big parks peak, come here. The late varieties are the point, and the crowds never find it.
Official site
Showa Kinen Park
Viewing Spots · Tachikawa · Showa Kinen Park, 3173 Midoricho, Tachikawa City
A 163 hectare national park in Tachikawa, about 30 minutes out of Shinjuku, with about 1,500 cherry trees in more than 30 varieties. The Sakura no Sono grove has 50 year old trees whose branches come down to picnic height, and in early April the tulip stream and rapeseed fields flower at the same time, so the park runs pink and yellow together. Rental bikes are the way to cover it.
Typical bloom: A long season from mid March, with the big grove running a few days behind the city center
Bloom character: Long season, several varieties
Hours: 9:30am to 5:00pm in spring
Cost: ¥450 adults; ¥210 seniors; junior high age and under free
Getting there: Nishi-Tachikawa Station (JR Ome Line) 2 minutes to the Nishi-Tachikawa Gate; Tachikawa Station about 10 minutes to the Akebono Gate
Good to know: This is the family picnic upgrade: space is never the problem here. Rent bikes at the gate and ride the cycling road to the grove.
Official site
Hama-rikyu Gardens
Viewing Spots · Shiodome · Hama-rikyu Gardens, 1-1 Hamarikyu-teien, Chuo City
The shogun's duck-hunting garden on Tokyo Bay, built around the only tidal pond left in the city: the water rises and falls with the bay through a sluice gate. About 80 cherry trees, Somei Yoshino and later Yaezakura, stand against the Shiodome towers, and some 300,000 rapeseed flowers turn the field yellow just before the blossom. Take matcha and a sweet at Nakajima no Ochaya, the tea house on the island in the pond.
Typical bloom: Rapeseed from late February; Somei Yoshino in the main wave; Yaezakura after
Bloom character: Long season, several varieties
Hours: 9:00am to 5:00pm, last entry 4:30pm
Cost: ¥300 adults; ¥150 seniors
Getting there: Shiodome Station (Oedo, Yurikamome) 7 minutes; Shimbashi Station about 12 minutes
Good to know: The water bus to Asakusa leaves from the garden pier, so this pairs with Sumida Park as a one-way river day.
Official site
Imperial Palace East Gardens
Viewing Spots · Otemachi · Imperial Palace East Gardens, 1-1 Chiyoda, Chiyoda City
The former inner citadel of Edo Castle, opened to the public in 1968: moats, massive stone walls, the keep's foundation, and a woodland planted with trees from every prefecture in Japan. Nearly 30 cherry varieties grow across the Ninomaru garden and the lawns, so the color runs longer than the moat outside. It is the calmest big green space in the center of the city, and it costs nothing.
Typical bloom: Several varieties from late March into mid April; closed Mondays and Fridays
Bloom character: Long season, several varieties
Hours: 9:00am to 4:30pm in spring, entry to 4:00pm; closed Mondays and Fridays, and occasionally for Imperial Household events
Cost: Free
Getting there: Otemachi Station or Tokyo Station's Marunouchi side, about 10 to 15 minutes to the Otemon Gate
Good to know: Mind the closed days: Mondays and Fridays it simply does not open, which catches people out every season. The keep foundation is the best free skyline view in Chiyoda.
Aoyama Cemetery
Viewing Spots · Aoyama · Aoyama Cemetery, 2-32-2 Minami-Aoyama, Minato City
Tokyo's most famous cemetery is also one of its great cherry avenues: the central road runs under a tunnel of Somei Yoshino planted in the Meiji era, and in bloom week the petals drift over the graves of the famous and the foreign advisors of the 1800s alike. It is quiet by nature, and the blossom here feels a world away from the picnic parks.
Typical bloom: Main wave: late March to early April in an average year
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Open around the clock; it is a working cemetery, so visit quietly
Cost: Free
Getting there: Nogizaka Station (Chiyoda Line) or Aoyama-itchome Station, about 10 minutes
Good to know: Pair it with the Nezu Museum garden nearby (book ahead) or the Tokyo Midtown lawns, ten minutes on foot.
Edogawa Park and the Kanda River
Viewing Spots · Waseda · Edogawa Park and the Kanda River, Sekiguchi, Bunkyo City
A narrow park along the Kanda River in Bunkyo, where the cherry avenue runs from bridge to bridge and the branches reach out over the water. The Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation's own guide calls the stretch from Akebono Bridge toward Nakanohashi Bridge a masterpiece of a cherry avenue, lit in the evenings when the bloom peaks. Waseda students and neighborhood families, almost no tour groups.
Typical bloom: Main wave: late March to early April; the river avenue is lit on peak evenings
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Open around the clock; planned illumination about 6:00pm to 9:00pm at full bloom
Cost: Free
Getting there: Edogawabashi Station (Yurakucho Line) at the park; Omokagebashi stop on the Tokyo Sakura Tram for the river avenue
Good to know: Walk it east to west at dusk, then ride the Sakura Tram from Omokagebashi toward Asukayama for a full old-Tokyo evening.
Night Blossom (4 stops)
Meguro River, Nakameguro
Night Blossom · Nakameguro · Meguro River promenade, Kamimeguro, Meguro City
About 800 Somei Yoshino arch over a narrow canal for nearly 4 kilometers through Nakameguro, and on bloom evenings the trees are lit and the pink lanterns come on, doubling the blossom in the water. Cafes and stalls line the banks, and the crowds are part of the show. The Japan National Tourism Organization calls it perhaps the best blossom spot in Tokyo; on a still evening at full bloom it is hard to argue.
Typical bloom: Main wave evenings; the light-up runs through the bloom, 2027 dates to be announced
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: The promenade is open around the clock; the light-up has run about 5:00pm to 8:00pm in recent seasons
Cost: Free
Getting there: Nakameguro Station (Tokyu Toyoko, Hibiya lines) at the river; Ikejiri-ohashi at the other end of the best stretch
Good to know: Walk it one way, Meguro Station to Nakameguro, and ride back. The bridges are the photo spots and the bottlenecks; keep moving between them.
Official site
Rikugien Gardens and the Weeping Cherry
Night Blossom · Komagome · Rikugien Gardens, 6-16-3 Hon-Komagome, Bunkyo City
A daimyo strolling garden from about 1700, built as a walk through famous poems, and in spring it belongs to one tree: a giant weeping cherry by the main gate, roughly 23 meters across, that cascades like a slow waterfall when it blooms. At the spring light-up the tree is floodlit and the garden opens after dark: the single most theatrical blossom sight in Tokyo.
Typical bloom: The weeping cherry runs a few days ahead of the main wave; the light-up follows it
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Garden 9:00am to 5:00pm; during the light-up the garden reopens into the evening, about 6:30pm to 9:00pm
Cost: Daytime ¥300; the evening light-up is a separate ticket (¥1,000 in advance, ¥1,200 at the door in recent seasons)
Getting there: Komagome Station (JR Yamanote, Namboku Line) 7 minutes; Sengoku Station (Mita Line) 10 minutes
Good to know: Buy the evening ticket in advance if you can; the gate line at dusk is long. The weeping cherry blooms before the Somei Yoshino peak, so go early in your trip, not late.
Official site
Tokyo Midtown Garden
Night Blossom · Roppongi · Tokyo Midtown, 9-7-1 Akasaka, Minato City
The Midtown Garden behind the Roppongi towers keeps a promenade of Somei Yoshino, about 150 trees, along its garden edge, and lights them through the bloom. It is the dressed-up version of yozakura: lawn, a stream, restaurants spilling onto terraces, and the blossom overhead. Dinner in the complex, blossom outside the window.
Typical bloom: Main wave; the garden light-up runs through the bloom, 2027 dates to be announced
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: The garden and promenade are open into the evening; light-up hours are announced with the season
Cost: Free
Getting there: Roppongi Station (Oedo, Hibiya lines) connected directly; Nogizaka Station 3 minutes
Good to know: The lawn under the trees is first come. Arrive before sunset, watch the light come up over a drink, then walk to Aoyama or Roppongi Hills.
Shiba Park and Zojoji Temple
Night Blossom · Shiba · Shiba Park and Zojoji Temple, 4-7-35 Shibakoen, Minato City
Zojoji, the Tokugawa family temple, stands in Shiba Park with Tokyo Tower rising straight behind its main gate, and in bloom week the park's Somei Yoshino frame the most Tokyo photograph there is: temple, blossom and tower in one frame. The tower lights up at night, the temple closes early, and the park lawns stay open for the evening version.
Typical bloom: Main wave: late March to early April in an average year
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Park open around the clock; Zojoji grounds roughly 6:00am to 6:00pm, hall hours vary
Cost: Free (temple grounds); donations welcome
Getting there: Onarimon or Shibakoen stations (Mita Line); Daimon Station (Asakusa, Oedo lines)
Good to know: Come at dusk: the temple before it closes, then the tower lit over the trees. The Momijidani side of the park is the quiet one.
Experiences (4 stops)
Sumida River Water Bus
Experiences · Asakusa · Asakusa pier (Azumabashi), by Azumabashi Bridge, Taito City
The Tokyo Water Bus runs the Sumida from Asakusa under 13 bridges to Hama-rikyu and Hinode Pier, and in blossom week the banks on both sides are in flower for the whole ride. It is transport and sightseeing in one ticket: ride it one way between Sumida Park and Hama-rikyu Gardens and you have done two map stops and the river between them.
Typical bloom: Runs year round; the blossom run is the main wave
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: A few sailings a day; first boats mid morning, last mid afternoon
Cost: Asakusa to Hinode Pier ¥1,000; Asakusa to Hama-rikyu ¥1,180 including garden entry
Getting there: Asakusa Station (Ginza Line), 1 to 3 minutes to the pier
Good to know: Sit on the right side going downstream for the Skytree and the Mukojima bank. Boats fill on peak weekends; the first sailing is the calm one.
Water bus routes, fares and times
Official site
Yakatabune Dinner Cruise
Experiences · Asakusa and the bay · Boarding points at Asakusa (Azumabashi) and around the bay; operator confirmed at booking
A yakatabune is a roofed houseboat with tatami decks and low tables, and a blossom-season dinner cruise is the full Edo evening: tempura and sashimi served on board while the boat works the Sumida past the lit banks and out toward the bay and the Skytree. Book it for the night in your trip that falls closest to full bloom, and book it early; the blossom sailings sell out first.
Typical bloom: Evening cruises run year round; blossom cruises follow the main wave
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Evening sailings, typically about 2 to 2.5 hours
Cost: Dinner cruises from about ¥10,000 per person with the meal, on recent operator pricing
Getting there: Asakusa Station for the Asakusa boarding points
Good to know: You take your shoes off on board and sit at low tables, sometimes shared. If knees are an issue, ask for a boat with chair seating when you book.
Blossom dinner cruises
Kimono Rental in Asakusa
Experiences · Asakusa · Rental shops cluster around Senso-ji and the Kaminarimon gate, Asakusa, Taito City
Asakusa's rental shops will dress you in a kimono, style your hair and send you out for the day, and in blossom week the circuit writes itself: Senso-ji in the morning, then the Sumida Park banks across the Azumabashi bridge with the Skytree behind you. Half of Tokyo seems to have the same idea, and the riverbank photos are better for it.
Typical bloom: Runs all season; book the morning slot in blossom week
Bloom character: Any time in the season
Hours: Shops typically 9:00am to early evening; returns by late afternoon
Cost: Priced by the set; standard kimono sets rent for the day, hair styling extra
Getting there: Asakusa Station (Ginza, Asakusa lines), a few minutes to the Kaminarimon gate
Good to know: Book the earliest fitting slot you can; by 11am the best patterns are out and the riverbank light is harsher. The provided tabi socks make the sandals easier than they look.
Tokyo Sakura Tram (Toden Arakawa Line)
Experiences · Along the line · Tokyo Sakura Tram (Toden Arakawa Line), Minowabashi to Waseda; marker at Asukayama stop
Tokyo's last streetcar line, officially nicknamed the Tokyo Sakura Tram, runs about 12 kilometers through the old northern neighborhoods from Minowabashi to Waseda. In blossom week it threads this map together: Asukayama Park at one stop, the Kanda River avenue at Omokagebashi, the cherry rows at Minami-Otsuka. Ride it slowly, hop off where the trees look good, hop back on.
Typical bloom: Runs all season; the line-side blossom peaks with the main wave
Bloom character: Any time in the season
Hours: Trams from early morning to late evening, every few minutes at peak
Cost: ¥170 flat fare per ride; a one-day tram pass costs ¥400
Getting there: Ride it between Asukayama, Omokagebashi (Kanda River) and Otsuka; connections at Oji and Waseda
Good to know: The one-day pass pays for itself in three rides, and the front window of a single-car tram at blossom time is one of the city's small joys.
Official site
Sakura Hotels (4 stops)
Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo
Sakura Hotels · Mejirodai · Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, 2-10-8 Sekiguchi, Bunkyo City
A garden hotel in Bunkyo whose grounds hold about 100 cherry trees in some 20 varieties, a three-story pagoda moved here from Hiroshima, and a famous artificial sea of clouds that rolls over the garden at set times. The varieties stagger the bloom, and the garden is lit in season, so the blossom is working from breakfast to bedtime without leaving the grounds.
Typical bloom: Garden blossom runs with its varieties, February stragglers to the main wave
Bloom character: Any time in the season
Hours: Garden open to guests; the sea of clouds and evening garden events run on the hotel's schedule
Cost: Room rates are date dynamic; check live rates
Getting there: Edogawabashi Station (Yurakucho Line) about 10 minutes; hotel shuttle from Mejiro Station (JR Yamanote)
Good to know: Ask for a garden-view room. The garden is also the quietest breakfast walk in Tokyo.
Check rooms and rates
Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa
Sakura Hotels · Takanawa · Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa, 3-13-1 Takanawa, Minato City
Three Prince hotels share one 20,000 square meter Japanese garden in Takanawa, five minutes from Shinagawa Station, and the garden holds about 210 cherry trees in 17 varieties that bloom in succession from the early Kawazu-zakura to the late weeping cherries. The Takanawa Sakura Festival runs the garden through the season with evening illuminations, morning yoga under the trees and seasonal menus.
Typical bloom: The garden's 17 varieties bloom in succession from early February to mid April
Bloom character: Any time in the season
Hours: Garden open to guests and diners through the day; festival evenings in season
Cost: Room rates are date dynamic; check live rates
Getting there: Shinagawa Station (JR, Keikyu, Shinkansen) 5 minutes
Good to know: Shinagawa is the Shinkansen and airport-train hub, so this is the basecamp that wastes no travel time. The garden is open to walk even if you eat elsewhere.
Check rooms and rates
Official site
Hotel New Otani Tokyo
Sakura Hotels · Kioicho · Hotel New Otani Tokyo, 4-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda City
The New Otani's Japanese garden is 400 years old and some 40,000 square meters: ponds, a waterfall, a vermilion bridge and cherry trees throughout, lit in the evenings in season. It sits in Kioicho between Akasaka and the palace moat, so Chidorigafuchi and the East Gardens are a walk, not a trip. Garden Tower rooms look straight into it.
Typical bloom: Garden blossom in the main wave; the garden is lit on spring evenings
Bloom character: Any time in the season
Hours: Garden open through the day and lit in the evening in season
Cost: Room rates are date dynamic; check live rates
Getting there: Akasaka-mitsuke or Nagatacho stations (Ginza, Marunouchi, Namboku lines), about 5 minutes
Good to know: Non-guests can walk the garden from the lobby level. The garden at dusk, then dinner in Akasaka, is a complete date night on foot.
Check rooms and rates
Official site
Palace Hotel Tokyo
Sakura Hotels · Marunouchi · Palace Hotel Tokyo, 1-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda City
The Palace Hotel stands on the Imperial Palace moat at Marunouchi, with Wadakura Fountain Park and its cherry trees in front of the lobby and the Chidorigafuchi promenade a short walk around the water. Rooms on the moat side watch the blossom from above, and the moat's swans do the same from below. This is the basecamp pick for the palace cluster: boats in the morning, East Gardens after lunch.
Typical bloom: Moat-side blossom with the main wave, outside the lobby windows
Bloom character: Any time in the season
Hours: Hotel; the moat promenade outside is open around the clock
Cost: Room rates are date dynamic; check live rates
Getting there: Otemachi Station connected by underground passage; Tokyo Station about 5 minutes
Good to know: Ask for a moat-side room on a higher floor. Tokyo Station is five minutes, which makes it the easiest arrival and departure of the four.
Check rooms and rates
Seasonal Food (3 stops)
Chomeiji Sakuramochi
Seasonal Food · Mukojima · Chomeiji Sakuramochi (Yamamotoya), 5-1-14 Mukojima, Sumida City
Sakura mochi was invented here in 1717, when the temple custodian Shinroku Yamamoto started wrapping sweet bean paste crepes in salted cherry leaves gathered from the Sumida banks. The shop, still run by the Yamamoto family beside Chomeiji temple, makes nothing else: a pale pink crepe, smooth bean paste, and the salted leaf you peel back for the scent. Eat one on the riverbank it came from.
Typical bloom: Open all season; the queue peaks in blossom week. Closed Tuesdays
Bloom character: Any time in the season
Hours: 8:30am to 6:00pm; closed Tuesdays
Cost: Sakuramochi ¥180 each; gift boxes from six pieces
Getting there: Tokyo Skytree Station or Hikifune Station (Tobu), about 10 minutes; or walk the Mukojima bank from Asakusa
Good to know: The eat-in set with tea is the move. Lines move fast; buy a box for the train home too.
Official site
Toraya Akasaka and Karyo Tea Room
Seasonal Food · Akasaka · Toraya Akasaka flagship, 4-9-22 Akasaka, Minato City
Toraya has made wagashi since the 1500s and served the Imperial court; the Akasaka flagship is its showcase, with the seasonal cases in the shop and the Toraya Karyo tea room serving sweets with matcha. In spring the case fills with sakura work: sakura mochi, blossom-shaped fresh sweets and the season's yokan. Buy the pieces that will not travel, as gifts for people who were not there.
Typical bloom: Open all season; the sakura sweets run through spring
Bloom character: Any time in the season
Hours: Shop and tea room hours on the store page; typically daytime into early evening
Cost: Seasonal pieces priced individually; the tea room sets pair a sweet with matcha
Getting there: Akasaka-mitsuke Station (Ginza, Marunouchi lines), a few minutes
Good to know: The tea room is the calm seat in Akasaka at blossom time. Order whatever the seasonal plate is; it is made for the week you are in.
Isetan Shinjuku Depachika (Hanami Provisions)
Seasonal Food · Shinjuku · Isetan Shinjuku flagship basement food halls, 3-14-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City
A depachika, the basement food hall of a great department store, is where Tokyo buys a picnic it did not have to make. Isetan Shinjuku's is the famous one: bento counters, wagashi houses, bakeries and wine. In blossom season the counters build hanami boxes and sakura sweets. Buy the picnic here, then walk ten minutes to Shinjuku Gyoen, remembering the garden's one rule: no alcohol through the gate.
Typical bloom: Open all season; hanami boxes and sakura sweets run through spring
Bloom character: Any time in the season
Hours: Department store hours, typically 10:00am to 8:00pm
Cost: Picnic spending; a good hanami box runs about ¥1,000 to ¥2,000
Getting there: Shinjuku-sanchome Station (Marunouchi, Fukutoshin, Shinjuku lines) connected directly; JR Shinjuku about 5 minutes
Good to know: Go before 11am for the full bento selection. The wagashi counters will box single pieces if you ask, which is how you taste three houses in one picnic.
Family (3 stops)
Ueno Zoo
Family · Ueno · Ueno Zoo, 9-83 Uenokoen, Taito City
Japan's oldest zoo, opened in 1882 in the middle of Ueno Park, home to giant pandas and split by the Shinobazu Pond side of the park. In blossom week the zoo visit comes with the park's trees on every side. It is the natural anchor of a with-kids day: zoo in the morning, blossom picnic on the promenade after.
Typical bloom: Open all season; the blossom around it follows Ueno Park's waves
Bloom character: Any time in the season
Hours: 9:30am to 5:00pm, last entry 4:00pm; closed Mondays (or the next day if Monday is a holiday)
Cost: ¥600 adults; ¥300 seniors; ¥200 junior high students; younger children free
Getting there: Inside Ueno Park; JR Ueno Park Exit, about 5 minutes
Good to know: Panda viewing is the queue that matters; go there first, then wander. The zoo's west side is the quieter half.
Official site
Asakusa Hanayashiki
Family · Asakusa · Asakusa Hanayashiki, 2-28-1 Asakusa, Taito City
Japan's oldest amusement park, open since 1853 behind Senso-ji: small, dense and unapologetically old school, with a 1953 roller coaster, a haunted house, carnival games and rooftop rides. It is not a destination on its own; it is the perfect 90 minutes inside an Asakusa day, especially with kids who have done enough temples.
Typical bloom: Open all season, inside your Asakusa day
Bloom character: Any time in the season
Hours: Typically 10:00am to 6:00pm; days and hours vary, check the park calendar
Cost: Park admission plus ride tickets, or a one-day free pass; prices on the park site
Getting there: Asakusa Station (Ginza, Asakusa, Tobu lines), about 5 minutes, behind Senso-ji
Good to know: Buy ride tickets in a book and share them. The park is at its best in the last two hours of the day.
Yomiuriland
Family · Inagi · Yomiuriland, 4015-1 Yanokuchi, Inagi City
An amusement park on a wooded hill in Inagi with about 1,000 cherry trees, a 180 meter cherry tunnel to walk under, and blossom you can ride through on the coasters and the gondola. During the bloom its Jewellumination stays on and the Night Cherry Blossom Jewellumination lights the trees after dark. It is the one stop where hanami and a theme park are the same ticket.
Typical bloom: Main wave; the Night Cherry Blossom Jewellumination ran Mar 20 to Apr 5 in 2026, 2027 dates to be announced
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Typically 10:00am to 8:00pm in season; check the park calendar for your date
Cost: Admission plus ride passes priced by the day; night entry options run in illumination season
Day trip: About 40 minutes from Shinjuku: Keio Line to Keio-Yomiuriland Station, then the gondola up the hill
Getting there: Keio-Yomiuriland Station, then the Sky Shuttle gondola up the hill
Good to know: Arrive mid afternoon, ride in daylight, then stay for the lights. Weekdays are a different park from weekends.
Official site
Day Trips (4 stops)
Kawazu: The Early Bloom (Izu Peninsula)
Day Trips · Kawazu, Izu Peninsula · Kawazu River promenade, Kawazu Town, Shizuoka
The Kawazu-zakura is a variety found by chance in this Izu town in the 1950s, and it blooms a month before Tokyo: deep pink, big-petaled and long lasting, about 850 trees along 4 kilometers of the Kawazu River and some 8,000 across the area, with yellow rapeseed flowering underneath. When nothing in Tokyo has opened yet, Kawazu is already at full spring. It is a full day out, and worth every minute of the train.
Typical bloom: The 2027 Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival is announced for Feb 6 to Mar 7; the bloom follows the early Kawazu-zakura
Bloom character: Early bloom (Kawazu-zakura)
Hours: The river promenade is open around the clock; festival stalls and the evening illumination run through the festival period
Cost: Free to walk; Odoriko one-way fare about ¥6,380 from Tokyo
Day trip: About 2 hours 40 minutes from Tokyo Station on the direct Odoriko limited express; faster routings change at Atami
Getting there: Kawazu Station (Izu Kyuko Line); the blossom avenue starts at the station
Good to know: Aim for the middle of the window, not the end: peak is usually about two weeks in. The Odoriko's reserved seats sell out on festival weekends, so book the train when you book the trip.
Official site
Mt. Takao (Takaosan Senbonzakura)
Day Trips · Hachioji · Mt. Takao (Takaosan), Takaomachi, Hachioji City
A 599 meter sacred mountain an hour from Shinjuku, climbed by millions a year, with the Yakuoin temple halfway up and views to Mt. Fuji from the top on clear days. Its blossom comes late: the Itchodaira area beyond the summit, the Takaosan Senbonzakura, holds hundreds of trees of several varieties that peak in mid to late April, after the city has finished. This is the second-chance stop, and the hike is the point.
Typical bloom: Late: the mountain blooms one to two weeks after the city, best mid to late April
Bloom character: Late bloom
Hours: Trails open around the clock; the cable car runs from early morning to early evening
Cost: Free to hike; the cable car and lift charge per ride
Day trip: About 1 hour from Shinjuku on the Keio Line to Takaosanguchi Station
Getting there: Takaosanguchi Station (Keio Takao Line) at the trailhead
Good to know: Take the cable car up and walk down trail 1 past the temple, or walk both ways if your knees vote yes. Weekdays only in season, if you can.
Kamakura: Dankazura and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu
Day Trips · Kamakura · Dankazura approach, Wakamiya Oji, Kamakura City, Kanagawa
Kamakura, the shogunate's capital, builds its spring around one approach: the Dankazura, a raised cherry-lined walkway running up the middle of Wakamiya Oji avenue to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine, about 300 trees forming a tunnel at full bloom. Do the shrine, eat your way back down Komachi-dori, and add the Great Buddha or the Hase temples if the day stretches. An hour from Tokyo and a different century when you arrive.
Typical bloom: Main wave, a step behind Tokyo: late March to early April
Bloom character: Main wave (Somei Yoshino)
Hours: Shrine grounds roughly 6:00am to 8:00pm
Cost: Free (shrine grounds); the Treasure Hall charges admission
Day trip: About 1 hour from Tokyo Station on the JR Yokosuka Line to Kamakura Station
Getting there: Kamakura Station (JR Yokosuka Line), 10 to 15 minutes on foot up Wakamiya Oji
Good to know: Walk the Dankazura up and Komachi-dori back; the snack street is the return leg. The shrine's Genpei ponds carry blossom at the edges too.
Official site
Sankeien Garden, Yokohama
Day Trips · Yokohama · Sankeien Garden, 58-1 Honmoku Sannotani, Naka Ward, Yokohama
A silk merchant's garden in Yokohama holding 17 historic buildings brought here from Kyoto and Kamakura, including a three-story pagoda from 1457, around a big pond. About 250 cherry trees of several kinds, Somei Yoshino, Yamazakura, Oshimazakura and weeping cherries, plant the old buildings in blossom. In season the garden stays open into the evening with the buildings lit.
Typical bloom: A long garden season: main wave late March, varieties into mid April; evening opening in blossom season
Bloom character: Long season, several varieties
Hours: 9:00am to 5:00pm, last entry 4:30pm; in blossom season the garden has opened to 9:00pm for the light-up
Cost: ¥900 adults; ¥200 children (2026 prices)
Day trip: About 1 hour 15 minutes from Tokyo Station: train to Negishi or Yokohama, then the city bus to Sankeien
Getting there: City bus from Negishi Station (about 10 minutes) or from Sakuragicho and Yokohama stations to Sankeien-iriguchi
Good to know: Give it the afternoon and stay for the light-up; the pagoda over the pond at dusk is the shot. The garden tea houses serve matcha and sweets.
Official site