Kawazu-zakura Matsuri

In Japan, the first cherry blossoms of the season can bloom as early as February, and at the same time as plum blossoms. Located on the southern coast of Izu Peninsula, Kawazu is a small spa resort that briefly becomes a favorite destination for spring flowers amateurs.

The Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival (Kawazu-zakura Matsuri) recently rose to fame thanks to the social medias and mainly attracts Japanese visitors, especially young adults taking videos and pictures under the flowers. The matsuri expects about 1 million onlookers every year thanks to an easy train access, especially from Tokyo, to come and admire the hundreds of bright pink sakura trees that line up both sides of the local river. About 850 kawazu cherry trees bloom at the same time.

The viewing course is well-marked from the exit of the JR station, allowing for a one-day stroll in the small city and to enjoy all the attractions set up for the festival. The festivities last about 1 month, with a highlight in mid-February at the peak of the flowering.

Walking around the cherry trees river

Moving away from the train station and the parking areas, the crowd quickly thins out when walking a few kilometers upstream the Kawazu-gawa river. A concrete path then unfolds near rapeseed flower fields and it is sometimes possible to go down in the bed of the river when the water level is at its lowest. Bridges offer wonderful panoramic views on the river bordered by 2 pink sakura alleys: Tokyoites find here a wider and more rural Nakameguro during the blooming period.

To enjoy elevated views, we recommend climbing the surrounding hills and going to:

• Nehan-do temple, home to a small reclining Buddha. Its small grounds offer a platform with a view on the houses’ roofs and the cherry tree river;
• Kawazu Castle ruins, located higher and off the city-center, with trees blooming at the top.

Along the way, try and eat at the yatai food stalls lining up the street, offering delicious take-out specialties, such as:

• The timeless yakisoba fried noodles;
• Grilled fish skewers; and,
• The famous taiyaki waffles colored in the Kawazu flowers’ pink.

On a beautiful day, benches are available for a lunch in the open-air. At nightfall, lights-up are set from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. during the duration of the matsuri, especially when the flowers are nearing their blooming peak.

Spa destination

Kawazu being an onsen village, its center also offers:

• Several ashiyu foot baths for strollers who can dip their feet in the hot spring water, a very pleasant activity at this time of the year near the end of winter. Don't forget to bring a small towel for drying before putting back shoes on;
• Mine-onsen Daifunto Park, with a geyser ejecting a 100°C water stream to the sky every hour or so. There, one can enjoy onsen-tamago, that is to say soft boiled or hard-boiled eggs, cooked in the hot spring water;
• Ryokan inns that are available for a 1 or 2 nights stay, and Odoriko Onsen Kaikan, a public bath facility where to spend a one-day trip.

Moreover, the forest walking trail to the Kawazu Nanadaru 7 waterfalls is open all year round. The village is also known to have inspired the short story The Dancing Girl of Izu by Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata (1899 - 1972), recipient of 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature.

A recent sakura species

Named after the village where they have been discovered in the 1950s, the kawazu-zakura cherry tree is a recent species of Japanese sakura. The first kawazu cherry tree is still located is a narrow residential street a bit away from the river, make sure to check the on-site maps to find it.

Compared to the somei yoshino, the reference of Japanese sakura whose blossoms colors range from pale pink to white, the kawazu-zakura cherry tree displays bolder colors. The deep pink of the flowers and the dark brown and violet of its bark are characteristic of this variety. It is thought to be a natural hybrid between 2 cherry species:

• Oshima-zakura (Prunus or Cerasus speciosa) from the eponymous neighboring island; and,
• Kan hi-zakura (Prunus or Cerasus campanulata) known for its dark-pink flowers shaped in a little bell, that have an early blooming.

The kawazu-zakura is an ornamental tree with an early but long flowering, and it blooms on average 1 month before and for 2 weeks longer than the somei yoshino whose flowering period usually lasts about 15 days (from the 1rst flowers to the fall of the blossoms). Thus, the first cherry blossoms can be admired in Japan as soon as late January, throughout February and until mid-March depending on the areas, at the same time as ume plum flowers.

Other popular kawazu spots in Japan

While the kawazu-zakura originates in Kawazu City in the south of Izu peninsula, other watching spots are popular throughout the archipelago, for example:

• Minami-Izu city in the south of the peninsula, that also holds a spring matsuri on the banks of Aono river, where kawazu cherry trees and rapeseed flowers bloom together over 4 kilometers. This neighboring festival benefits from a quieter ambiance and is less crowded than Kawazu as it is only accessible by car.
• Nishihirahata Park in Matsuda, in Kanagawa prefecture (near Hakone and Odawara) offers a walk in a small kawazu forest, on the side of a hill and above a highway. Its higher location offers an unobstructed view on Sakawa River and the mountains, including snow-covered Mount Fuji. A slide and a swing under the branches in bloom attract Japanese influencers who enjoy staging themselves for their socials.
• Oi Yume-no-Sato Park (Kanagawa prefecture) is perched at the top of a small foresty mountain maintained by volunteers, and enjoys an unobstructed view on Fuji-san (closest train station is Kami-Oi).
• Komatsugaike Park in Miura is holding each year from mid-February to mid-March the Miura Kaigan Sakura festival, displaying about a 1,000 trees blooming early along the rail tracks of Miurakaigan station.
• In Fushimi ward in the south of Kyoto, the Yodo Suiro Waterway offers a walk under 200 trees blooming from late February to mid-March, at about 10 minutes’ walk from the Keihan Yodo Station. On the way, a few shogatsu-zakura trees, meaning "New Year’s Day cherry trees" are blooming as soon as late January and February.
• In the north of Matsusaka, near Ise city in Mie prefecture, the quiet countryside around Kasamatsu Kawazu-zakura Road has been planted with 350 cherry trees on about 1,5 kilometers along the waterway.

Lastly, Tokyo has various Kawazu cherry trees spots throughout the city, such as at the entrance of the new Azabudai Hills complex, in the grounds of Shinjuku Gyoen, in Kiba Park and along Oyokogawa waterway, or in the multi-levels Seiwa park in the north of Tokyo Dome, near Kasuga metro station.