The plum trees are going to be at peak bloom this weekend—here are my favorite places to see them!
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This is one of the most beautiful shrines in Tokyo, and it not only has a ton of plum trees, it has a festival to celebrate them the whole month of February, with monkey shows, taiko performances and food booths on the weekends
Admission: Free
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This garden is one of the most famous in Tokyo for plum trees.
Admission: ¥300
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And since it’s practically right next door, don’t miss the…
This is a small but exquisite formal garden, and although the plum grove isn’t large, the varieties are very beautiful.
Admission: ¥150
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KAMEIDO TENJIN SHRINE
This temple is famous for wisteria, but it turns out they have a killer plum tree collection too.
Admission: Free
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OKURAYAMA PARK
This park is a bit of a schlep in the Yokohama direction, but it’s well worth it in plum blossom season because an entire valley is dedicated to plum trees. I like this one better than Hanegi Park (which is much better known) because it’s more of a landscape and easier to take nice photos
Admission: Free
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This fabulous botanical garden is about a 10 minute bus ride (or a pleasant 25 minute walk) from Chofu Station, and it’s well worth the trip! Bonus attraction: it’s bordered by the Jindai-ji temple, with an old-fashioned shopping street featuring lots of soba noodle restaurants.
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Ikegami Honmonji temple has an entire garden dedicated to plum trees, with nice thatch-roofed teahouses situated among them.
Admission: ¥100
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Those are my favorites, but there are other great places to see plum blossoms in Tokyo, and these are well worth visiting if you’re nearby:
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ARISUGAWA PARK
Tucked away in Hiroo, on the highest hill in this jewel of a park, is a lovely circle of plum trees. It’s a nice place to rest and enjoy.
Admission: Free
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This temple also has a shrine with a boatload of lucky cat figures & an awesome wooden pagoda.
Admission: Free
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HANEGI PARK
This isn’t a very scenic garden – more of a hill planted with hundreds of plum trees – but it awes by sheer volume and variety. And it’s about a three minute walk from the train station so: no excuses
Admission: Free
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KITANO SHRINE
This is a small shrine near Koraku-en, but it’s really glorious in plum blossom season. As a bonus, it has a cow-shaped rack for tying your unwanted fortunes to.
Admission: Free
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The plum grove at my favorite Tokyo garden blooms early and often. Lots of different kinds, plus the rest of the garden is beautiful too.
Admission: ¥300
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If you’re lucky, the very early-blooming cherry tree will be dressed in pink at the same time!
Admission: Free
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There’s a grove of many different kinds of plum trees in the traditional Japanese garden area, by the tea house. Any time of year, Shinjuku Gyouen never disappoints.
Admission: ¥500
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
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I love the photos by KyuShibaRikyu5. Thank you for this post.