Last Updated: Apr 27, 2025

Hirosaki Castle Park

Japan’s Best Cherry Blossom Festival

This story was originally published on donnykimball.com and has been syndicated here on Medium.

Over the years, I’ve mentioned Hirosaki Castle Park on this blog a number of times now in other articles about the cherry blossoms, but I’ve never gotten around to featuring it. So, it’s high time that I get around to fixing that oversight and finally write about what is arguably the best place in all of Japan for cherry blossoms during spring. You see, while there are countless other top-tier spots in the country such as Hanamiyama Park in Fukushima Prefecture, few places can truly claim that they can hold a candle to the supreme beauty of Hirosaki Castle Park.

As the name implies, Hirosaki Castle Park sits upon the castle grounds of a former fortress in Aomori Prefecture. Originally commissioned in the early 1600s by the lord of the Tsugaru clan, this spacious park is about 0.6 square kilometers in size and is home to as many as 2,600 cherry trees. Additionally, you’ll also find the gorgeous flora and fauna on display at Hirosaki Castle Botanical Garden as well as Gokoku Shrine, the prefectural branch of Yasukuni Shrine, on the premises.

While Hirosaki Castle Park is best known for its petal-filled moats and the annual Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival during the latter half of April, the stronghold itself is one of twelve…