Last Updated: Jan 19, 2024

Nishihirabatake Park

Matsuda’s Cherry Blossom Festival

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

These days, everyone under the sun knows that the cherry blossoms are at their best in mid to late March. Alas, this timing doesn’t always work out for some travelers. Moreover, spring is extremely popular both with international tourists as well as domestic travelers. Thus, it can be crowded, prohibitively expensive and hard to find accommodations. Luckily though, you can experience Japan’s iconic flowers at times outside of the principle period if you know where to go. Today, we’ll be taking a look at someplace that is just one of these spots. Known as Nishihirabatake Park, this location is a great alternative for those taking their holidays during the wintertime.

If you’ve never heard of Nishihirabatake Park, know that even I didn’t know about it until rather recently. The location popped up in an Instagram reel or two that one of my flower-chasing female creator friends posted. Located on the western edge of Kanagawa Prefecture in the town of Matsuda, this hidden gem hosts an annual cherry blossom festival from mid February to early March. Normally, this would be too early to see any pink but Nishihirabatake Park is home to the Kawazu-zakura variant of the trees. These cherry blossoms bloom far earlier than the standard Somei Yoshino ones. Thanks to…