Kawazu Zakura Cherry Blossom Festival, daytrip from Tokyo

Sakura viewing season in late March or early April is one of the most popular tourist visiting periods in Japan. Travelling during this period also requires early planning to secure flight and accommodation arrangements, which are usually at a premium price. If you would like to avoid this peak period or have the intention to travel to Tokyo in February (for example, to take advantage of the CNY holidays in Singapore), you may be pleasantly surprised to find out that sakura-viewing is definitely possible at The Kawazu-Zakura Cherry Blossom Festival. The best news is this festival is easily accessible at only 2.5 hours away from Tokyo!

The Kawazu-Zakura Cherry Blossom Festival is an annual event held in Kawazu, a small town on the Izu Peninsular. The festival features the early blooming Kawazuzakura species and turn the walk path along the 4km Kawazu river into a romantic pink landscape of 8,000 blooming Kawazuzakura trees in late February and early March.

On our way to the festival in the Super-view Odoriko train. So shiok to be able to enjoy your drinks, titbits and beautiful Izu Peninsular view!

Do pay attention to the returning train timings!

? ?? The gorgeous view of Kawazuzakura from the moment you stepped out of the Kawazu train station!

Woohoo~~~…..let’s begin our romantic stroll along Kawazu river! Enjoy the occasional breeze and the lovely hanami view presented under different lightings!

This is a popular hanami (aka. Cherry Blossom) festival that attracts more than 2 million visitors every year! ?

 

What a pretty sight! Kawazuzakura and nanohana flowers within a frame. (Nanohana is also known as the “rape blossom”. It is a yellow seasonal vegetable in Spring.)

There are also some food stalls selling seasonal Sakura-theme snacks and food such as sakura mochi, sakura pasta etc for you to take a break.

A leisure walk for the pets too!

Dried food and spring flowers on sale as well…

 Bird’s-eye view of the whole festival. (Source: pinterest)

Kawazu-Zakura Cherry Blossom Festival

• Details of the festival : http://www.kawazu-onsen.com/eng/img/sakura/Kawazu-zakuraCherryBlossomFestival.pdf

How to get there?

• Use Hyperdia (http://www.hyperdia.com/) to plan your route from your original destination.
• For more information on trains, refer to http://jprail.com/trains/sort-by-type/limited-express/odoriko-super-view-odoriko.html

Miwa says…

• Recommended to take the Super-view Odoriko train. This is a fully-reserved train with panaromic huge glass windows.
• If you are travelling with children, you may like to reserve car 10 which has a kid’s playing area.
• If you are travelling during weekends and holidays, try to take the Resort Odoriko Train with special observation seats for a scenic view of the Izu Peninsular. Very shiok to enjoy the view with some snacks and drinks!
• JR pass holders (except for JR East Rail Pass) need to pay a supplementary charge as the rail route between JR Ito Station and Kawazu Station is operated by the Izukyu Line and is not covered by your pass.
• We went on a sunny day in the afternoon and it’s quite challenging trying to capture nice photos without harsh shadows. So, perhaps going on a cloudy day or late afternoon would be easier for phototaking?
• Wearing pastels or soft colours would complement your pink surroundings on photos! ☺
• You may refer to this link on detailed information on the different species of sakura: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011_species.html.
  

 Enjoy the spring romance… 

~Miwa~

Visited in February, Spring.