Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) Is Not The Only Flower To Enjoy In This Season!

Now it is the best time for “Hanami (Flower Viewings)”! The most popular and famous flower for “Hanami (Flower Viewings)” would be “Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)” in Japan, but there are more spring flowers to enjoy!

Imakuma Shrine is one of the Shinto shrines located in Hachioji City, and it is known for beautiful one kind of Azalea flowers called "Mitsuba-tsutsuji". The photo above was taken last week, on April 12^th and about 60-70% of the Azalea trees were blooming. So it would be more beautiful this week. What's more you can enjoy a casual hiking starting from this shrine. you can enjoy the view of Azalea flowers blooming beside the shrine on the way of the hiking trail.

In addition, this shrine keeps a ritual dance called “Shishimai (Lion Dance)”. Shishimai is a common traditional Japanese performance taking place at festivals and new year celebration time, but the style of the dance kept at this shrine is unique. It is said that the origin of the ritual dance goes back to 14^th century and it has been performed to pray for a good harvest and expel evils. If you are interested in the ritual dance you can see it at the last Sunday in August every year.

You can reach Imakuma Shrine by bus from Hachioji Station (JR Chuo-line and Keio-line), or Musashi-itsukaichi Station (JR Itsukaichi-line). Take Nishi-tokyo bus from either station and get off at Imakuma Tozan-guchi. From the bus stop to the shrine takes 20-25 minutes on foot. 

Where Would Be Nice To Go To Enjoy Cherry Blossoms Viewings?

April would be the best month to enjoy cherry blossoms (Sakura ) in Tokyo area. There are various kinds of Sakura and each kind become in full bloom with different timing. So we can enjoy Sakura for about a month. 

There are so many famous spots for Sakura viewing, but most places in the center of Tokyo are very crowded. As you can see in the photo below, people who went out for enjoying Sakura sometimes feel as if they came out to see just a crowd of people. Therefore I always recommend to go to suburb areas of Tokyo for Sakura viewings. 

Even inside of Tokyo there are cities considered as suburb areas and also country-side areas. Tokyo is a prefecture mainly consists of 23 wards, 26 cities, 3 towns and 1 village. The 23 wards are usually considered as the center of Tokyo, so people often ask as "Is it inside of 23 wards?" to see if it is located in the urban area. The rest of the areas written as 26 cities, 3 towns and 1 village are called "Tama Area" which came from the old name of the area, and these are considered as residential area and countryside of  Tokyo.

26 cities of "Tama Area" would be convenient places to enjoy Sakura quietly. You can reach the areas mostly in an hour from the center of Tokyo, and won't see too much crowd in Sakura spots. If you don't mind to spent more time on trains and buses, the 3 towns and a village would also be wonderful places to enjoy Sakura and nature without crowds. What's more, in "Tama Area" you can also enjoy a wild type of cherry blossoms called Yama-zakura in mountains.

The photos above are all taken in Hachioji City which is one of the 26 cities. As you can see in the photos, you can find many kinds of Sakura almost every where all over Japan since a lot of places such as local parks, streets, riversides and schools. Hope you can find wonderful Sakura spots without a crowd in Tokyo!