in Kawazu, Shizuoka
The Kawazuzakura Festival is annually held during February in the small town of Kawazu, Shizuoka. The festival is to celebrate the early-blooming variety of cherry blossom trees, known as Kawazuzakura, named after the city. These unique cherry trees burst into vibrant deeper pink blossoms before the more common sakura varieties. During the festival, visitors can enjoy a range of activities, from trying local food to watching cultural performances. It's a great chance to experience Japanese springtime traditions in a lively atmosphere!
My experience
We visited the Kawazuzakura Festival in mid-February. It took about 3 hours by car from Tokyo. We visited on a weekend, but it surprisingly wasn't extremely crowded! There were parking lots around the river for a small fee. We only ended up staying a couple hours at the festival, but the Kawazuzakura trees were so beautiful!
Kawazuzakura are known for its larger petals and bright pink color. It was first discovered in Kawazu in the 1950s and the city planted the trees along the Kawazu River. The river is quite long (over 4 kilometers), so we unfortunately didn't have time to walk the whole way, but we ventured out near the area closer to the station where the food stalls were. While you can walk on the actual riverbank, be careful where you step! The path isn't paved so you will be walking on pebbles and rocks and there is a chance your shoes will get wet. The path along side the river is paved though!
The city has over 8,000 Kawazuzakura trees, so you can also see these trees scattered throughout the city and on the mountain.
The city also holds yozakura (cherry blossom illuminations) at night during the festival. We unfortunately couldn't stay that long though, because the traffic on the Izu peninsula heading back to Tokyo gets so bad during the evening on weekends!
Address
1-28-9 Nezu, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0031
Date / Time
February 1 - February 28 (in 2023)
Illuminations are from 18:00 - 21:00
Access
Kawazu Station (Izu Line) - 2 minute walk
Official Site
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