There are so many reasons to visit Japan, but one of the most common ones is to view the cherry blossom in April. Now that we have moved to Japan, I knew we had to make use of that one-week full-bloom period that we have, so after visiting Roppongi on March 31st, we decided to visit another spot on April 1st.
Chidorigafuchi appears on so many top lists on where to view cherry blossoms in Tokyo.
Hundreds of cherry trees decorate the moats of former Edo Castle around Kitanomaru Park, creating one of Tokyo’s most outstanding cherry blossom sights.
Source: Japan-guide.com
We took a train to Kudanshita Station and took Exit 2, because Google Maps told us that’ll be the closest exit to the park. We walked up the exit and the first thing we saw was this:
We were totally amazed. Even my hubby (who’s usually not as excitable as I am) took out his phone for a quick snapshot. Because the view in front of us really was amazing.
I mean, the cherry blossom trees along the roadways were amazing in Roppongi, but this was an entirely different thing.
We were surrounded by pink every step that we took and some of the cherry blossoms were actually touching the water and they looked so… Okay, I’m lost for words. Beautiful.
We still had some time to kill before sunset, so we walked in to the castle area towards the park.
There was nothing special with the park so we looked at our Google Maps again and found a way up the hill and found a walkway to view all the cherry blossoms from up high.
There weren’t many people in the area, so we could leisurely walk and enjoy the view… And what a view!
We then walked towards the main attraction area and saw a huge number of people crowding one little spot. You see, I’m way too short for situations like this. So I just took a snapshot holding my camera up high to see what the fuss was all about.
Ahhh, that view that you would see in photos and stuff! You could see the river and the cherry blossoms on both sides, and it was a gorgeous view although I could only take a few quick snaps because there was no way to admire it with the amount of people waiting to be next in line.
We then proceeded to walk along the pedestrian path.
From late March to early April, the 700 m-long pedestrian path will be covered with the blossoms of about 260 cherry trees of different species, such as Somei-Yoshino and Oshima-Zakura. The trees are lit up at night in the cherry blossom season, and a gorgeous tunnel of flowers creates an especially magical atmosphere.
You could basically see the cherry blossoms and the river from all different angles. And every angle looked so magnificent to the point that I wasn’t sure whether I should just continue taking photos or would I be “sakura-ed out” by the end of this walk.
The weather turned a little cold a little too quickly though. That’s the hubby putting on my scarf. I didn’t feel as cold just yet because… adrenaline, lol!
Yup, as I mentioned, every angle gave us a spectacular view! I ended up still taking way too many photos, oops.
There were loud speakers strapped onto some trees along the way, and once in a while, there would be some sort of an announcement. With our little Japanese, I couldn’t really understand much of what was being said though.
We then reached a platform look-out area where you could view the view (haha) and admire the Chidorigafuchi moat with the boats parked and the sakura everywhere.
But again, too many people. I still managed to find a spot though, because we were still a little early (I assume most people came after work to check out the illumination).
We waited for about 30 minutes to see the sky turned darker and darker. The weather too was turning colder and colder, but we were already there for way too long to leave now, so we must persevere! ;p
And finally, at about 6.02pm (sunset time), the lights were lit up!
We got to see a very different sight and it was equally as awesome as the afternoon view!
We could probably have waited until it turned way darker, but we were starting to feel really really cold. So I walked around and took a few more photos of the different angles (because this whole day was about taking photos of the same stuff in different angles, you see)…
And we called it a day! Well, almost. On our way back, I still managed to take a few more photos because hey the night view looked different to the day view, haha.
I don’t even think my photos could really capture the 360º view that was in front of us at Chidorigafuchi. But anyways, here’s a photo of me enjoying the view and posing for the camera! LOL.
The cherry blossoms in Chidorigafuchi is currently in full bloom and the illumination ends on Sunday, 3 April 2016. For those reading this after the sakura season 2016, then do have this in your “places to go in Tokyo” when you do visit.