Cherry Blossoms 2011: Kanazawa Report (4/14)

Cherry Blossom Report 2011
Official cherry blossom reports by japan-guide.com

This year's cherry blossom season will be overshadowed by the tremendous loss caused by the recent earthquake. However, we believe that the blossoms will serve as symbols of hope and resilience and a source of motivation along Japan's road to recovery. With this in mind, we never hesitated to go ahead with our annual reports in order to inform travelers in Japan and readers across the world about this year's cherry blossom season.

2011 Cherry Blossom Forecast - Schedule of upcoming reports - Post your own reportPopular cherry blossom spots - How to do hanami? - Cherry tree varieties

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2011/04/14 - Kanazawa Report
by francois

Kanazawa's Loop Bus can be seen along the road between Kanazawa Castle and Kenrokuen Garden

Today I visited the most famous cherry blossom spots of Kanazawa and found the city's flowers to be at full bloom. From now and into the weekend will be the best time to see the flowers in the city this year. Today was the only cherry blossom report from Kanazawa this season.

One of the main benefits of visiting Kanazawa is the convenient location of its attractions, which are all clustered in the downtown area close to the station. The Kanazawa Loop Bus can be taken directly from the station to all of the nearby sites. Today I took a rental bicycle, but it is also possible to walk to the spots in around 30 minutes.

Kanazawa Castle Park
April 14, 2011 - full bloom

Kanazawa Castle Park consists of the castle grounds and its reconstructed buildings, which were made with painstaking effort to resemble the original constructions. The park has a beautiful open lawn area just after the main entrance through the Ishikawamon Gate, but there are only a smattering of cherry trees. The most attractive spot for cherry blossoms is a tunnel of flowers created by the trees that line the castle's northern moat.

Cherry blossoms surround the entrance to the park in front of the Ishikawamon Gate

The ceiling of flowers caused by the rows of cherry trees beside the moat

The one negative aspect of today's visit was the fact that the wall beside the Ishikawamon Gate is currently undergoing construction so that the area below is not as attractive for hanami parties as it was last year. There is also another good spot for hanami parties near the northern moat.

The area outside the Ishikawamon Gate isn't as attractive for hanami parties as it was last year

Hanami parties in a grove of cherry trees outside the castle's northern moat

Kenrokuen Garden
April 14, 2011 - full bloom

Just across from the castle is Kenrokuen Garden, considered one of the country's three most famous traditional gardens. The garden certainly is beautiful, and I enjoyed today's visit as much as my previous ones. There are about 400 trees across the garden, which are also at full bloom.

Cherry trees in the garden's Sakuragaoka area

Cherry trees accent some of the garden's panoramic views

Cherry trees also hang over walking paths, bridges and creeks

A cherry tree branch in front of one of the park's many pine trees

Kazuemachi Chaya District and Asano River
April 14, 2011 - full bloom

I originally didn't plan on visiting the city's Chaya Districts, but since they were so close I figured that I might as well enjoy their special, traditional atmosphere a bit. While I was there I noticed that the riverside Kazuemachi Chaya district and the Asano River had quite a few attractive cherry trees that are also at full bloom, so I decided to include them in today's report.

Cherry trees and children were numerous alongside the Asano River

A couple walk below cherry blossoms in the Kazuemachi Chaya district

A close up view of some of Kazuemachi Chaya's flowers

The flowers today were fantastic and I was also lucky enough to visit during a clear, sunny day. In my opinion, the very best flowers were technically not in any of the sites I visited, but were actually found on the rows of trees between the castle and the garden. Visitors to the area should take the time to take a stroll under these blossoms if they have the good fortune to visit Kanazawa in the next few days.