Cherry Blossoms 2014: Kanazawa Report (4/12)
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2014/04/12 - Kanazawa Report
by raina
Today, I headed to Kanazawa, northwest of Tokyo, and the capital of Ishikawa prefecture. Being on the northern side and close to the Sea of Japan, Kanazawa sees heavy snowfall in the winter and has generally cooler temperatures compared to Tokyo and Kyoto. Because of the lower temperatures, the cherry blossoms also bloom a few days later. The city is accessible from Tokyo by the JR Joetsu Shinkansen to Echigo-Yuzawa Station, transfering to the Hakutaka limited express to Kanazawa.
Kanazawa city was announced full bloom on the 7th and now five days later, petals are starting to fall. However, the trees still had many blossoms and for those who are around the area, Kanazawa would be great to view the cherry blossoms over the next few days. Kanazawa city has many historical attractions, and I visited two of them, Kenrokuen Garden and Kanazawa Castle. With today's perfect weather, it was a gorgeous day for a gorgeous place.
Elsewhere in Japan, the cherry blossom season has ended for most of west Japan and started in the Tohoku region (northeastern Japan). Sendai and Fukushima had their cherry blossom season opened officially on April 7th and 8th respectively.
Kanazawa Castle
April 12, 2014 - petals starting to fall
My first stop today was to Kanazawa Castle. It was crowded with people when I arrived and visitors continued pouring in as the day passed. Entry to the castle park grounds is free, but there is a fee for entering Gojukken Nagaya Storehouse (310 yen). Restoration works to the Kahoku gate has been finished and visitors can enter the gate and view the interior. Hashizume-mon Tsuzuki Yagura, a turret guarding the entrance to the central area of the castle grounds was under construction when I was there. However, there is a small platform from which you can view the construction process.
The castle park is huge and there are cherry trees planted along a few avenues in the park. I saw many people picnicking and children playing on the park grounds. The cherry blossoms were still holding up well, though their petals have started to fall. If you want to see cherry blossoms that are at full bloom, I'd recommend you to come to Kanazawa over the next few days before the blossoms shed more petals.
Kenrokuen Garden
April 12, 2014 - petals starting to fall
Adjacent to the castle park is Kenrokuen Garden. Kenrokuen Garden is classified as one of Japan's three most beautiful landscape gardens, alongside Mito's Kairakuen, and Okayama's Korakuen.
Like Kanazawa Castle Park, the garden was teeming with people. It seemed that I visited on the right weekend as entry into Kenrokuen Garden is free for this weekend (April 12th and 13th). The garden is also illuminated at night from 18:30 to 21:30 (entry until 21:00). There was also a festival on the huge lawn across from the garden, making the area a hive of activity. Once more, if you are in the area, Kanazawa city is a great place to view cherry blossoms over the next few days before it's too late.
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