Tokyo Cherry Blossoms: Find Family-Friendly Cherry Blossom Viewing at Showa Kinen Park
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Tokyo's best spot for cherry blossom viewing with the family, or just a laid-back spot for a spring picnic, Showa Kinen Park is just a few minutes' walk from Tachikawa Station or a quick drive from downtown Tokyo.
CONTENTS
Why Visit Showa Kinen Park?
Showa Kinen Park is a sprawling green space outside central Tokyo, and when spring finally arrives each year, people arrive from all corners of Japan to admire the weeping cherry blossoms and picnic under the flowers. The park has somewhere around 1,500 cherry blossom trees, and while even one tree surpassing 50 years would be a sight worth seeing, Showa Kinen Park has whole clusters of them!
Cherry Blossom Viewing
The park’s most popular cherry blossom picnic spot is on the edge of a large field called “Minna no Harappa” (みんなの原っぱ) and it’s most easily reached via the West Tachikawa Gate (西立川ゲート/Nishitachikawa Gate), which is about 15 minutes away on foot—just about doable when this Japankuru team member visited with a little toddler. It’s a huge park, so if you end up entering via one of the other gates, you might want to hop aboard the adorable “Park Train” shuttle, which does an hour-long loop around the park.
It ended up raining a little during this family cherry blossom outing, but the pretty cherry blossom petals flowing along the little stream between the Minna no Harappa field and the neighboring Keiryu Plaza (渓流広場) was lovely enough to make up for the drizzle.
Other Flowers at Showa Kinen Park
Canola Blossoms
With 1.8 million square meters to fill, you’ll find a lot more than just cherry blossoms at Showa Kinen Park. Next to the cherry trees, you’ll find fields of buttery canola blossoms, setting off the pink of the cherry blossoms with their long green stems and warm yellow petals. Of course, with around 200,000 individual canola plants growing in a waist-high field, the wash of yellow is already impressive all on its own.
During this visit, there were even people taking engagement pictures among the flowers! There were plenty of families posing in front of the flowers too, and even people taking photos of their pets. That day, even the dogs seemed spellbound by the bright yellow flowers!
Tulips
Over in the Keiryu Plaza, the park boasts a tulip garden with somewhere around 250,000 tulips, blooming in a brilliant rainbow of reds, pinks, oranges, and purples. Just about everyone was taking pictures of the flowers as they wandered the garden paths! There’s a little pond in the park, so the Japankuru team was a little worried about bringing along a toddling toddler, but fortunately, it wasn’t an issue. Not only was there a safety rope, but the kid was entirely entranced by his first tulips!
Tokyo Cherry Blossom Viewing with the Family
All the flowers we saw on this trip to Showa Kinen Park—the cherry blossoms, canola blossoms, and tulips—are all within an easy 5~10 minute walking distance of each other, which makes it easy for anyone to enjoy the flowers and the warm spring breeze, including families with little kids. The grassy fields are teeming with little kids running around and enjoying themselves, running races or blowing bubbles, and the playground is busy with slides and a trampoline, with rubber pavement for safety. The gorgeous flowers and vast grassy fields at Showa Kinen Park make it worth a visit for anyone looking to enjoy cherry blossom viewing in Tokyo, but if you’re looking for a cherry blossom spot for the family, especially one for little kids, this is the place to go.
For more info and updates from Japan, check Japankuru for new articles, and don’t forget to follow us on X (Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook!
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NAME:Showa Kinen Park (昭和記念公園)
Just a mom doing her best to raise a child in Tokyo! Join me on family outings and keep reading for a variety of recommendations for families with little kids in Japan.
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