Thousand Sakura Flower Garden

#cherryblossom2024 Thousands of cherry blossoms at a glance From the middle to the end of April, an eight-kilometer section of the Siroisi River bank turns pink. Hitome Sambondzakura, "Hitome's Thousand Sakura", is a famous place to admire sakura in the Tohoku region. More than 300,000 visitors come here every year. How to get there Sakura trees grow along the entire Tohoku Line between Funaoka and Ogawara; they can be reached in a few minutes. In Tokyo, take the Tohoku Shinkansen to Sendai Station (an hour and a half on the way). Another half hour south on the Tohoku line from Sendai Station, and you're there. Flowers on the background of mountain snow There are about 1,200 trees on both sides of the river. Don't be surprised by the different colors and shapes of the flowers: there are white Chinese cherries, terry cherries, and the most common variety in Japan — "somei-yoshino" ("Yoshino cherries"). About a third of the trees are over 80 years old. Get ready for a picnic Do you want to have a picnic during the cherry blossom viewing festival? Everything you need can be bought at food stalls or at nearby shops and supermarkets. You can have lunch by the river or drive to Funaoka Joshi Park, a hill overgrown with cherry blossoms, with a huge statue of the goddess Kannon on top. The park is a 15—minute walk from Funaoka station.