Bunkyo Azalea Festival at Nezu Shrine
The Bunkyo Azalea Festival is currently taking place at Nezu Shrine. Its garden contains more than 3,000 azalea plants.
matsuri
Oedo Fukagawa Cherry Blossom Festival
The Oedo Fukagawa Cherry Blossom Festival is held in Fukagawa, in Koto City, east of the Sumida River. The area has large canals lined with many cherry trees. Although I did not get to ride them, boat cruises were available during the festival to see the flowers from a different angle.
Kanamara Matsuri (Festival of the Steel Phallus) in Kawasaki
The Kanamara Matsuri (かなまら祭り, “Festival of the Steel Phallus”), aka the Penis Festival, is a shinto festival celebrating fertility, long marriages and healthy births. It is held each spring at the Kanayama Shrine (金山神社) in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, just south of Tokyo. The penis, as the central theme of the event, is reflected in illustrations, candy, carved vegetables, decorations, and a mikoshi parade.
Cherry blossoms along the Meguro River
Just like the Kanda River, the Meguro River in southern Tokyo is lined with concrete and cherry trees. It is a very popular spot during cherry blossom season and, even on a week day, it was quite crowded. The path starts at Ikejiri-Ohashi station near the Meguro Sky Garden. The crowd thins out considerably east of Meguro station but there are still cherry trees all the way to Shinagawa.
Sumida Park Cherry Blossom Festival
Sumida Park straddles both sides of the Sumida River near Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa. It contains a large number of cherry trees that make it a very popular spot during cherry blossom season. I went there after Ueno Park, since it is quite close.
Ueno Cherry Blossom Festival
Ueno Park is one of the most popular spots for hanami in Tokyo. During the festival, 1000 lanterns illuminate the park at night. There are also other events.
Chiyoda Cherry Blossom Festival
The Sakura front has finally reached Tokyo! The city is now covered in white from the cherry blossoms. On Saturday, I went to Yasukuni shrine and the Chidorigafuchi area (north of the imperial palace) for the Chiyoda Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Festival). Although peak bloom was supposed to start a few days later, it was already quite spectacular.
Plum Festival at Yoshino Baigo in Ome
The Yoshino Baigo Plum Festival in Ome City is taking place until the end of March. It features more than 1,000 plum trees displaying white and pink flowers, which makes it the largest plum festival in Tokyo. The closest station is Hinatawada on the Okutama line.
Chrysanthemum Festival at Yushima Tenjin Shrine
The kiku (chrysanthemum) is not only the ‘imperial flower’ of Japan but it’s also one of the symbolic flowers of autumn. There are many festivals celebrating the flower in Tokyo. The 35th Chrysanthemum Matsuri of Yushima Tenjin (near Ueno Park) took place last November.
Nezu Shrine Festival
I attended a matsuri (Japanese festival) at the Nezu Shrine last week-end. It featured stalls with greasy food and games for children but the main event was the presentation of the mikoshi, a portable shinto shrine that looks like a miniature building.