10 Beautiful Cherry Blossom Spots in Kawagoe

Ten cherry blossom spots in Kawagoe. The list includes “famous” locations as well as off the beaten path cherry blossom spots in Kawagoe. All locations are mapped on a Google My Map at the bottom of the page. There is another very special and completely off the beaten path cherry blossom spot in Kawagoe that is not on this list; you can check it out here.

10 Cherry Blossom Spots in Kawagoe

Introducing 10 places to see cherry blossoms in Kawagoe. Some of these places are well known, others are lesser known enjoyed mainly by locals, like myself! Please note that the “season” information is just a general guideline and not specific to 2023.

1. Shingashi River ~ Hikawa Shrine
2. Shingashi River ~ Benten Bridge / Chotokuji
3. Kawagoe Park
4. Oisezuka Park and Koaze River
5. Miyoshino Shrine and Honmaru Goten
6. Isanuma Park and Marsh
7. Kitain and Senba Tosho-gu
8. Nakain
9. Kawagoe Girls High School
10. Kawagoe Sports Park

1. Shingashi River at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine

The cherry blossoms at the back of Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine are probably the most famous cherry blossom trees in Kawagoe. It is one of the 100 best views of Kawagoe. The reason that the Shingashi River’s are better known is their accessibility for tourists, beside the famous Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. Moreover, they are particularly photogenic due to a traditional boat sailing up and down the river under the sakura. In addition, they light up the sakura at night. However, contrary to popular belief, the cherries were not actually planted by the shrine. You can find out who planted them and why here!

2. Shingashi River at Benten Bridge / Chotokuji

Lesser known than the riverbank at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine, is the 500 meter stretch of cherry blossoms from Benten Bridge down to the back of Chotokuji. But this is also one of the 100 views of Kawagoe. Here you can see both cherry blossoms and rapeseed (canola flower) bloom side by side. Unfortunately, I’ve no good photos of my own: the above is the best I have, but it was taken before the cherry were in full bloom. But you can really get a feel of the location from this blog post’s photos. In my experience, the cherry blossoms here start to bloom later than the ones by Hikawa Shrine, although they are only about two kilometers apart!

3. Kawagoe Park

Often overlooked, possibly because its on the outskirts, Kawagoe Park is one of the best places for sakura in Kawagoe City. Especially for the late blooming variety of sakura, a double bloom, called yaezakura. The featured photo at the top of this post was taken in Kawagoe Park. Thanks to the variation of cherry blossoms in the park, you can see sakura for longer than most other places in Kawagoe. Moreover, their somei yoshino, the most famous and common type of sakura, are incredibly beautiful here too. It is a great spot for a “hanami” (flower viewing) picnic.

4. Oisezuka Park and Koaze River

Oisezuka park is a small park on the outskirts of Kawagoe, relatively close to the Tokyo International University Kawagoe campus. There are cherry blossoms in the park, including a few late blooming “yaezakura”. In addition, there are more along the embankments of the Koaze River, North of the park. But the main ‘attraction’ is the avenue of sakura that runs alongside the south west of the park. There is a Starbucks by the park, off the avenue of cherry blossoms, that has a drive thru. If you are looking for somewhere for a “drive through hanami” in Kawagoe, this could be an option!

Don’t miss: another cherry blossom spot along the Koaze River in Kawagoe.

5. Miyoshino Shrine and Honmaru Goten

Miyoshino Shrine and Honmaru Goten are right beside each other. If you haven’t been recently, please note they are doing some work in the area and the parking lots are different than normal. For one, the large coin parking is currently unavailable. Moreover, the parking lot for Miyoshino shrine has shrunk in size! The little park by Miyoshino shrine is a popular place for hanami with young children due to the playground.

🌸10 cherry blossom spots in Kawagoe🌸

6. Isanuma Park and marsh

In the last two years, the Isanuma area has become well known for its autumn sunflowers. However, it has long been renowned for two things: bird watching and cherry blossoms. There are cherry blossoms around the marsh and in Isanuma Park, along the river. In addition, there are some early blooming cherry blossoms south of the park and the marsh, that bloom in early March. This is another great spot with kids as there is an athletic playground in the park, in view of some of the cherry blossoms.

7. Kitain and Senba Tosho-gu

One of the best cherry blossom festivals in Kawagoe is at Kitain. They haven’t been able to have the festival for the last three years due to the pandemic. And unfortunately, they won’t have the festival in 2023 either, for the same reason. However, the cherry blossoms will still bloom (all things equal). You can see cherry blossoms for free on the grounds, or if you pay into the Remains of Edo Castle, you can see more cherry blossoms there. However, you can’t actually walk in the garden, just admire it from afar. Please note that during the pandemic, the temple is only open between 9 am and 4 pm.

8. Nakain

There aren’t that many cherry blossoms in Nakain, but the ones they have are incredibly beautiful. Furthermore, they have weeping cherry blossoms that are famous throughout the Kanto plain. Moreover, they light the weeping cherries up at night throughout the sakura season. Even in 2020 and 2021 when very few places had sakura light up. This is one of four key sakura light up spots in Kawagoe (more on that to come in a separate post soon!).

9. Kawagoe Girls High School

Another of the top 100 views of Kawagoe is the cherry blossom avenue at the entrance to the 110 year old Kawagoe Girls’ High School. The trees were supposedly gifted to the school from the locals when the school changed hands from municipal to prefectural management. Furthermore, the building also moved location. It was around the time that Kawagoe was designated a city, so the trees are almost 100 years old. This is a popular spot for students to take commemoration photos.

10. Kawagoe sports park

This cherry blossom spot is more for locals of Kawagoe or Nishi ward in Saitama City. As the park is located close to the border of Nishi Ward. It is not that well known as a cherry blossom spot, so it tends to be less busy than the other sakura locations in Kawagoe during the season. This park also has a great playground making it ideal for hanami with children. There are some hidden sakura in the park too, so you can discover a quiet spot for an uninterrupted hanami. For example, there are cherry blossoms along a hidden trench as well as behind the tennis courts!

If you are visiting Kawagoe in February and / or you can’t wait until March to see some cherry blossoms in Kawagoe, check out this February blooming kawazuzakura spot in downtown Kawagoe:

Editor’s note: First published as a Google Web Story in 2020. Republished as a post 2022.02.04. Last republish March 12th 2023.