10 places for stunning plum blossoms in 2023

Looking for somewhere to view Plum Blossoms in Saitama Prefecture? We’ve got you covered with 10 of the best places to see plum blossoms. Also, we have plum blossoms that bloom from as early as mid January until as late as late March in this selection.

Plum Blossoms in Saitama

Each place is hyperlinked with a short cut – if you click the name of the place it will jump to the information about that plum blossom grove:

1. Ogose Bairin
2. Chichibu Muse Park
3. Omiya Dai ni Park
4. Koshigaya Plum Park
5. Shinrin Park
6. Kawaguchi Green Center
7. Hodosan
8. Fukaya Green Kingdom
9. Honjo Park
10. Kodai Hasu no Sato

The featured photo is from Honjo Park, which was added to the list (replacing Sakitama kofun Park) in 2023. Another change to the 2023 list is Fukaya Green Kingdom, which replaces Omiya Hana no Oka.

1. Ogose Bairin

You can’t mention plum blossoms in Saitama without mentioning the crème de la crème! Ogose Bairin is not just one of the largest in Saitama but it is one of the three great plum blossom groves of Kanto. It has more than 1000 trees, but in the general Ogose area there are about ten times that amount of plum blossoms. Plum blossom viewing is generally from mid February to mid March in Ogose. Every year Ogose Bairin have a large plum blossom festival at the grove. During the period of the festival there is a mini train that goes through the plum blossoms on weekends. In addition, they have live music performances.

2. Chichibu Muse Park

Approximately 600 plum blossoms of 15 different varieties grow in the plum blossom grove of Chichibu Muse Park. Chichibu Muse Park is a great park for families as there is lots to do with kids. For example, apart from a free playground, there are several activities you can pay for. Such as, renting bicycles including tandem bikes, play in a small arcade or on trampolines or in the trees at their treetop athletic playground! There are battery cars, a park train and for older children, a shooting game. See the full line up here.

3. Omiya Dai Ni Park

Omiya Dai Ni Park is close to Omiya park, which is famous for its cherry blossoms. Its actually one of Japan’s 100 Best Cherry Blossom viewing spots. Meanwhile, although not nationally famous, Dai Ni Park, is renowned locally for its plum blossom grove. There are approximately 500 plum blossom trees, of 40 different varieties, in the park. Best viewing is generally from the end of February to early March. They have a plum blossom festival annually during the period of bloom. The 2023 festival will be on from Saturday February 18th to Sunday March 5th 2023.

4. Koshigaya Plum Park

There are approximately 300 plum blossom trees in the Koshigaya Plum Park. They generally bloom from mid February to mid March, with best viewing in early March. They normally have a festival for one weekend during early March. At the festival they have live entertainment, events and festival stalls. However, the festival has not yet been confirmed for 2023.

5. Shinrin Park

Shinrin Park, aka Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park, in Namegawa Town has about 500 plum blossom trees. Moreover, there are a whopping 120 different varieties. Including 20 that bloom as early as mid January. They also have late blooming varieties. With the result, you can see plum blossoms in Shinrin Park from mid January right up to mid March. You can usually see a few wintersweet in bloom at the same time in the grove.

6. Kawaguchi

The Saitama Prefecture Flowers and Greenery Promotion Center in Kawaguchi has around 250 plum blossoms. The center serves to provide guidance on the production and shipment of plants and tree saplings, particularly of bonsai, for export. In all, the center has about 2000 plants and ornamental trees. The plum blossoms start to bloom late January, but it is generally not until the end of February (to mid March) that they are in full bloom.

7. Hodosan

On the top of Hodosan (Mt Hodo), in Chichibu, there is both a plum blossom and wintersweet grove. Until last year, 2022, they had two different flower festivals in winter: a wintersweet festival first, followed by a plum blossom festival. But in 2022 they merged the two into a “Winter Flower Story” event. It is not yet known whether they will be separate or joint festivals again in 2023. Hodosan is always a lovely place to visit, but the area is particularly picturesque, not to mention deliciously scented, when the tree blossoms are in bloom.

8. Fukaya Green Kingdom

One of Saitama’s best kept secrets, Fukaya Green Kingdom knows how to do flowers! Their plum blossom grove is small, but absolutely stunning. Furthermore, they have 100 different varieties of plum blossoms, all perfectly pruned. Moreover, you can see plum blossoms for most of winter in this park, as they have varieties that bloom from mid December and other varieties that bloom late in February until early March. The plum blossom festival is actually scheduled for 2023: for Saturday March 4th.

9.Honjo Park

Honjo Park is a medium sized park with a particularly good playground and several facilities including a nice barbecue area. The Honjo Park plum blossoms are new to the round up in 2023, after seeing them in 2022. (They replaced Sakitama Kofun Park’s plum blossoms). I hadn’t expected much when I went to visit them as I hadn’t really heard much about them. But much to my surprise and delight, they are a particularly stunning display of plum blossoms. They are especially photogenic thanks to the variety of colors. Moreover, there are early blooming cherry blossoms, ‘kawazuzakura‘, in bloom for about ten days that the plum blossoms are in bloom.

10. Kodai Hasu no Sato

You may recognize the name Kodai Hasu no Sato – it is a park famous for both lotus flowers (summer) and rice field art (autumn). The park has also recently become well known for its plum blossoms in Saitama Prefecture. Although young, thus currently still small, the plum blossoms hold great promise as they will continue grow over the coming years. There are approximately 200 plum blossom trees in Kodai Hasu no Sato. As of January 16th 2023 some of the plum blossoms are already blossoming, earlier than normal.

This is not an exhaustive list – there are plenty more places you can see plum blossoms in Saitama Prefecture. There are also places with weeping plum blossoms, such as Saimyouji in Kawagoe or Saikoji in Sakado. Have you been to any of these locations for plum blossoms? What did you think? Are there any other places you think deserve a place on this top ten places to see plum blossoms in Saitama Prefecture list!?