Sakura Saku means ‘cherry blossoms bloom’ and it is the name of the Kasukabe Cherry Blossom Festival in 2023. It is an eight day long festival with many different parts, which I have tried to summarise below. Kasukabe Cherry Blossom Festival The 2023 Sakura Saku Kasukabe Cherry Blossom Festival isRead More →
Information for the 11th annual Fujimino Cherry Blossom Festival and the cherry blossoms in Fukuoka Central Park. Fujimino Cherry Blossom Festival Although, this is officially the 11th annual Fujimino cherry blossom festival, the area has had a cherry blossom festival for much longer. Once upon a time, when I firstRead More →
This post contains information for the early blooming tulips and other flowers that bloom in March in Shinrin Park, Saitama’s largest park in Namegawa Town. Early blooming tulips Shinrin Park, aka Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park, have a beautiful display of early blooming tulips again this year. In 2022, theyRead More →
Kaminuma and Shimonuma are two parks around marshes in urban Higashimatsuyama. They are a ten minute walk apart, but they are often grouped together as if one park. Kaminuma Park is larger and the main of the two. Neither are particularly exciting parks, but both are pretty in spring whenRead More →
The Hanyu Cherry Blossom Festival was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 on account of the pandemic. They had a festival lite in 2022. In 2023, the 35th annual Hanyu Cherry blossom festival is more like a pre-pandemic year, with one main day of events and light up during theRead More →
Information for the 2023 “Sake Jump” event, a type of sake festival, at the Keyaki Hiroba in Saitama Shintoshin. (Sake as in the Japanese drink!) Sake Festival Sake Jump Saitama The event is actually called “Dawn of Youth” 若手の夜明け in Japanese, but they gave it the name “Sake Jump” inRead More →
According to Saitama Prefecture, Yoshimi town is Saitama’s number one strawberry town. There are plenty of strawberry picking farms in Yoshimi and even their roadside station, Ichigo no Sato, is named after the strawberry. Even the town mascot is a strawberry! So to celebrate 50 years of Yoshimi as aRead More →
Temple light up and Turkey Syria Earthquake fundraising / solidarity at Saimyoji, March 2023. This post was updated on March 16th with even more new information for Saimyouji. I serendipitously came across a Facebook post by Saimyoji Temple this afternoon announcing a new light up event that started tonight. TheRead More →
Before the pandemic, the 1300 year old Koma Shrine had two different cherry blossom festivals each year. One is a blessing for all the cherry blossoms in the precinct. It also celebrates the 300 year old Higanzakura and 400 year old weeping cherries on the grounds. It is normally heldRead More →
Each year, in spring, the Dewa Community in Koshigaya host a popular tulip festival for just one day during the bloom of the tulips. The tulips are open to the public for viewing before the festival date. In 2023, the garden will open from Monday March 20th. Historically, the festivalRead More →