I’ve shared several off the beaten path cherry blossom spots in Kawajima over the years, but now to one that is somewhat famous! Not Omiya Park famous, not even Yoshimi Sakura Tsutsumi famous, but known enough that this spot always has people at it. Despite not having any sort of online presence in any language, unless you count pixta photos for sale! However, some of the cherry blossoms grow beside the Umenoki Photovoltaic Plant, which has lots of information online in English, as supposedly its one of the most impressive floating solar systems in the world!
Cherry Blossoms Kawajima
The spot in Kawajima is called “sakura tsutsumi” which means cherry blossom embankment. There are hundreds (possibly thousands) of spots around Japan called the same! Even within in Kawajima there is another cherry blossom location of the same name! Thus, for clarity I will refer to them as the Umenoki cherry blossoms, as the area where the cherry blossoms grow is called Umenoki. Moreover, it is the name of the famous photovoltaic plant!…
Umenoki photovoltaic plant
Here’s an interesting tidbit. According to various English language Solar system websites, the photovoltaic plant in Umenoki is one of the largest in the world! Honestly, I wasn’t over impressed by just the sight of it, but after reading more about it, I’ve a new type of admiration. Until around 2014 reportedly it wasn’t just the largest in Japan, but the largest in the whole world! I am certainly not an expert on photovoltaic plant, just sharing the information I came across. A web search in English will bring up lots of information about the plant. However, most of the resources either call Kawajima ‘Kawashima’ or worse still, say its in Okegawa!
Umenoki Cherry Blossom Embankment
Perhaps one of the reasons these cherry blossoms are the better known among Kawajima’s sakura, is because you can clearly see them while driving along principal route 254 from Higashimatsuyama, heading toward Kawagoe. The embankment runs from the Umenoki reservoir, home to the floating solar panels, to Achitome Shokudo on the intersection of route 254 and 158. It is particularly well known among cyclists as its on a popular cycling course.
Unfortunately, I don’t know how many trees there are at this spot. It is a single line of sakura, i.e. not a tunnel, that stretches for about 600 meters atop the embankment. About 250 meters of the cherry blossoms fringe the reservoir with the floating solar panels. Unfortunately, it is also not an easy spot to get to or park at. I share it for those who live in or cycle in the area. And for those who prefer cherry blossom spots that are not all over social media! Well, not Instagram or Facebook, but it does have a lot of tweets about it!
A cherry blossom boat ride event in Kawajima Town this year
For the first time in 4 years, Kawajima Town will have a sakura boat ride on the Ando River in 2023. More on the event and the location:
Information
Sakura spot: Umenoki Cherry Blossom Embankment 梅ノ木桜づつみ
Bloom period: generally the last week of March and first week of April, but they are predicting all cherry blossoms will bloom early this year. All the photos in this post were taken on April 2nd 2022.
Hours: open 24 hours
Cost: free
Access
There is no parking at the site. Some people park on the agricultural road, but it causes awful congestion. According to Kawajima Town you can park at the JA (Japan Agriculture) Saitama Central Kawajima Farmer’s market. The cherry blossoms are about a 20 minute walk away. JA Saitama Central Kawajima Farmer’s market is less than a ten minute drive from the Kawajima Interchange of the Ken-o expressway.
The cherry blossoms are around a 15 minute walk from the popular Strawberry Hunt strawberry picking farm. Unfortunately, this area isn’t really serviced by public transport either. Really, the very best way to see them is by bicycle!
Official page (just a photo and map) on the Kawajima town website.
i just got heyfever looking at these photos!