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Shizumine Furusato Park

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Shizumineyae-zakuradouble cherryNakalate blossom

Ibaraki · Naka

36.5018°N, 140.4186°E

Ibaraki has plenty of scenery; Shizumine Furusato Park is the kind that's worth planning a whole day around.

Almost every cherry blossom site in Japan is somei-yoshino, the pale single-flowered clone that blooms and drops within a week in early April. Shizumine is not. Its two thousand trees are yae-zakura — double-flowered varieties with dense pom-pom blossoms in deeper pink — and they come out roughly two weeks later, when the somei-yoshino everywhere else is finished and the crowds have gone home.

The park is twelve hectares of low wooded hill in Naka, laid out with paths through the trees, and it is on the national list of a hundred best cherry blossom sites. Entry is free year-round and even during the festival only parking is charged. For anyone whose trip to Japan lands a fortnight too late for the famous blossom, this is the answer, and it is almost entirely unknown outside the prefecture.

Visiting essentials

Best season

Mid–late April for double cherry blossom, roughly two weeks after the somei-yoshino peak

How long to allow

60–90 minutes

Hours

Open 24 hrs | Evening illumination during the festival period

Closed: Open year-round

Entry fee

Free | Festival parking ¥500 regular car, ¥1,000 medium, ¥2,000 large

Getting out there

Getting there in detail

Naka. Car recommended. Free to enter year-round. During the Yaezakura Festival, held in mid to late April, parking is charged at ¥500 for a regular car, ¥1,000 for a medium vehicle and ¥2,000 for a large one. Phone.

Beyond the guidebook

**Mid to late April, not early.** Double cherries here come out around two weeks after the somei-yoshino peak. In 2026 the festival runs 9–22 April; the exact window shifts a little each year, so check before booking. **Free except for parking.** Entry costs nothing at any time of year; only festival parking is charged, at ¥500 for a car. That is unusual for a site on the national hundred-best list. **Evening lighting during the festival.** Trees are lit after dark for part of the period, and the dense pink blossom takes artificial light better than somei-yoshino does. **Twelve hectares means walking.** The park is a wooded hill with paths through it rather than an avenue you view from one end. Allow an hour and wear something you can walk on grass in.

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