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Yonomori Cherry Tunnel

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

Researched and written by Hinato

Yonomoricherry tunnelTomiokaevacuation zoneHamadori

Fukushima · Tomioka

37.3644°N, 140.9937°E

Yonomori Cherry Tunnel looks different depending on the season, the weather, and the time of day — none of which a single photo can tell you.

Yonomori in Tomioka has an avenue of about 420 cherry trees running for 2.2 kilometres, planted from the Meiji period onward, the oldest of them around a hundred years old. Their branches meet overhead and it is known simply as the tunnel.

In March 2011 the town was evacuated and Yonomori fell inside the difficult-to-return zone. The trees flowered every spring to nobody for years. Entry was permitted in stages and the barriers were rolled back further in January 2022, so that the full 2.2 kilometres has been open for viewing since that spring. The town holds a festival with evening illumination in early April. Some areas nearby remain restricted, and it is a place people come to for reasons that are not only the flowers.

Before you go

Access hours

Open access | Festival illumination in early April

Closed: Open year-round | Some nearby areas remain restricted

Entry fee

Free

Best time to visit

Early April for cherry blossom

Time to allow

60–90 minutes

How to reach it

Access notes

Yonomori, Tomioka, Futaba District. About a short walk from JR Yonomori Station on the Joban Line, or by car. Free to visit. The full 2.2 km avenue of around 420 trees has been open for viewing since spring 2022, after entry restrictions were eased in January 2022. The Yonomori Sakura Festival with evening illumination is held in early April. Some areas in the vicinity remain restricted — follow signage.

What to bring

**Some zones nearby are still restricted.** Access to the avenue itself was only fully restored in 2022 and barriers remain elsewhere. Stay on open roads and follow signage exactly. **Early April, and it draws crowds.** The festival runs on a set weekend with evening illumination, and the avenue is narrow. Weekday mornings are a different experience entirely. **The oldest trees are around a hundred years old.** Planted from the Meiji period. They flowered through the years of evacuation with no one there to see them, which is why this avenue means what it does. **Yonomori Station is five minutes away.** The Joban Line was restored through here in 2020, so this is reachable by train from Iwaki or Sendai without a car. **It pairs with the memorial museums.** Futaba is a short way up the line and Iwaki down it. Treating the three as one route is how the coast is usually travelled.

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