Plum blossoms (Ume in Japanese) are popular seasonal flowers in Japan which bloom from February to March, before cherry blossoms. There are numbers of great places with plum trees in Japan, and also plum blossom festivals are held across the country from mid February through March. If you are planning to visit Japan during the period, don’t miss a chance to indulge yourself by viewing pleasant plum blossoms.

-Plum Blossoms in Japan

Plum blossoms (Ume) are often compare to cherry blossoms (Sakura) as their appearances are quite similar. Both flowers have petals with colours varying from light to dark pink, but the shape of their petals are different as plum blossom has a round shaped petal while cherry blossom has a little splits at the tip of the petal.

Plum blossoms have a long history and played important roles in Japanese history, however, they seem to be overshadowed by cherry blossoms in the past years, and haven’t been under the spotlights of tourists attention, despite that plum blossoms are equally beautiful as cherry blossoms.

While cherry tree’s blooming period is usually around 7–10 days, plum blossoms can be enjoyed with much longer period for about a month. If you wish to avoid huge crowds during the cherry blossom season in Japan, viewing plum blossoms could be an amazing option.

In this article, I would like to introduce some of the most stunning plum blossom spots in Japan, so let’s check them out 🙂

Moreover, around the same time with the plum blossom season, you can enjoy early blooming cherry blossoms called Kawazu Zakura, which blooms usually from early February to early March. You can check the best Kawazu Zakura spots in Japan HERE ▶ Best Early Blooming Cherry Blossom Spots in Japan

Best Places to See Plum Blossoms in Japan

1. Hanamiyama Park

Hanamiyama Park (花見山公園) is a park located on the slope of the mountain on the outskirts of Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture.

It’s one of the best places to enjoy flower viewing in Japan, and especially popular for cherry blossoms. The privately owned park is open to public for free during the season.

The park is home to a wide variety of flowers including plums, peaches, cherries, forsythia, magnolia and camellia, which flourish colourfully and cover the hillside of the mountain from March to April. The picturesque view of the flower-filled mountain is often described as a Shangri-La in real life.

Approx 300 plum trees are planted at the site and they are the first flowers to bloom in the park, delivering the announcement of spring arrival. The flowers can be enjoyed with the magnificent view of the mountain range in the background.

For more information about Hanamiyama Park, check the link below:

2. Kairakuen

Kairakuen Garden (偕楽園) is a spacious Japanese landscape garden located in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture.

Kairakuen Garden is counted as one of the three greatest gardens in Japan along with Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa City and Korakuen Garden in Okayama City.

Impressive 3,000 plum trees in over 100 variety are planted in the garden site and bloom colourfully from February to March. Mito Plum Blossom Festival is held during the peak season of the blossoms for about 45 days.

The gorgeous collaboration of plum blossoms and traditional Japanese landscape garden is simply breathtaking. During the festival, there are also some special events such as light-up of the trees at night, food vendors, tea ceremony and more.

See the link below for more information about Mito Plum Blossom Festival at Kairakuen Garden:

3. Yushima Tenmangu

While many spectacular plum gardens are located countryside in Japan, you can still enjoy beautiful plum blossoms within Tokyo, too.

Bunkyo Plum Blossom Festival at Yushima Tenmangu Shrine (湯島天満宮 ) is one of the most popular flower events in Tokyo, featuring over 300 plum trees blooming beautifully at the historical shrine. Festival is held from early February to early March, featuring special events, performances and light-up of trees at night.

If you don’t have time to travel outside of the city, you should definitely visit Bunkyo Plum Blossom Festival in Tokyo!

Check the link below for more details about Bunkyo Plum Festival:

4. Inabe Plum Grove

Inabe Plum Grove (いなべ梅林) is located within the Agriculture Park near the base of Suzuka Mountain Range in Inabe City, Mie Prefecture.

It’s one of the largest plum gardens in the country with over 4,500 plum trees in 100 varieties planted in the vast space of 38ha. The plum trees flourish colourfully throughout March, and Inabe Plum Festival (or Inabe Ume Matsuri) is held every year, attracting visitors from all over Japan.

Visitors can walk through the pink forest of plum blossoms, and enjoy the magnificent view of colourful plum blossoms with the great mountain on background. There is also a market offering local products during the festival.

Check more information about Inabe Plum Festival:

5. Suzuka Forest Garden

About 40km southwest of Inabe Plum Grove, there is another spectacular plum blossom viewing spot, Suzuka Forest Garden (鈴鹿の森庭園) which is situated near the famous motor racing course, Suzuka Circuit.

Suzuka Forest Garden is a landscape garden and known for the spectacular Weeping Plum (Shidare Ume). There are about 200 weeping plum trees in the garden, blooming in white, pink and red with beautiful gradation. The plum trees at the garden is maintained regularly by highly skilled gardeners and of trees are as tall as 6 meters.

Suzuka Forest Garden Plum Blossom Festival is held from late February throughout March every year. During the peak season, the garden is open till 9 pm for light-up of plum trees.

Check the link below for more information about Suzuka Forest Garden:

Thanks for reading! Which plum blossom viewing spot do you want to visit most?? As you can see from these photos above, plum blossoms are absolutely gorgeous and as beautiful as cherry blossoms!

As plum blossoms are not as hugely famous among tourists in Japan comparing to cherry blossoms, it’s very possible that you can enjoy viewing the blossoms with more pleasant and peaceful atmosphere without big crowds 🙂

There are many more amazing seasonal flower spots during spring and summer in Japan. If you are interested, please check out these articles, too!

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