Matsumae Park Cherry Blossoms 2027 Dates TBA

松前公園の桜 — Matsumae, Hokkaido (Hokkaido)

Last updated: Fri, October 30, 2026

Matsumae Park holds around 10,000 cherry trees across roughly 250 varieties, including about 100 found nowhere else, blooming in a staggered relay from late April to late May that makes it one of Japan's longest cherry blossom seasons.

Background

Matsumae, the historic seat of the only feudal domain in Hokkaido, developed and cultivated many of its own unique cherry varieties over generations; the town's 1854 castle, rebuilt in the 1960s, anchors the park where those local varieties were later collected and planted together.

Getting there

About a 7-minute walk from the Matsujo bus stop, roughly 90 minutes by bus from Hakodate.

Tips

• Because different varieties peak in sequence over about a month, checking which varieties are currently blooming, not just a single 'peak date', matters more here than almost anywhere else in Japan.
• As Hokkaido's earliest and most famous hanami spot, it typically blooms weeks before the rest of the island, giving Hakodate-area travelers two separate cherry blossom windows in one spring.
• Matsumae plants around 250 varieties across roughly 10,000 trees timed to bloom in relay — early, then mid, then late varieties — so the viewing season runs about a month (in 2026: the festival spans Apr 18 – May 10) rather than the usual week or two.
• This is Hokkaido's only Japanese-style castle, so the white keep against the blossoms is a specifically Hokkaido version of a scene usually associated with Honshu.
• The light-up uses dedicated LED fixtures rather than paper lanterns, run from sunset to 9:00pm and adjusted to whichever part of the 250-variety collection is currently peaking.

Maintained by Tetsu Yamamoto · Last verified against the official source: Fri, October 30, 2026