Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival 2024, the first day of the best-time declaration!

Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival 2024, the first day of the best-time declaration!

Hello. Today, I came to the Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival. I’ve been coming here almost every year for the past 20 years, but this year was probably the earliest I came. It usually comes in late February every year. Today is February 12, 2024. The last day of the three-day weekend. It’s now 8:10.

This year, due to the mild winter, the flowers bloomed about a week early. There are two other reasons why I came here early. 1. The weather forecast isn’t looking very good for a while.

2. The Kawazu cherry blossoms in Minami Izu, another famous spot for viewing Kawazu cherry blossoms that I plan to visit in the afternoon, are in full bloom. That’s right, the weather forecast is not good for a while. That’s why I came before it was in full bloom.

I learned later that today was the official declaration of the best time to see them. The declaration of the best time to see the flowers means “it’s the best time to see them” and is different from “they’re in full bloom.”

It’s a little early until the whole tree is in full bloom, but Minami Izu is in full bloom, and the Original tree of Kawazu Zakura and the trees upstream are in full bloom, so I came here today.

The row of cherry blossom trees in Kawazu is approximately 4 kilometers long. It seems that the upper reaches reach full bloom earlier. Even downstream, there are trees in full bloom like this. The cry of a white-eye is the background music for my video. I am grateful to the white-eye.

I hope I’ll be able to shoot a video of the white-eye again today. Today we plan to walk from one end of the cherry blossom trees to the other. I’ll probably have to walk about 10km.

We will also stop by Mine Onsen’s Spouting out hot spiring, Sakuramiharashidai, and footbath, so it should be helpful for those who are planning to come to the Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival. It’s still past 8 o’clock. Stalls are preparing to open.

The Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival is said to be visited by about 1 million people. It may be one of the most famous cherry blossom festivals. It is an early-blooming cherry tree that blooms before the Yoshino cherry trees begin to bloom, so everyone is paying attention to it.

Even birds are looking forward to spring. Cherry blossom viewing at Someiyoshino cherry trees is often done by sitting and eating and drinking, but viewing cherry blossoms at Kawazu cherry blossoms is basically done by walking. You won’t find any groups sitting down and partying here. In Japan, this is a bit of a rarity.

Cherry blossom viewing is usually about sitting around eating and drinking for hours. People who like alcohol make up various excuses to drink. But here, there is no space to sit and eat and drink for hours. This is because there are rows of cherry blossom trees on the sidewalk.

And the sidewalks here are narrow. At the peak of the season, it can be difficult to walk. I like this style of walking and appreciating cherry blossoms. There’s no need to take up space, and even if the flowers are in bloom, it’s still February and it’s very cold if you sit still.

Walking is good for your health. Today I can walk 10 kilometers while looking at flowers! As I get older, I get pain in many places, but I can still walk. Actually, this Kawazu cherry tree is not that different from my age.

The Original Tree of Kawazu Zakura, which we are heading to now, has its origins 69 years ago when a resident found a sapling nearby and planted it in his garden. Ten years later, when the flowers bloomed, it was discovered that it was a new species, and it was named Kawazu-zakura.

Approximately 50 years ago, large-scale tree planting began, and then the Cherry Blossom Festival began. The lifespan of cherry blossom trees is said to be 60 years, but many of the 850 cherry trees in the row are over 50 years old.

Tree planting began on the downstream side of the river, so all the trees in this area are over 50 years old. Therefore, it may be that the trees reach full bloom later than those on the upstream side.

When planting trees, there are some trees that do not grow well because the space between them is too narrow, and some trees become old and do not bloom. Normally, the trees would have to be replanted, but due to subsequent legal revisions, it is no longer possible to replant within the embankment.

The reason is that the presence of cherry blossom trees loosens the soil, making it easier for the embankments to collapse. In a few more years, we may not be able to see the same scenery as we do now.

The problem of old cherry trees is everywhere, but it’s a little more serious here because there are restrictions on replanting within the embankment. Kawazu is a hot spring town, but in the past it was not as popular as its neighboring towns of Atagawa, Shimoda, and Inatori.

Thanks to the Kawazu cherry blossoms, there is no one today who does not know Kawazu. It is said that the mayor at the time aimed to create a tourist area with flowers and hot springs, with the motto of “gathering many people with a small budget.”

I have been to Kawazu Bagatelle Park, a French-style rose garden built there, many times. One of my favorite rose gardens. Some people come by train, so for reference, I decided to come to Kawazu Station.

Speaking of Izu, it is “Izu Dancer”. The novel is a true story, so this statue is of the author Yasunari Kawabata and a dancer. Since the novel was written over 100 years ago, Kawazuzakura itself did not exist at that time.

I believe that the reason why one million tourists come to the Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival is probably due to the approximately 4 km long row of cherry blossom trees that were planted, as well as the food stalls and large parking lot. It’s nice that flowers like this are common.

I returned to Sasahara Park, the most crowded area for the cherry blossom festival. There is also a footbath and food stalls. As rape blossoms are planted, you can enjoy the collaboration of cherry blossoms and rape blossoms. I’m glad that many of the stalls at the Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival are run by locals.

I don’t usually eat at food stalls run by professionals. Takoyaki and okonomiyaki made by professionals are rarely delicious. Speaking of food stalls, Taiwan is famous, but they are clearly different from the delicious food stalls of Taiwan.

The joy of Izu is that there are many cheap and delicious citrus fruits such as mandarin oranges, ponkans, Kiyomi, and Haruka. I always end up buying too much. Prices vary depending on the store, so it’s fun to look around. I’ve been to Kawazu many times, so I have some favorite shops.

It’s around Sasahara Park, but there are many parking lots for buses and cars, so it’s the area with the most people. Pink, yellow and blue sky. . . There are a lot of people, so there are a lot of stalls.

I’m not sure whether more people come because there are food stalls, or whether the number of food stalls increases because more people come, but in any case, in order to attract a large number of people, we need many food stalls and parking.

It’s the same as the fact that there are many cherry blossoms, so many white-eyes will come. Kawazu has 4 kilometers of cherry blossom trees, many food stalls, and a large parking lot. It has been successfully turned into a tourist destination.

There are many food stalls, so it seems that the support of local young people and housewives is needed. There are also quite a few parking and traffic control staff. A festival with all local participation.

It seems that local people enjoy cherry blossom viewing either before or after the cherry blossoms are at their peak. At the Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival, you can feel the warm atmosphere of the locals.

The movie “The Izu Dancer” has been remade probably three times, and I feel like it would be a good idea to make a movie with Kawazuzakura as its theme.

“The miracle of Kawazu cherry blossoms that started from a single tree” A new species of cherry tree discovered by chance. The mayor struggles alone. Eventually, the residents formed a large circle and came together as one. What will happen to the old tree issue and the safety of the embankment? . .

There are many wonderful actors from Shizuoka, so I’d like to see a movie set in Kawazu, Shizuoka. Of course, I would also like local YouTuber Tsutsuken to appear. I always refer to his videos. As we move upstream, there are more and more cherry blossoms in full bloom.

The trees around here seem to be about 10 years younger than the trees downstream. The No.1 hot spring fountain in East Asia. you will be just in time for the 9:30 a.m. spouting. This is a nice hotel called Gyokuhokan. I feel a great sense of force. Hot spring water spurts out here.

I arrived 5 minutes early. A paraglider was flying. The view below must be spectacular. I’m seriously thinking about trying paragliding someday. The hot spring will be spouting in a little while.

It is said to be a self-flowing spring that gushes out 600 liters of 100 degree hot spring water per minute to a height of 30 meters. I’ve seen it many times, but you have to be careful about the direction of the wind. You’ll get wet on the leeward side, so look from upwind.

Also, if you come here, we recommend the famous hot water egg. Make your own boiled eggs by soaking them in the hot springs. Two eggs cost 200 yen. This park, called Mineonsen Daifunto Park, is free. The shop also sells cheap and delicious mandarin oranges.

It is a little far from Sasahara Park, the main venue of the Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival, and away from the rows of cherry trees, but please be sure to see the hot spring spouting. You can feel the overwhelming power of nature. And you can almost always see a rainbow.

If you are lucky, you can see cherry blossoms on the other side of the rainbow. Looks like the paraglider has already gone somewhere. Boil the eggs in this place. No one tells me the time, so I boil it myself for just 15 minutes.

The footbath here is also recommended, but I’m not tired of walking yet, so I won’t go in. The neatly lined dried fish look artistic. I returned to the cherry blossom trees.

The paraglider that was flying earlier must have had an engine, but near my home I often see paragliders that fly using only the wind. It is a mecca for paragliding with a nice breeze. That’s why I want to try it myself.

According to a paragliding instructor, many people start paragliding after retiring from work. Windsurfing, one of my hobbies, also uses only the power of the wind. This also doesn’t require much physical strength, so many older people do it. I have three weather forecast apps on my smartphone.

What I am concerned about is the strength of the wind. Actually, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow are predicted to be warmer and clearer than today. However, the forecast was for strong winds tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

Going back to what I said at the beginning, when I say “good/bad weather”, it also includes the strength of the wind. In many ways, windy days are not the best time to see flowers. Last year, around noon, the wind was so strong that it blew my hat off.

I want to see cherry blossoms on a sunny, windless day. I have come to Otokura no Sakura. I’ll come here again once the night illumination starts. This afternoon I will see the Kawazu cherry blossoms in Minami Izu and will come back here again. Today is a day trip.

When I lived in Tokyo, I used to stay overnight in this area, but since I moved to Yamanashi and it’s closer, and the expressway has been improved, I can now enjoy both Kawazu and Minami-Izu on a day trip.

At first, I started coming to Kawazu every February because of the Kawazu cherry blossoms, but in May I also started coming to Kawazu Bagatelle Park, where the roses are in full bloom. My recommendation for summer is, of course, cooling off at Kawazu Nanadaru Falls and having “wasabi bowl.”

I’m heading to the observation deck. There are many trees in full bloom upstream. The branches are large and the atmosphere is similar to Minami Izu, where I will go in the afternoon. Actually, I like the cherry blossoms in Minami Izu better than those in Kawazu.

Minami Izu has fewer people and you can enjoy the cherry blossoms at your leisure. The river is narrow, there are no fences on the sidewalk, and it feels like an original Japanese landscape. Minami Izu will be uploaded next after this video, so please look forward to it. This is my favorite place today.

Cherry blossoms in full bloom, birds chirping, and the sound of the river. This tree is in full bloom, and no matter who takes the video, it will be a picture.

There is a reclining Buddha statue in Nehando Hall. The length is 2m60cm. The Buddha statue at Wat Pho in Thailand is 46 meters long. I actually saw the large Buddha statue in Thailand and the small Buddha statue here.

Atami cherry blossoms are the earliest cherry blossoms to bloom in Japan, and the row of cherry blossom trees in Atami Itokawa is 200 meters long. Kawazu cherry blossoms are 4km long. I uploaded Atami cherry blossoms in three videos ago, but it was good even if it was small.

The previous video is about the local “Iyashinosato Nenba”. This is also a different scale from Shirakawa-go, but it is an original Japanese landscape. The next video is Kawazu cherry blossoms in Minami Izu. Although it is smaller than Kawazu, you can feel the original scenery of Japan.

Even though it’s small, there are many good things about it, so I’ll continue to introduce it to you. Climbing up the hill is a little tough. . . Above this is the observation deck. Oh, it’s already a carp streamer. The wind strength is just right and they are swimming well.

I walked all the way along that river to get here. It costs 200 yen to tour the Buddha statue, but I’m not sure if it’s okay to take videos, so I won’t do it today. It’s Nanamaru 70 cafe. There is a flower shop next door. Kawazu cherry blossoms were also on sale.

And this is Tsutsuken’s bike. This is the Original tree of Kawazu Zakura in full bloom. The Original tree of Kawazu Zakura blooms earlier than the cherry blossom trees, so if you come here just as the cherry blossom trees are in full bloom, the original trees will have begun to scatter.

It’s been a while since I saw the Original tree of Kawazu Zakura in full bloom. The tree is 69 years old. He’s still doing well. The miraculous Kawazu cherry blossoms began with this one tree.

Nanamaru 70 cafe, the Original tree of Kawazu Zakura, and Kawazu Kinomiya Shrine. These are some distance from the cherry blossom trees. Although there are no Kawazu cherry blossoms at this shrine, there is a large camphor tree that is over 1000 years old.

Compared to Atami’s Kinomiya Shrine, which has a large camphor tree that is over 2,000 years old, it is smaller in many ways, but I feel more comfortable at this shrine. Even when I come to Kawazu during seasons other than cherry blossoms, I always stop by this shrine.

Looks like Totoro lives there. . . Kawazu Sakura Tourism Exchange Center. When the flowers are in full bloom, traffic is so heavy that cars can’t move, but today it’s smooth. There are also few tour buses. 11:10.

I may have just not noticed it until now, but on my way from the tourist exchange center to the cherry blossom trees, I discovered a field of rape blossoms. They may be trying out different things for sightseeing. We are back at Sasahara Park, the main venue for the Cherry Blossom Festival.

I’m pretty tired from walking, so I decide to take a footbath. It was a little lukewarm. . . This train is the express train “Odoriko,” which will arrive at Kawazu at 12:16.

There are eight bridges along the line of cherry blossom trees, two of which are red bridges. This is Yakatabashi Bridge located downstream. The footbath at Sasahara Park wasn’t very good, so I decided to cross the bridge and take another footbath. A helicopter is flying, probably for a TV interview.

A large number of tourists are expected to come this weekend. There were fewer people today than I expected. Normally, if the flowers were in bloom this long, there would be a lot of tourists, but since they bloomed earlier than usual, it seems like not everyone was prepared.

There are four free footbaths in Kawazu, but this one is the most recommended. Yatsu Onsen, Saburo Kawazu’s footbath. The only downside is that the name is long. . . You can look out over the rows of cherry blossom trees while soaking in the footbath.

What you see there are cherry blossoms at the Kawazu Castle ruins. . . It’s about 30 minutes from the station, but there’s a steep slope, so I haven’t climbed it yet. I want to climb it someday. Today, I started shooting from the top of that Hama Bridge.

The temperature of the hot water is great! Get rid of fatigue in an instant. . . Seagulls are also soothing. thank you! It’s now 7:10pm. I just returned from Minamiizu. There is a gas station nearby that is run by Tsutsuken’s friend.

Gasoline was cheaper there than in my hometown. In addition, I also washed the car. You need to wash your car frequently during the winter to prevent the underside of your car from rusting due to snow melting agents.

This concludes this video. Thank you for watching until the end. See you again in the next video. If you enjoyed it, please like, comment and subscribe to support this channel☺ The next video is about the Kawazu cherry blossoms in Minami Izu, which are like the original scenery of Japan.

Today, I came to Kawazu Cherry Blossoms, which was the first day of the declaration of best time to view the cherry blossoms.
I’ve been coming here almost every year for the past 20 years.

Probably the earliest I’ve ever been.
The best time to see them has been declared,but some were in full bloom and others were almost there.

This time, we walked almost from one end of the cherry blossom trees to the other,
I also went to spouting out hot spiring, cherry blossom viewing platform, and Kawazu Kinomiya Shrine.

I would be happy if you could use it as a reference for sightseeing.

00:00 Opening
00:49 Hamabashi Bridge
09:51 Kawazu Station
10:44 Sasahara Park – Rape blossoms and cherry blossoms – Life-size panel of Tsutsuken
15:54 Mine Onsen – Spouting out hot spiring – Footbath
21:05 Kawazu Zakura Tunnel – Otokura Cherry Blossoms
24:25 Kawazuideyu Bridge – Cherry blossom viewing platform
30:12 Nanamaru 70 cafe – Tsutsuken’s bike
30:32 The Original tree of Kawazu Zakura in full bloom
33:15 Kawazu Kinomiya Shrine
34:47 Kawazu Zakura Tourist Exchange Center – Rapeseed flower field
35:44 Sasahara Park – Footbath
37:15 Limited Express Odoriko – Tatebashi
38:44 Yatsu Onsen/Saburo Kawazu footbath
40:33 Otokura Cherry Blossoms – Illuminated cherry blossoms

Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival official website https://kawazuzakura.jp/
Tsutsuken Kawazu Zakura and Izu bike https://www.youtube.com/@tsutsuken/videos

Date taken : February 12, 2024
Camera : SONY ZV-E10
Lens : SELP1650
Resolution : 4K

*Using Google Translate. Therefore, please be aware that there may be typos or omissions.
*Please note that the information in the video may not be 100% accurate.

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