The experience of viewing cherry blossoms in Ogawara is pink and oh-so relaxing! The thirty-five-minute train ride from Sendai Station travels parallel to the row of cherry trees for part of the journey, so you can start your hanami (cherry blossom viewing) experience before you even arrive!

Welcome to the famous Hitome Senbon Zakura (lit. “one-thousand cherry trees in a glance.”) It’s actually more than a thousand trees, all planted in 1923. They stretch for about eight kilometres along both sides of the Shiroishi River. The grassy banks offer plenty of space to wander or find a quiet spot for a picnic. The most popular area is in front of the festival stalls, which offers musical and other forms of entertainment, as well as proximity to stalls selling classic Japanese festival food and drink—yakisoba noodles, dango (sweet rice dumplings), beer, and more!

Enjoy views of the blossoms from the water while sitting on tatami mats under a canopy on a yakatabune boat (no reservation required). It feels like being in a valley looking up at mountains of cherry blossoms.