February is the best time to see Kairaku-en, because there’s a chance a late winter storm will deliver the amazing sight of spring’s first flowers peeking out from under a blanket of snow
Like cherry blossoms, which are beloved because their brief but glorious life is the perfect metaphor for our own lives, plum blossoms have a special meaning too. They bravely bloom when there’s still a chance of snow, when nothing else in the world is blooming or green, and nothing looks particularly hopeful. Which is why a trip to the amazing Kairaku-en plum garden might be just what we need right now, in our current weary world.
Plum trees in full bloom don’t hide their branches in a cloud of blossoms the way that cherry trees do—in fact, they’re prized not just for their surface beauty, but because they’ve got “good bones.”
The trees at Kairaku-en have been meticulously pruned for many years, and are shaped into ideal examples of what a plum tree should be. (Don’t you love the shadows they cast?)
Up close, the flowers are beautiful, of course
And they come in both single and double varieties
From pinkest pink
…to nearly white
…and sometimes both on the same branch
Or even in the same flower
Kairaku-en has trees that take every possible form, including many graceful weeping varieities
But what makes this one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan (and not just in my own imperious opinion!) is that it’s so vast, you can wander for hours and hours among blooming trees and never see the same kind twice
The paths wind through a valley where each tree is more breathtaking than the last
And sometimes they meet overhead, so you’re walking through a veritable tunnel of fragrance. Because unlike cherry blossoms—which look like they should smell heavenly, but mostly don’t—plum trees do deliver the sweet smell of spring
Naturally, all this plum-viewing makes you wish you could take it all with you…and you can! A stand selling bonsai versions of their most popular trees makes it possible to take home the best souvenir ever
An additional bonus is that the garden used to be the estate of a samurai lord, and you can walk through his restored house, imagining what it was like to be the kind of guy who sat on his veranda and gazed out on plum trees as far as the eye can see
Or stay inside and be dazzled by the famously gorgeous paintings on the walls like these of (what else?) plum trees just beginning to bloom
There’s also a bamboo grove that’s the most spectacular example of timber bamboo outside of Kyoto (not to mention the killer fences—I’m a sucker for Japanese fences, and all my favorite varieties are on display at Kairaku-en!)
And if all that weren’t awesome enough, during peak season the garden is lit up at night and open until late, so you can enjoy the trees again, in a whole new way
Hours: Mid-February – September 30 : 6:00-19:00 October 1 – mid-February : 7:00-18:00
Open: Every day of the year
Admission: Adults ¥300, Children (12 and younger): ¥150
Here’s where Kairaku-en Plum Garden is:
Here’s a more local map, showing where the nearest train station is:
Here’s how to get to Kairaku-en from Tokyo:
The Hitachi is a bullet train, so you will have to buy a ticket before you board, at the ticket office in Ueno Station
I used the Japan Navigation phone app to figure out this route, and you can easily use it too, with your actual date and preferred arrival time. It’s also good for finding the easiest way to get to Ueno Station from where you’re staying. Here’s where to get the app and how to use it.
Getting to Kairaku-en from Mito Station
It’s about a 20 minute walk from the train station to the garden entrance, but you can also easily catch a cab at the station.
Plum blossoms aren’t tracked as closely as the cherry blossoms, but all the flower seasons have been disrupted by climate change. Plums bloom at an especially unpredictable time of year (and the various kinds spread out over the course of a month), so it’s hard to know which ones are blooming earlier or later, but I can definitely say that in the past few years, the azaleas, wisteria and peonies have been finished before the time they usually start ( ; _ ; )
Japanagram 
With climate change, any indication that the mume have been blooming earlier than in the past?
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Plum blossoms aren’t tracked as closely as the cherry blossoms, but all the flower seasons have been disrupted by climate change. Plums bloom at an especially unpredictable time of year (and the various kinds spread out over the course of a month), so it’s hard to know which ones are blooming earlier or later, but I can definitely say that in the past few years, the azaleas, wisteria and peonies have been finished before the time they usually start ( ; _ ; )
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