Cherry Blossom Viewing Spots Within 1 Hour of Tokyo

If you're staying in Ikebukuro or Shinjuku and want to visit a less crowded cherry blossom viewing spot, we recommend Hikawa Shrine in Kawagoe City, just outside Tokyo. The shrine itself isn't large, but walk through it and you'll find cherry blossoms lining the riverbank, and best of all, very few people! ⛩️ Hikawa Shrine (ひかわじんじゃ) 📌 2-11-3 Miyashita-machi, Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture 🚊 From Ikebukuro, take the Tobu Tojo Line Express; from Shinjuku, take the Seibu Shinjuku Line Express. It takes about half an hour to reach Kawagoe Station, then transfer to a bus for about 15 minutes. ⛩️ Kawagoe has many well-preserved buildings from the Edo period, earning it the nickname "Little Edo." 🌸 The cherry blossoms here line both sides of the Shingashi River. When the wind blows, you can see petals gently falling into the river. Imagine how beautiful it must be 2–7 days after full bloom, when the water's surface is covered with a layer of cherry blossom petals! 🎐 If you come in the summer, you can experience the "Enmusubi Wind Chime Festival." The long corridor adorned with wind chimes is incredibly beautiful, and the gentle breeze creates a pleasant ringing sound. 🐟 This is also a great place to pray for good luck in love. Hikawa Shrine has a unique fortune-telling method where you can fish for a "tai" (sea bream) charm for 300 yen. It's novel and fun. The amulets here are also very beautiful, and a shrine maiden will ring a bell and pray for you.