11 Sapporo Cherry Blossom Spots That Are The Best
Cherry blossom season is one of best times to visit Sapporo as spring has arrived, and the weather starts to feel a little warmer.
The season usually arrives a little later to Hokkaido and they’re usually in bloom between late April with its peak in early May, whilst it’s short, it’s one of the most beautiful sights to see.
You can pretty much catch sakura in most areas throughout Sapporo, even the stand alone trees are beautiful. But, there’s certainly no shortage of incredible places to catch the cherry blossom spots in Sapporo, as locals living here, here are 11 of the best places to make the most of this fleeting season!
11 Sapporo Cherry Blossom Spots That Are The Best
1.Maruyama Park and Hokkaido Jingu Shrine
Maruyama Park is adjacent to Hokkaido Shrine and they have a beautiful plum grove here, offering plenty of spring photo shoot and picnic opportunities.
This is one of the most popular places to view the cherry blossoms, so I recommend arriving as early as possible to get a good spot.
The peak times for viewing are between 10am-2pm. The peak of blossom season also usually coincides with Golden Week, so it can get really busy!
2. Hiraoka Plum Festival
How to get here via public transport: Shin 111 bus from Shin Sapporo Station (Tozai Line, JR Line)
Taking place at the Hiraoka Park Plum Grove, each year they host a famous 2-3 week long festival and it’s one of the best places in Sapporo to view a lot of the plum blossoms. This is home to a whopping 1,200 plum trees, so there are plenty of opportunities to get photos and find one to sit underneath for a picnic.
They also offer novelty plum soft serve ice cream, cream puffs and plum soba noodles during the festival.
3. Nakajima Park
After Odori Park, Nakajima is the second closest park and place to view a lot of sakura from the centre of the city. Enjoy the long row of sakura trees that line either side of the path in this park, providing the most beautiful photo spots. They also have weeping cherry blossom trees that drape over the lake.
As you’d expect, this location gets very busy during the height of sakura season. However, if you want to get some incredible, yet quiet shots, I recommend getting here very early at around 6/7am in the morning, or visiting later in the day.
4. Makomanai Park
Whilst this park is not in the city center of Sapporo, it’s one that only locals really know about, and it’s such a good gem off the beaten track, and one of our favourite parks in Sapporo.
It’s the last stop on the Namboku Subway Line and you can either walk or catch a bus down to the park. There’s a couple of areas with a row of sakura blooms and it’s one of the best places to bring a picnic and enjoy hanami (sakura celebration).
Like most sakura spots during the height of the season, it does get very busy on weekends and evenings, last year we came here during mid week for lunch and it was just us having a picnic!
Whilst you’re in the area, I highly recommend going to Rokkatei Makomanai Hall Store for some tea and cake.
5. Odori Park
The most easily accessible place to view blossoms if you’re staying in the city is Odori Park. Although, this park doesn’t have as many cherry blossoms as other locations, it’s still an iconic place to capture the blossoms with the TV tower in the background. If you’re here later in spring, make sure you check out the Lilac festival as the park comes overrun with the smell and beautiful view of lilac trees.
Make sure you grab the Hokkaido special corn and buttered jacket potato from the wagons whilst you’re visiting.
6. Hokkaido University
This iconic photo spot is renown for its sprawling cherry blossoms which take over the campus in early spring. If you’re looking for a much quieter, calmer spot, this is a fab place to watch the city turn pink, and mostly only locals come here!
You’ll also be treated with a view of tulips, magnolias and forsythia during the same time.
7. Moerenuma Park
Whether it’s cherry blossom season or not, I always recommend a visit here, it’s such an incredible park on the outskirts of the city. Because of this, it’s much quieter than the inner city sakura spots, and it’s an incredibly spacious park.
They have a cherry blossom forest with 1,500 trees! Rent bicycles and cycle around the park for a lovely afternoon activity. You can also watch the ‘sea fountain’ show here which is shown 1-2 times a day from the end of April.
8. Koganeyu Sakura no Mori (Koganeyu Sakura Forest Park)
This cherry blossom spot is much further out of the city, but if you have a rental car during your stay, head here! I also recommend tying this in with a trip to Koganeyu Onsen where you can hire a private onsen too.
Only locals know about this spot, and during mid week early in the morning you’ll likely have a large proportion of the park to yourself. They have a stunning forest of sakura trees to explore.
9. Former Hokkaido Government Office Building
I always recommend visiting this iconic building during a Sapporo itinerary as you can go inside and get a limited edition akarenga red sando biscuit that you can’t get anywhere else in Sapporo!
The stunning red architecture provides the most beautiful backdrop for the romantic, soft pink blossoms that bloom in front of the building.
Similar to Odori Park, there aren’t a lot of blossom trees here, but if you’re looking for a unique photo spot to tie in with your plans, this is the place to do it.
10. Asahiyama Memorial Park
Offering a panoramic view of Sapporo and the Sea of Japan beyond, this unique spot in Sapporo tends to be a lot quieter than other cherry blossom spots around the city.
Asahiyama Park is home to 2,000 to 3,500 cherry blossom trees which actually makes it the most plentiful in Sapporo, you’ll be guaranteed some beautiful photo opportunities and experience of cherry blossom during your time in Sapporo if you come here.
11. Shinkawa Cherry Blossom Avenue
This place gets its name for a reason. It is actually the longest straight cherry blossom avenue in the whole of Japan, totalling a length of 10.5km.
We originally spotted this place whilst we were driving past, and it’s just somewhere you have to stop and admire. Only locals know about this photo spot, and it’s definitely worth the trip out of the centre of the city.
There are so many opportunities to view the cherry blossoms in Sapporo, and I don’t think you can ever see too many. The season is fleeting, so enjoy every moment of it whilst it’s here!
