Earlier Blooming Kawaza-zakura 　　　　　　　Cherry Blossoms in Oita

Happy spring everyone!

We in Oita have indeed waved the winter season goodbye as we welcome the fresh crop of spring flowers these past few weeks. While we’re a short while away from April’s famous cherry blossoms, we have the advantage of an earlier viewing of these epitomized spring flowers in Oita’s Tsukumi city. If you didn’t already know, we’re
talking about the Kawazu Sakura cherry blossoms.

Visit this mining city in Oita’s southern borders, and you’ll get an early taste for spring with the Kawazu Sakura (or Kawazu-zakura) cherry blossoms as early as February. These cherry blossoms are also one of the
longest-running cherry blossom seasons, running a whole month before the petals begin to fall off the buds.
Drive along down the Youra peninsula coastline, and you’ll pass approximately 5,000 early-blooming cherry
trees planted by residents since 2005.

What makes a visit to Tsukimi especially worth the visit is the azure ocean colors combined with the pink cherry blossoms. You’ll likely see many photographers with cameras in hand looking to capture a perfect combination of these two colors or a shot of the many green-feathered and white-eyed Meijiro birds within the blossoms.

Kawazuzakura Observatory is perhaps the only official “viewing point” for the flowers, located on one of the
peaks of the peninsula, offering parking and epic views of the ocean. However, a Kawazuzakura visit is also
about driving along the coast and pulling over the local roads wherever the flowers take your fancy.

* Please note that locals primarily use these roads, so take care not to block roads and respect neighborly
etiquette of quietness during your visit.

As we look forward to what spring brings, we keenly await news when travel is possible again so we can
welcome you to Oita in the future.