Stalking the forecasts and real-time IG stories of the places I plan on visiting, here is my somewhat final itinerary for my upcoming Tokyo-Tohoku trip on April. I will be using the 6-day JR East-South Hokkaido Pass. Feel free to give suggestions.
Apr 14 (Fri)
– Arrive at Narita around 12noon. I expect to take a bit of time in the JR East office at the airport to exchange my passes and make shinkansen seat reservations (my friend who’s a local in Tokyo noticed that trains, especially last trains are packed! She even posted an IG story where people were already standing in the aisle of the shinkansen)
– Check-in to Ueno hotel
– Explore Daikanyama and Shibuya
Apri 15 (Sat) – D1 pass
– 6am Ueno to Sendai (1.5hrs)
– 8am Leave luggage at Sendai hotel
– Tour Shiogama Shrine and Matsushima bay
– *Links regarding the Shiogama Shrine Spring Light-up would be appreciated. So far [this page](https://visitmiyagi.com/events_festivals/shiogama-shrine-spring-light-up/) says Apr17-18 but it seems too late as far as sakura forecast goes
– Stay in Sendai
– **Shiogama full bloom Apr 8
Apr 16 (Sun) – D2 pass
– 7am Sendai-Yamadera (1hr)
– *How long is the hike up to Yamadera temple?
– Yamagata after lunch till sundown
– Stay in Sendai
– *I originally wanted to go to Funaoka in the morning but it’s almost full bloom as of posting so I don’t think I’ll catch anything on my dates so I revised my plan
– **Full bloom Yamagata Tsuruoka Park Apr 8 / Tendo Park Apr 13
Apr 17 (Monday) – D3 pass
– 7am Sendai-Hiraizumi (50min)
– Leave luggage at station, rent a bike
– *Since temples don’t open until 8:30, would it be enough time for me to see everything until 12noon? Rapid 39min train is 12:22pm otherwise I’ll have to catch the the 1.5hr train at 1:21 🙃
– 12pm Hiraizumi-Morioka (39min)
– 1pm leave luggage at hotel, lunch, maybe check Morioka Castle ruins if not tired
– 3pm hotel check-in, rest
– 4pm Morioka-Kitakami (20min, shinkansen 1/hr only
– Kitakami cherry blossom festival until night
– Stay in Morioka
– **Full bloom Hiraizumi Apr 10 / Kitakami Apr 14
Apr 18 (Tue) – D4 pass
– 5:30am sunrise at Morioka Castle and/or Takamatsu depending on laziness lol
– 8:50am Morioka-Aomori (1hr15min)
– 3:56pm rapid train Aomori-Hirosaki (34min)
– 5pm Check-in to Hirosaki hotel
– Hirosaki Park for sunset and illumination (if there is, since offical festival starts Apr 21 but based on previous years’ vlogs lighting starts ahead of festival)
– **Full bloom Morioka Castle Apr 11 / Takamatsu Pond Apr 13
– **Full bloom Hirosaki Park Apr 17 / Aomori Happo Park Apr 19
Apr 19 (Wed) – D5 pass
– Full day Hirosaki, bike around
– Send luggage to Tokyo via hotel
– Cafe/restaurant recos?
– Possible sidetrips? Ashino Lake is interesting but takes 1.5hrs and too infrequent afternoon trains
Apr 20 (Thurs) – D6 pass
– 6:30am Hirosaki-Akita (2hrs18min)
– Akita castle ruins and museum
– 1pm Akita-Kakunodate
– *Kakunodate cherry blossom festival has been moved from Apr20 to Apr15
– 6:58pm Kakunodate-Tokyo (3hrs)
– Stay in Ginza
– **Full bloom Akita Castle Park Apr 13 / Kakunodate Apr 17 / Hinokinai River Apr 18
Apr 21 (Fri)
– 10am TeamLab planets (booked)
– 2pm Tokyo Ad Museum
– Ginza shopping
– 5pm Kameido Tenjin Shrine Wisteria Festival
– *Hopefully arrival of luggage from Hirosaki
Apr 22 (Sat)
– 10am brunch at Jiyugaoka
– 12nn Harajuku-Omotesando-Aoyama shopping
– 5pm Shibuya Sky (booked)
Apr 23 (Sun)
– 8:30am Nezu Shrine (depends on Azelea blooms)
– 10am Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art to check if I can get same-day ticket to Dior exhibit
– 10:30am Kiyosumi-Shirakawa coffee crawl
– Last minute shopping at Shinjuku or Ginza depending on time
– *Ginza rooftop recos?
– 5:30pm head to Narita Airport
Useful Links:
– [Cherry Blossom Festivals](https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0004909/)
– [General Sakura Forecast](https://www.japan-guide.com/sakura/)
– [Detailed Tohoku Sakura Forecast](https://s.n-kishou.co.jp/w/sp/sakura/sakura_hw.html?&yosou=1&f=cn_tn230323#touho)
2 comments
On April 20, I’d go straight to Kakunodate as I spent the whole day wandering around there and it wasn’t even peak bloom. From the river, to the weeping cherry trees in town, to the cherry bark museum, to all the samurai houses and shops. I really think just the afternoon would be too short. I thought I would stay for just the morning but ended up being there from 9 am until 7 pm cuz I just kept discovering things to do. I would recommend not getting a seat reservation for the Shinkansen from Kakunodate back to Tokyo in advance. There’s a small ticket window right at Kakunodate station where you can get your departure seat assignment on the next train when you’re ready to leave. This way you aren’t too rushed on that day.
– [Aomori/Akita: Cherry Blossoms and Samurai History using the 5-day JR East Tohoku Pass](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/nahtfk/chasing_cherry_blossoms_in_aomori_and_samurai/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
if you are already in kakunodate, tazawako is fairly close by and a nice lake – they also have a fantastic brewery (tazawako beer) and you can try kiritanpo there (tho they serve that elsewhere too). inaniwa noodles at sato yosuke, some of the locations are set in traditional historic buildings. there’s a number of things each prefecture is known for, so you can try checking those out online. Kakunodate is also known for kabazaiku – traditional lacquered cherry bark. if you like pickles, you can also try iburigakko (smoked and pickled radish), it’s intense but really different from other pickles i’ve ever tried and i love it. it’s not typically served at restaurants, but you can pick up a pack at a gift shop. if you like the outdoors at all, you could try to see if there any trails that are easily accessible, i’ve heard they are great (never done it myself). enjoy your visit 🙂