Visiting Hakodate on 27th April for Hanami

Hi,

we are travelling to tohoku for hanami this late april, from 24th - 28th.

My missus suddenly wanted to include hakodate, since she said she had never been to hokkaido.

but when i checked previous reports, the sakura doesn't seem that great around 27th april for fort goryokaku. additionally, i will need to make sudden train bookings for hayabusa using our JR Pass.

so my question is :

1. is it worth going to hakodate for sakura on 27th april this year?
2. How late can i book hayabusa train tickets?

thanks for answering my question.

According to the forecast:

https://www.japan-guide.com/sakura/

The cherry trees will start budding on April 26th, and the best viewing time will be later than the 27th. This is still just a forecast. You may want to delay a few days.

actually, if i see previous reports, there's a high chance of an early bloom this year due to unusually warm winter.

there is a likelihood it'd be full bloom by 25th, if 2021 and 2022 is to be taken into account.

Regarding the train, you should be able to buy a ticket on the spot. No need to decide now.

You should be fine. I will be based in Aomori but the latest I can go to Hakodate is the 24th and I still want to go. I do hope there is an early bloom but I'm not expecting it.
Here is the latest forecast from JMC
https://s.n-kishou.co.jp/w/sp/sakura/sakura_hw.html?&yosou=1&f=cn_tn23...

If the season is early, yes, you could go to Hakodate. If you want cherry blossom with a basic guarantee of good blooms, go to Hirosaki - with 70 varieties and 2,600 trees, there will be some.

@jolinn

i am actually basing my prediction from this article :

https://soranews24.com/2023/01/12/japans-cherry-blossom-forecast-for-2...

2021 - 2022, there was a trend of full bloom by 25th april, as seen from goryokaku facebook page. by 25th april on those 2 years, there's an appreciable bloom of sakura trees.

i plan to visit kakunodate and hirosaki on 24th - 28th as well, seems like it's the best date for hanami.

@likebike

thanks! that means i don't need to book hayabusa too far in advance, right? even same day reservation is okay?

i m just worried on the may 1, if i should book my airport train to narita, since its golden week.

@japancustomtours

i have already put hirosaki and kakunodate as my must visit list. are there any spots in tohoku that can be an alternative to hakodate?

that link has a picture of the JMC forecast dated Jan 11 though. They are up to Feb 16 now. The link I posted is taken from the JMC page. I'm sure things will get more accurate as April approaches anyways.

@jolinn

hmm, i'm just worried about the hirosaki leg, would it be difficult to reserve hotels a month before?

hirosaki doesn't have lots of accommodation available, and i loathe having to stay in aomori, even though its' 40 mins away.

if the prediction isn't good for hakodate, i might schedule a trip to yamagata to visit tsuruoka jo

I've posted elsewhere on this forum, but I am visiting northern Tohoku from 4/20 to 4/24 and I'm not as worried. If I had your dates, that'd be even better.

I couldn't find much availability in Hirosaki when I booked this trip back in Oct/Nov. But I have 3 adults in my party so that may be different. I think staying in Aomori positions you well to see Hakodate and Hirosaki, even going down to Morioka or Kakunodate depending on conditions.

I think Yamagata, the city is scheduled to peak around 4/14. So Yamadera will have blooms a few days later.

Check https://japantoday.com/category/national/revised-cherry-blossom-foreca... as this came out a few days ago.
I have visited Hirosaki for the cherry blossom (and other times) many times, but never had a desire to stay there, always done it as a day-trip from Aomori.

@jolinn

thank you for your steadfast replies. i learned so much from you.

yeah, i actually hadn't booked any hotels yet in hirosaki, and i do often hear that from 25th onwards hotels in hirosaki will always be full. Aomori will be my 2nd choice for accommodation, only 40 mins away from hirosaki with more hotel choices. I just wonder how late can i delay booking my hotels, since i'd like to wait for the sakura forecast at end march.

when i took a look at your itinerary, i actually was inspired to redo my itinerary like this:

24th Koriyama - Aizu wakamatsu : visit tsuruga jo
25th Koriyama - Kakunodate
26th Koriyama - Hirosaki
27th Hirosaki - Hakodate
28th Hakodate - back to Nagoya.

Yamagata peaks at 14th, isn't it? or does it start blooming by then? when i looked at hanamiwalker, it seems that tsuruga jo blooms well into late april, but i've seen pictures in instagram that they started blooming from 13th april...

@japancustomtours

i dunno, i feel like staying near the attraction gives me more time to explore it. if i can help it, i'd have stayed 3d2n in hirosaki. but if there's no accommodation, i might stay in aomori. what are the best sakura scenic spots that i can explore from aomori, apart from hakodate, hirosaki, and happo park?

It's going to be different every year. When I initially booked my trip, I relied on prior year's reports and historical averages but now that we are within 2 months, I am relying on the this year's forecast which is updated weekly. I usually just base in a city with convenient public transport and adjust my plans accordingly based on the reports and predicted peak timing, which could even include changing plans the night before.

I highly suggest you bookmark this website I mentioned above.
https://s.n-kishou.co.jp/w/sp/sakura/sakura_hw.html?&yosou=1&f=cn_tn23...)
It is linked to the JMC predictions, which to me is as official as it can get but we're all human and even models can be wrong. It breaks things down by prefecture and if you click further, there is even a map of popular cherry blossom locations and even further detail on the predicted dates.

Aizu is predicted to peak on 4/14 and I'm probably going to visit 4/18. Yamadera is nice, there's no specific date for that but Yamagata peaks 4/15 and it is in the mountains so I would assume somewhere 4/18-4/21.
Again, for your dates I stay in Morioka and Aomori if it were me. I wouldn't stay in Koriyama as I think the season would have ended. I would visit Hirosaki, Kakunodate, Hakodate, as my priorities and then add on Kitakami, Takamatsu pond in Morioka, Yamadera as time allows. That's plenty. I also likes Matsushima outside of Sendai when I last went but that is more for coastal views.

@Reddy - staying near the place you want to visit is fine. I simply prefer not to have to spend time shifting hotels all the time. Delaying booking of hotels is, however, I think a mistake as availability will be less and prices do change.
And, yes, the core blossom season is some time away, but that blossom forecast is only for one type. Yesterday when I was out I observed beautiful cherry blossom, not quite full bloom for the particular type, and the other cherry trees in this particular spot had not started to bud up yet. Hence my recommending the Hirosaki Castle part as their season covers several weeks. Even in Tokyo the Shinjuku National Gardens official information lists a six week blossom period, so don't get too hung up on one particular day from a forecast for one particular type of tree.
One other spot not listed in the above posts is Kitakami - I visited with a group from Sendai as it was the best location that day in that particular year. However, I expect their 10,000 trees will be well finished by the time you are travelling.

@jolinn

thanks, reading your replies actually gave me lots of inspiration.

I think i should base myself in morioka instead. It should be something like this :

24th : Tokyo - Morioka
25th : Morioka - Kakunodate
26th : Morioka - Hirosaki
27th : Morioka - Hakodate
28th : Hakodate
29th : Hakodate - Tokyo

the only downside is that i need to travel for 2 hrs from morioka to hirosaki, but i suspect 6 hrs in hirosaki is more than enough, and i can always account for bad weather.

this itinerary will be easier for me since i don't have to move so many times. Initially my itinerary goes like this:

24th : Tokyo - Morioka
25th : Morioka - Kakunodate
26th : Morioka - Hirosaki
27th : Hirosaki
28th : Hirosaki - Hakodate
29th : Hakodate - Tokyo

@japancustomtours

my only reason to stay 3d2n in hirosaki is so i can pass 2 sunsets, and make sure i will be able to enjoy hirosaki during clear weather, or when its not raining. since the purpose of my tohoku trip is hirosaki, and hakodate is just an afterthought. But i guess we will tire ourselves moving around too much. I had actually budgeted to visit kitakami tenshochi on my last day in morioka since it's only 50 mins away, and i figure 1 hour is enough for tenshochi.