Central Tokyo’s cherries are at their peak and hanami is at its climax. Blossoms in the city reached full bloom on March 24, a full ten days earlier than average. The Chiyoda Sakura Festival, held every year around the ward’s famous spots such as Chidorigafuchi and Kitanomaru Park, was hastily brought forward from a start on the 29th and began on the 24
th. The same day the Imperial Palace’s Inui-dori opened to the public, drawing crowds… this year’s cherries are now in their prime. (The photo at right is the Mainichi evening edition of the 24th reporting the Inui-dori opening.)
The sakura festival runs through this weekend, Sunday, April 8; Inui-dori is open through Sunday, April 1. The Palaceside Building is a festival sponsor. It is normally closed on Sundays, but on April 1 it will open specially, unlocking the west entrance and other doors and running the indoor escalators. Some first-floor and first-basement restaurants and shops plan to operate (please check opening and closing with each shop).
A free shuttle, the “Sakura Festival Bus,” will also run on March 31 (10:00–18:00) and April 1 (10:00–17:00) for hanami visitors. Both days about every 15 minutes. As last year, a temporary stop, “Takebashi Mainichi Newspapers-mae,” will be set up on the ward road under the expressway behind the Palaceside Building (northwest), just before Uchibori-dori. See the map at the end for the route.
The Inui-dori opening is a one-way stretch of about a kilometer from Sakashita-mon along the west side of Hasuike-bori to Inui-mon. Some 43 Somei Yoshino and other cherries such as higan can be enjoyed. Last year’s opening was cancelled for replanting, so this is the first time in two years. It is one-way; you cannot enter in reverse, so please take care.
Leaving Inui-
mon, many people flow down Kiinokuni-zaka toward Takebashi (topmost and left photos). The Palaceside Building, too, has been much busier than usual this week, especially at lunch.
Including the special opening on April 1, please drop by if you come to the Imperial Palace area.
