The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Yaedake Cherry Blossom Festival

 

 

There are many cherry blossom festivals, or Sakura Matsuri, which happen throughout Okinawa each year. This year we headed to some of the Sakura Matsuri that caught our eye and thought that we would tell you all about them.  After heading to the Nakijin 6th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival we found ourselves driving around the Motobu Peninsula for a while looking for somewhere to eat. We were not anticipating heading to Yaedake as we had been there for the first cherry blossoms of the season but we drove by the entrance of the mountain and figured that we might as well head up that was and see the blossoms. As soon as we turned onto the road we knew that we were in for a treat.



The Good

The festival takes place on the beautiful Yaedake. On any given day this location is beautiful enough but during late winter and early spring the mountain road is lined with beautiful cherry blossom trees. The festival grounds are located at the park on the mountain. The park is great especially for little ones with a large playground area to include a huge roller slide. During the festival, however, that playground is just the beginning of the excitement. A stage and large seating area was set with various entertainment and food booths lined the entire perimeter of the park.



 

For the past few events we have managed to miss the festivities so the smell of matsuri food and the sound of music immediately put a smile on our faces. The booths themselves featured not only the matsuri food that you know and love as well as some special treats for the seasons. A particular booth sold sakura mochi another features hashi made from the wood of cherry blossom trees. There were also soba shops and some fried beef booth which was to die for.



Aside from the standard booth for food and games there were also other activities such as a velcro wall, bouncy castle and even this large pool of water that had these floating hamster wheels in them for your water treading pleasure. If playing in the grass is more your thing then there was plenty of space for that too.

The Bad

To be completely honest there wasn't too much that I would call "bad".  We did notice, however that there were absolutely no trash cans or bags anywhere on the property. Of course not having trash cans is standard practice in Japan but it's not often that you will see a festival completely void of trash cans.

 

The Ugly

The ugly for this event is the apparently broken men's bathroom. Of course this was not an actual reflection on the actual event itself but it was the only thing that we experienced that day that we could call "ugly".



The Conclusion

Overall the event was everything that we were looking for in a cherry blossom festival. The music, the food and no shortage of cherry blossoms made for a great time. Driving up the beautiful winding mountain road with the blossoms on either side of you is just wonderful and then walking to the site itself amongst the blossoms was just wonderful. You could also enjoy a walk under the blossoms on the mountain road as well but we opted out because we arrived so late in the day. Overall this is our favorite cherry blossom festival to date.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Nakijin Cherry Blossom Festival

It's that time of year again, that's right it's cherry blossom season! If you are like the thousands of other people throughout Japan you can't wait to get out and enjoy looking at the beautiful blossoms.



There are many festivals which take place throughout the island but this year the one that caught our eye was the Nakijin 6th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival which was scheduled to take place starting on January 19 2013. This festival takes place at the Nakijin Castle Site which is recognized as a World Heritage Site because of it's cultural significance. The event which included scheduled performances to include Eisa dancers during the weekend against the backdrop of the beautiful castle was too much to ignore so we make the trip up to Nakijin on the Motobu Peninsula to enjoy the festivities.

 

As we made the trip up the coast towards Nakijin Castle Site it was clear that it could not have been a better day. We knew that once arriving at the site we would not see full bloomed cherry blossom trees but the view from the castle, which we had visited before, would be amazing on a day as clear as this. Once arriving at the site we were directed to a parking lot by the staff and made the walk up the hill to the castle site. We promptly purchased our tickets (¥300 for children ¥400 for adults) after navigating through the thick crowds and made our way to the castle site.

The Good

The event takes place at the beautiful Nakijin Castle Site. This beautiful castle is very large and sits on a hillside. Once you walk up the stone stairs you will find yourself with a gorgeous view of the ocean. The view would be beautiful on any given day but on a clear day it will take your breath away.



The site itself also has some shops, food stands, lockers and rest rooms (including western style) near the ticket booth. This is very useful especially if you are one of the many who are making a long trip to the site and want to refresh yourself.



The Bad 

There are not many cherry blossom trees on site. Now, just to be clear and reiterate we went to the festival with a clear understanding of the fact that we were not likely to see many blossoms but the distinct trees seemed to only line the stairway to the castle. Inside the castle itself there were a few cherry blossom trees but from what I could see the main attraction was the path to the entrance of the castle.



Most of the trees were on the walking path leading into the castle, which included some stairs which can only be described as uneven and ancient. At times this made seeing the cherry blossoms a bit rushed and crowded. This did not make it impossible to see the cherry blossoms and enjoy them, it just require a bit more caution as to not knock down anyone who was trying to move past.





It's also important to note children who require a stroller may struggle with this event as there is no stroller accessibility. 

The Ugly

The flyers and posters for this event seemed slightly misleading. Based on what we saw in photos on the flyers it seemed as though we could have expected dancers and the concert in front of the castle, however, it turned out that we were mistaken and the performances took place in front of the ticket booth. Normally I would not classify something like this as "ugly" however the area in which the performance was taking place was incredibly small and obstructed the ticket purchase booth. It was also very congested because of the people who were trying to use the rest room, get some food, purchase goods, purchase tickets as well as the performers and equipment all shared the same space. The decision to have the performance here is still a mystery however we unfortunately decided not to watch either performance which we had planned on seeing because of the amount of people and complete lack of space.

 

The Conclusion 

The event is a nice one especially for those experiencing the castle ruin for the first time.  Cherry blossoms are icing on the cake adding something to the castle site which can only be experienced for a short time in the early spring. I would not recommend this event for those who are looking for an "intimate" experience with the blossoms.



If you want to attend the event it runs from now until February 3rd.

 

 

[EVENT INFORMATION - Jan 19 to Feb 3]

Snow may be falling in Tokyo but here in Okinawa it's already cherry blossom season! There are many places where you can enjoy watching the cherry blossoms but one of the places which caught my attention is the NAKIJIN 6TH ANNUAL CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL.

What could be better than looking at the cherry blossoms wile walking through a historic castle site? Seeing it all in a beautiful night time display of course!

The opening ceremony for this event takes place tonight (Jan 19) at 6pm. If you can't make it out there tonight not to worry you won't miss out on a good time. Each Saturday and Sunday during the festival EISA DANCERS will perform at the entrance of the castle starting at 5PM. On JANUARY 20TH Meio University will perform a CONCERT starting at 4PM and on the 26th of JANUARY you can also enjoy a performance of "The Wind Of Hokuzan" which starts at 4PM. All of these performances can be watched for free as they happen at the entrance of the castle, however, if you would like to walk the grounds and enjoy the cherry blossom's night time display the standard price of admission applies (300yen for children, 400yen for adults).

Here are directions courtesy of our friend over at Map It! Okinawa:

The most simple route is Highway 58 North to Highway 449, then on turn on Highway 505 heading towards Nakijin Village. You will see signs directing you to Nakijin Castle along the way.