Of all the sakura spots we've visited this season, my favorite has been to Inokashira Park in Kichijoji. Even the walk down to the park is super fun and full of cute little shops and restaurants. The park itself has a bunch of open space for picnics with many large sakura trees. The star of the park, though, is a large lake where you can rent canoes, regular paddle boats, or swan boats! Going out on the lake is the perfect way to view the sakura, as the branches hang beautifully over the shores.
We rented a couple of swan boats and paddled our way around the lake. It was super crowded, so we had a few laughs as we'd bump into other boats, and the kids had fun steering us around. I loved being with all of the locals (most of whom looked to be college-aged and were there having picnics with friends), especially the darling old couple in the photo at the top of the page!
After Peter and I got a decent quad workout from paddling around the lake, we got out and walked around, being sure to stop and get some ice cream cones, onigiris, karage, and other little Japanese snacks. It was such a fun day, and this park will definitely become a tradition for us to visit each year that we're here!
GPS Coordinates for Inokashira Park:
35.699805, 139.576975
The easiest way to get to this park is to take the Chuo Line JR train to Kichijoji Station and just walk a few blocks down to the park.
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