Japan Navigator

What is the best sakura (cherry blossom) viewing spot in the wider Kobe area?

The best spot to enjoy both the sakura themselves and the hanami people engaged in viewing them is Shukugawa Park, in the western part of Nishinomiya, which was included in the top of the “Hundred Sakura Viewing Places” selected in 1990. The sakura here were planted under the guidance of Mr Sasabe Shintaro (1887-1978), Japan’s foremost sakura-expert and biologist, who lived in Nishinomiya (he also collected art on the theme of sakura, and his collection is on view in the Hakushika Memorial Sake Museum in Nishinomiya).

[Sakura on the bank of the Shukugawa River, Nishinomiya]

The Shukugawa is one of the many rivers that in this area flow down to the sea from the Rokko mountains (another one is the Ashiyagawa in Ashiya, which is also nice for hanami!). The park consists of the banks of the river. There are broad walk-ways with the cherry trees forming a tunnel, and many more trees have been planted along the steep embankment.

[Sakura tunnel on the bank of the Shukugawa River, Nishinomiya]

The whole course is almost four and a half kilometres long, starting at Hankyu Kurakuen-guchi Station in the north (on the Hankyu Koyoen line, which splits off at Hankyu Shukugawa) and stretching all the way down to Koroen-hama Beach in the south.

[Sakura on the banks of the Shukugawa River, Nishinomiya]

The number of cherry trees amounts to 2,300 and besides that, there are various types of other flowers as well. Among the sakura trees, there are many varieties, the park has more than only the ever-present Somei-Yoshino type.

[Picknicking under the sakura in Shukugawa park, Nishinomiya]

Last weekend, we started at Hankyu Shukugawa Station and walked down to Hanshin Koroen Station, which took about half an hour. Just under three kilometres, this is the most central part of the park. The sakura were in full boom, it was the perfect moment. Many families had found a spot for picknicking under the trees and others were sitting on the edge of the steep embankment as if they could not drop down, like the sakura, which kept raining on our heads.

[”Hiza-makura,” using her knees as a pillow and managing not to fall down - Sakura in Shukugawa, Nishinomiya]

English information on Cherryblossom spots in Kobe and in Nishinomiya/Ashiya - or do you prefer Arima?

Another (Japanese-language) site introduing the best 100 sakura spots in Japan.