10 best parks, gardens and shrines to see plum blossoms in Tokyo

The beautiful flowers of Hanegi Park’s more than 650 plum trees of 60 kinds provide a great excuse for making your way west to Umegaoka in Setagaya before the advent of spring. Roughly half of the park's trees are usually in full bloom by mid-February, but expect more towards the end of February.

Enjoy the Musashino spring at Koganei Park, where around 100 plum trees burst into bloom in February. This year, the park's ume trees are expected to bloom from early February. Rather than having the trees spread out over the area, Koganei Park is home to a gorgeous plum grove. 

Boasting a total of 500 plum trees, some of them more than 300 years old, Hino's Mogusaen has long been famed as one of Tokyo's best ume-viewing spots. Once frequented by literary greats like novelist Kenjiro Tokutomi and poet Bokusui Wakayama, the park is still an impressive sight in February and March, when the flowers burst into bloom.

Although best known for its sakura, Yokohama's sprawling Sankeien Garden is also a decent destination for plum blossoms. Bursting into white and pink blooms from early February to mid-March, the 600 trees here include a few rare varieties. 

Kasuga's Ushi Tenjin shrine is dedicated to the ninth-century scholar and poet Sugawara no Michizane, who is said to have loved the sight of plum flowers. It's therefore only fitting that the shrine grounds feature dozens of plum trees, the blooming of which is celebrated in February. The ancient shrine also houses a cow-shaped sculpture that's said to make wishes come true for anyone who strokes it.

Constructed under the watchful eye of 17th century Tokugawa daimyo Mito Komon, Koishikawa Korakuen's plum tree garden remains beautiful to this day. The best time to visit the grounds is in late February, when the trees become filled with purple and white flowers.