Best cherry blossom spots: Sakuragi Shrine

Many shrines and temples in Chiba Prefecture where I live are famed for their spectacular cherry blossoms. However, I stick close to home these days in the northern part of the prefecture.

In Noda City, you can take in shidarezakura and other mature cherry trees at Muryojuin, an off-the-beaten-path location, or Konjoin Temple within popular Shimizu Park easily accessible on the Tobu Noda train line.

Noda CIty’s got one more hallowed place that not only showcases cherry blossoms but is also dedicated to the tree and all it embodies. In the central part of the city is Sakuragi Shrine said to have been founded in the Heian period by a member of the Fujiwara clan. He enshrined two deities mentioned in mythology, one a goddess of grains and the other a god of thunder and blades. This pair looks after the new growth of spring and blesses the rice planting season.

The shrine's entrance with sakura blossom emblems

The shrine is easy to get to on foot from Nodashi Station, just a 10-minute walk. For daytrippers in cars, there is ample parking at the south approach to the massive ootori gate.

When I visited on March 11th, there were trees laden with buds ready to pop, fully flowering, and nearly finished with petals blowing in the breeze.

Abundant blossoms on the approach to the shrine

One of the charms of this shrine is that in nearly every season, on any visit, you’re likely to see pink petals. This is because the shrine’s gardens nurture autumn and winter flowering varieties, too.

Flanking the towering gate are a few shidarezakura, weeping cherry trees. While I was admiring them, an elderly lady next to me remarked that the buds will open in the next two weeks.

Tall weeping cherry trees full of buds at the gate

I second what the elderly lady said and suggest you time your visit for the last week of March when the trees will put on a show.