Kairakuen Plum Festival — Welcoming Spring at One of Japan's Three Great Gardens

Kairakuen, in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, is one of Japan's three great gardens, ranked alongside Kenrokuen in Kanazawa and Korakuen in Okayama. From February into March, roughly 3,000 plum trees of about 100 varieties burst into bloom, wrapping the grounds in sweet fragrance and color. The main garden is a paid area: admission is 320 yen for adults and 160 yen for children (240 yen and 130 yen for groups of 20 or more; half price for visitors aged 70 and over). Residents of Ibaraki Prefecture enter free except during the Plum Festival period, and entry from opening time until 9:00 a.m. is also free outside the festival period. The Plum Festival, which colors the earliest days of spring, is a seasonal signature of Mito and a hugely popular event that draws crowds of blossom viewers every year.

The History of Kairakuen

Kairakuen was laid out in 1842, in the late Edo period, by Tokugawa Nariaki, the ninth lord of the Mito domain. It was built on the principle of "enjoying together with the people," and the fact that it was opened not only to the lord but to the domain's ordinary residents was groundbreaking for its time. Nariaki is said to have planted so many plum trees partly for practical reasons, as a safeguard against famine, and it is those very trees that shaped Kairakuen into the famous garden it is today.

The Plum Festival and Kobuntei

During the Plum Festival, a wide range of plums opens in succession, led by the celebrated "Six Famous Plums of Mito," until red and white blossoms cover the slopes. Evening illuminations and events such as nodate outdoor tea gatherings are also part of the season.

Kobuntei, the elegant building that stands within the garden, is where Tokugawa Nariaki invited men of letters and his retainers to enjoy poetry (admission is charged separately from the main garden: 230 yen for adults, 120 yen for children). From the top floor, a superb view opens out over the plum grove and Lake Senba, and the scenery can be enjoyed in every season.

Best Season and Access

In 2026 the Mito Plum Festival ran from Wednesday, February 11 (a national holiday) to Sunday, March 22 (please check the official website of the Mito Tourism and Convention Association for the next set of dates). The garden's plums include early-, mid- and late-blooming varieties, so the flowers can be enjoyed over a long stretch of time. The bush clover of autumn and the fresh green of early summer also make for beautiful walks.

For access, the garden is right outside Kairakuen Station on the JR Joban Line, a temporary station opened only during the Plum Festival. Note, however, that this station has only a down-line platform, and on the days it operates it serves only down trains bound for Mito and Iwaki within limited hours (9:45 to 16:35 in 2026). It cannot be used for the return trip, so plan accordingly. The option available year-round is the local bus from stops 4 and 6 at the north exit of Mito Station, which takes about 20 minutes to Kairakuen. The area around neighboring Lake Senba is also popular for strolling, and an unhurried walk along the shore is a fine way to take in Mito's natural setting. Combining the visit with historic sites connected to the Tokugawa family is another good plan.

Highlights of the Garden — From "Yin" to "Yang"

Kairakuen is said to have been designed with a deliberate sense of "yin and yang." Entering through the front gate of Kobuntei, the first thing to greet you is a grove of moso bamboo. More than a thousand stems of this species, the largest bamboo in Japan, create a hushed space where the light stays soft even at midday. The Osugi cedar woods that follow hold giant trees said to have watched over this land since the early Kamakura period, long before the Tokugawa came to Mito. Among them, the "Taro Sugi" is about 800 years old, with a trunk some 4.5 meters around.

Further on lies Togyokusen, a spring-water feature. This area has been rich in springs since ancient times, and roughly 100 tons of water well up here each day. The water was once believed to be good for eye ailments, and it was used for the tea ceremony at Kariroan, the tea room of Kobuntei. Beyond this "world of yin," the bright, open plum grove of the "world of yang" spreads out — and it is only by following this route in from the front gate that you experience the composition Nariaki intended.

Scattered elsewhere in the garden are the Kairakuen-ki monument, on which Nariaki inscribed his own philosophy; the Senko Bosetsu monument, carved with one of the Eight Views of Mito; and a haiku monument to Masaoka Shiki, who visited on April 5, 1889. On the southern cliff there also remains a cave, the trace of an old quarry, extending some 150 meters. The front gate of Kobuntei, for its part, survived the fires of the war in 1945 and has been handed down to the present through several repairs since the garden's founding.

Walking in Search of the "Six Famous Plums of Mito"

Among the roughly 3,000 trees of about 100 varieties, six cultivars regarded as outstanding in the shape, fragrance and color of their flowers are known as the "Six Famous Plums of Mito." They are Konan Shomu, Shiro Naniwa, Tsukikage, Tora no O, Yanagawa Shidare and Rekkobai. Rather than wandering the grove at random, going around in search of these six trees lets you start to see the differences between individual trees, and deepens the way you look at plum blossoms altogether. Because the varieties bloom at different times, all six are not necessarily at their peak at once. That there is pleasure in coming back more than once is very much in the spirit of a great plum garden.

Kairakuen Through Four Seasons, Not Just Plums

Kairakuen leaves a strong impression as a plum garden, but it has a different face in each season. Spring brings cherry blossoms. The "Sakon no Sakura," which fell in a typhoon in 2019, was succeeded by a sapling planted in March 2023, passing the tree on to the next generation. Early summer is beautiful with new greenery, and in summer the shade of the moso bamboo grove is cool and refreshing. In autumn the bush clover blooms and the "Mito Hagi Festival" is held, and the garden takes on a quieter, more subdued mood. Then in winter, in a stillness with few other visitors, the early plums begin to open here and there, and the first hints of the coming spring drift through the garden.

Photography Tips

Plum blossoms show more character when you frame a whole spray of branches rather than closing in on a single flower. On slopes where red and white mingle, stepping back and compressing the scene with a telephoto lens makes the blossoms look denser and conveys the garden's full splendor. The top floor of Kobuntei looks down over the plum grove and Lake Senba, so this is the place for an overhead shot. In the moso bamboo grove, the standard composition is to look straight up, and since the light is soft it is an easy place to shoot throughout the day. Evening illumination events are also held during the Plum Festival, but the dates and conditions inside the garden change from year to year, so it is worth checking the official website in advance. If you use a tripod, be considerate of those around you and do not block the paths.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Best season / peak viewing time: Kairakuen has about 3,000 plum trees of some 100 varieties. Early-, mid- and late-blooming types mean the blossoms can be enjoyed over a long period.
• Event period / illumination: In 2026 the "Mito Plum Blossom Festival" ran from Wednesday, February 11 (a public holiday) to Sunday, March 22; check the Mito Tourism and Convention Association website for the next dates. During the festival, evening events such as "Kairakuen UME The Lights" and the "Yo-Ume-Matsuri" night plum festival are also held (please check the official website for the schedule).
• Admission: The main garden of Kairakuen costs 320 yen for adults and 160 yen for children (groups of 20 or more pay 240 yen for adults and 130 yen for children; those aged 70 and over pay half price). Residents of Ibaraki Prefecture enter free of charge except during the plum blossom festival period, and admission is also free from opening time until 9:00 a.m. except during the festival period. The Kobuntei villa has a separate charge of 230 yen for adults and 120 yen for children (groups: 170 yen for adults and 90 yen for children; half price for those aged 70 and over).
• Opening hours: The main garden of Kairakuen is open 6:00-19:00 from mid-February to September 30, and 7:00-18:00 from October 1 to mid-February. Kobuntei is open 9:00-17:00 (last entry 16:45), and 9:00-16:30 (last entry 16:15) from October 1 to mid-February.
• Access: About 20 minutes by bus from stop No. 4 (Ibaraki Kotsu) or stop No. 6 (Kanto Railway) at the bus terminal on the north exit of JR Mito Station. By expressway, it is about 20 minutes from either the Joban Expressway or the Kita-Kanto Expressway.
• Parking: Kairakuen-shita parking lot, 168 spaces (800 yen per day); Senba-ko West parking lot, 178 spaces (500 yen per day); Sakuragawa parking lot, 301 spaces (free of charge); and a total of 180 spaces near the center of Lake Senba (free of charge).
• Clothing and gear: Mito is cold in February and March. There are many slopes and hills within the garden, so bring warm clothing and comfortable walking shoes.

Note: [JR Kairakuen Station cannot be used for your return trip] Kairakuen Station on the JR Joban Line is a temporary station open only during the plum blossom festival, and it has only an outbound platform. Only outbound trains heading toward Mito and Iwaki stop there, during limited hours on the days it operates (9:45-16:35 in 2026), so it cannot be used to return toward Tokyo. Please take a bus back to Mito Station.

(Sources: Kairakuen official website (Ibaraki Prefecture), "Visitor Information"; Mito Plum Blossom Festival official website (Mito Tourism and Convention Association), "Access Information")