Tokyo cherry blossoms: where to stay for a month

For a month-long cherry-blossom stay, choose a neighborhood you would enjoy after the flowers have fallen. Bunkyo suits a garden-focused visit, Sumida offers riverside walks, and Nakameguro makes sense if the Meguro River is a main reason for your trip. The best choice depends on when you will actually have time to see the trees.

Tokyo’s official spring guide describes late March to early April as the usual blossom period. Flowering varies from year to year, so avoid paying extra for an apartment on the assumption that one particular weekend will be the peak.

Bunkyo: distinguish the two Koishikawa gardens

Koishikawa Botanical Gardens and Koishikawa Korakuen are separate places. Check which one is near the apartment you’re considering.

The Botanical Gardens open at 9:00 and close at 16:30, with last admission at 16:00. Koishikawa Korakuen opens at 9:00 and ordinarily closes at 17:00, with entry ending at 16:30.

If you work from nine to six, neither garden fits a walk before or after work, even with an apartment next door. In that situation, choose the apartment for your commute and evening surroundings, and visit the gardens on days off. Staying beside the entrance becomes more useful if you can take breaks during its opening hours.

Before choosing an apartment in Bunkyo, check the walk home from the supermarket. Try it with groceries if you can; a short route may still include a steep uphill section.

The Botanical Gardens’ visitor information lists adult admission at ¥500 and an annual pass at ¥2,500, subject to its purchase conditions. Five ordinary adult visits total ¥2,500; six total ¥3,000. For an eligible visitor planning repeated morning walks, the pass starts saving money at the sixth paid visit.

For example, if you will use it twice a week over four weeks, eight single admissions cost ¥4,000 against ¥2,500 for the pass, a ¥1,500 difference. Check the pass conditions, Monday closures and the route to the entrance before deciding how often you would realistically go.

Sumida: use the river, then check the crossing

The official Tokyo hanami guide describes cherry trees along both banks of the Sumida River. This is a useful setting if you want a riverside walk as part of the stay.

Choose the stretch of riverside you would walk along and the bridge you would use. “Near Asakusa” and “near Oshiage” don't tell you which bank your apartment is on or how the route works with shopping. An apartment beside the river may still be a long walk from the bridge you need for shopping.

Walk the route you expect to take each day. If a listing is around Kinshicho, measure its route to the river separately rather than assuming every address in Sumida is a riverside address.

Don't treat one bank as guaranteed quiet. Use the current festival information for the locations you intend to visit and ask about the specific apartment’s surroundings.

Setagaya: a park-centered alternative

Consider an apartment near a park you would use through the whole month, such as the Komazawa area, if time outdoors matters more to you than living beside the famous river walks. Check whether the train journey from that address works for your weekday plans before booking.

Sakurashinmachi’s merchants’ association publishes its own sakura event information. Check the current year rather than carrying a date forward from an old guide. Flowering and festival dates can differ between neighborhoods.

A park or shopping street can be a good reason to choose the area even when your dates miss peak bloom. Ask yourself whether you would still like the apartment if the flowers were early that year.

Nakameguro: worthwhile when the river is the point

The official Nakameguro guide notes the seasonal increase in crowds along the Meguro River. If you want to visit often, staying nearby can be worth it. You don't have to reject the area simply because it is popular.

Compare the route from your door to groceries with the route to the blossoms. You could stay within walking distance of the river and choose a home with food shops in the other direction. A river-facing apartment may put those crowds outside your door even on days when you just want to buy groceries.

Use our Nakameguro guide to plan the walk from your apartment to the station and the shops you would use. Compare quotes for your actual dates before deciding how much more you’d pay to stay near the river.

Make the month work around the flowers

Choose somewhere you can comfortably afford for the month, with convenient shops and transport as well as a blossom walk. Keep the sightseeing dates flexible.

Before booking, choose one free morning and one working evening when you would want to go for a walk. If the garden closes before you finish work, look for another evening route. You can still visit the garden on your morning off without paying extra to stay beside it.