Enjoy spring early! Kasamatsu Kawazu-zakura Road and Matsusaka Bell-farm

Written by Pete Leong

Kawazu-zakura is a variety of cherry tree that blooms earlier than Someiyoshino, the most common variety of cherry tree in Japan. It is characterized by its dark pink flowers. While Someiyoshino blooms from late March, Kawazu-zakura blooms from late February and is at its best in early March. This year, perhaps due to the cold weather, the blossoms came a little later than usual, and were at their peak when I visited in mid-March.

Photo by @mie_eetoko

About 350 Kawazu-zakura trees are planted along the 1.5-kilometer-long agricultural waterway that runs through the town of Kasamatsu. They were planted by local residents. Because it is along the waterway, the reflection of the cherry blossoms on the surface of the water makes this spot a fantastic place to take pictures.

Kasamatsu Kawazu-zakura Road is located in a rural area with great visibility. It is here that you can enjoy the color contrast of green grass, pink cherry blossoms, and blue sky.

I was surprised to see quite a lot of people out visiting the area even though it was a weekday. Unfortunately, it was quite windy on the day we visited, so there were no reflections on the water. But I imagine it would look fantastic early in the morning or on a calm sunny day.

There is one spot in particular that attracts a lot of people, and especially photographers trying to get that “perfect shot.” It was on a corner of the waterway that has a very pretty view along the water between the two rows of trees. I recommend this spot for the best photo angles. I personally liked to focus on just one branch of flowers and let the background go out of focus, creating a soft pink blurry backdrop.

If your camera or lens has a macro feature, you can also capture the delicate details of the flowers, maybe even with a cute bee on them if you are lucky.

When the Kawazu-zakura begin to bloom, a temporary parking lot will be opened and visitors can use it for free. The area around the parking lot is a narrow farm road, so drivers and pedestrians alike should be careful. You have to drive slowly along this track as there are lots of sightseers and little kids wandering about. Remember not to touch the flowers, as they are very delicate. Nearby Kasagi Noson Park also has parking available.

There is one more spot you should visit after seeing the Kawazu-zakura - “Matsusaka agricultural park Bell-farm,” located about 20 minutes by car from here. It is a vast agricultural park with a plaza, kids’ playground, ponds, farms, gardens, and more. The main attraction is the English Garden with its seasonal flowers.

There is also a direct sales area for locally grown produce, a café where you can enjoy a vegetable-filled lunch, and a place where you can experience cooking using local ingredients. This time, we had a go at making a pizza using the famous Matsusaka beef, and seasonal vegetables.

I will never pass up any opportunity to make or eat pizza. It’s my favorite non-Japanese food. We chopped up a few kinds of veggies, including my favorite, Shiitake mushrooms. We also made our dough from scratch.

We enjoyed eating our pizzas out in the courtyard among all the beautiful flowers. Next, we took a tour of the English Gardens area. There were many kinds of colorful flowers in bloom, but we were still a little bit early for the main flowers. Before continuing on, we stopped to try the local gelato. My partner tried the cafe au lait rum, which reportedly has real rum in it so it is probably not the best option for the kids. But there were plenty of amazing-looking flavors to try.

The photo here shows last year’s scene. This year, about 6,400 tulips of 23 varieties will bloom in sequence.

Before continuing on, we stopped to try the local gelato. My partner tried the cafe au lait rum, which reportedly has real rum in it so it is probably not the best option for the kids. But there were plenty of amazing-looking flavors to try.