Japan’s Top 100 Blossoms: Mato Park (Akita)
Guideto Japan
The small island in the middle of Mato Park’s pond and the green pines of the adjacent hill reflected in the water are made even more picturesque in the spring by the blossoms of 2,000 cherry trees. The park’s annual sakura festival is famous for its unique barrel-rowing race.
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Participants in the barrel-rowing contest hop into large tubs measuring 40 centimeters deep and 90 centimeters in diameter and row toward the goal with their bare hands. The area has long been a center of sake production, and the race is said to have begun when residents, for fun, climbed into sake barrels that were floated in water to prevent the hoop from coming loose.
Mato Park (Akita)
- Varieties: Somei yoshino, yamazakura, etc.
- No. of trees: 2,000
- When: Mid- to late April
- Hours: Open 24 hrs.
- Admission: Free
- Address: Masudamachi, Masuda, Yokote-shi, Akita
- Website: Masuda Town Tourist Agency
Nearby hanami site
- Senshū Park
- Banks of the Hinokinai River
- Hanami Season in Honshū’s Far North
- Tōhoku in Full Bloom: The Sakura Festival of Kakunodate
Near Mato Park
- Godzilla Seen Breathing Fire on Cape Shiosezaki, Akita Prefecture
- Lake Tazawa, Akita Prefecture: Sunrise at Japan’s Deepest Lake
- Mount Akita-Komagatake: An Easy Climb Offering Splendid Views
Sakura 100: Japan’s Best Blossoms
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Masuda Town Tourist Agency.)
sakura Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots Akita cherry blossoms in Japan