Ogose Bairin, Plum Blossom grove, is one of the three great plum blossom gardens of the Kanto Plain. The Kanto plain is the area around Tokyo including Saitama, Kanagawa, Chiba, Ibaraki, Gunma and Tochigi prefectures. The most famous of the three plum blossom groves however, is Kairakuen in Mito City, Ibaraki. The other is Soga Bairin in Kanagawa.
The Ogose plum blossoms tend to bloom from mid February to mid March. Accordingly, the festival is generally held around the same period. During the period of the festival it costs ￥300 to enter the plum grove.
Outside the festival period, you can view the blossoms for free. Within the two hectare park, there are approximately 1000 plum blossoms including 200 ancient plum trees. Throughout the town of Ogose there are approximately 20,000 plum blossom trees.
During the period of the festival, they have a mini train that winds its way through the grove. There are also live music and dance performances. They have a few festival stalls selling things like chocolate banana and candy floss. There are a couple of places you can buy proper food too. They also sell plum blossom trees and bonsai at the festival. The very cute town mascot "umerin" also makes an appearance on weekends.
Getting there
By public transport: The nearest train station is Ogose Station on the Hachiko line. Ogose Bairin is a 40 minute walk from the station. You can normally get a shuttle bus during the period of the festival. However, in 2021 on account of the coronavirus the bus may not be available. It hasn't been confirmed either way yet.
By car: Parking costs ￥500 per car. There are cheaper independently run car parks further away from the park.
Lynda Hogan @lynda.hogan
Lynda has been in Japan for 20 years and blogging about Saitama on her personal blog insaitama.com for 14 of them. Despite its central location, just North of Tokyo, Saitama is still quite unknown to the international tourist, but frequented by domestic travelers. It is a great place to experien...
