Showa Kinen Park Flower Festival 2026 Brings Two Months of Spring Blooms to Western Tokyo

From Cherry Blossoms to Fields of Poppies

About 1,500 cherry trees, 250,000 tulip bulbs and fields containing up to 2 million nemophila plants are part of Showa Kinen Park's Flower Festival 2026, which runs from March 26 to May 24. As of March 29, the spring celebration is underway across the 165 hectares of parkland in Tachikawa, about 40 minutes west of Shinjuku.

The festival offers a different kind of flower viewing from the busy cherry blossom destinations at Ueno Park and along the Meguro River. Instead of building the entire visit around one brief flowering season, Showa Kinen Park uses a succession of displays. Rapeseed flowers and cherry blossoms give way to tulips, followed by blue nemophila, mixed flower beds and a late spring display of poppies.

The idea is a floral relay: as one group of flowers fades, another takes its place. Cherry blossoms can disappear within days of reaching their peak, making a visit difficult to time. The festival's planting schedule is designed to keep colour moving through different parts of the park over its roughly two months.

The setting is also unusual. The park occupies a former military airfield, with broad lawns and open spaces that allow visitors to move between flower gardens, picnic areas and recreational facilities. Its landscape changes through the festival, so a visit in late March offers a different experience from one in late May.

Admission is 450 yen for adults and 210 yen for visitors aged 65 or older, while children aged 15 and under enter free. Alongside the flowers, the programme includes sessions with soap bubbles, special photography access and seasonal picnic meals.

Yellow Fields and 31 Varieties of Cherry Trees

Approximately 250,000 rapeseed blossoms begin the spring sequence, bringing yellow to the East and South Meadow Flower Fields from late February through mid-April. Known in Japan as nanohana, these flowers provide an early display that continues into the cherry blossom season.

About 1,500 cherry trees take centre stage from late March through mid-April, particularly in the Sakura Garden and Former Sakura Garden. The park has 31 varieties, including somei-yoshino and yamazakura, giving visitors a broader range of cherry blossoms than they may encounter at Tokyo's more familiar viewing spots.

The overlap between the two flowering periods is part of the attraction. Pale cherry blossoms can be seen against the remaining yellow rapeseed fields, creating a contrasting scene prized by photographers. Visitors coming during this part of the festival can look for both displays rather than concentrating on the cherry trees alone.

A Calendar That Carries Spring Into May

The Stream Plaza and Tulip Garden become major attractions in early to mid-April, when 250,000 tulip bulbs across 260 varieties are scheduled to bloom. One of Tokyo's most extensive tulip collections, the display uses carefully arranged horticultural patterns in red, yellow, purple and white.

From mid-April, Herb Hill is scheduled to turn blue with up to 2 million nemophila plants. These small flowers, also called baby blue eyes, form the broad blue fields that are among the festival's most photographed scenes.

The Bouquet Garden, also on Herb Hill, adds a mixed display lasting through late May. The festival description lists 100,000 mixed blooms for the garden and also cites 200,000 stock flowers, known botanically as Matthiola. Both figures appear in the description of this part of the programme, without an explanation of how the two counts relate.

Early May brings the final major flowering stage, with approximately 1.8 million poppies covering Flower Hill in red and orange. The festival description names them as Shirley Poppies and also calls them Iceland poppies. The display is scheduled to continue until the festival closes on May 24, giving visitors arriving after cherry blossom season another large floral attraction.

The planned sequence stretches from flowers already blooming before the festival began to displays expected near its closing date:

• Late February to mid-April: approximately 250,000 rapeseed blossoms in the East and South Meadow Flower Fields.
• Late March to mid-April: about 1,500 cherry trees in the Sakura Garden and Former Sakura Garden.
• Early to mid-April: 250,000 tulip bulbs across 260 varieties at Stream Plaza and the Tulip Garden.
• From mid-April: up to 2 million nemophila plants on Herb Hill.
• Mid-April through late May: the Bouquet Garden's mixed flower display on Herb Hill.
• Early May to May 24: approximately 1.8 million poppies on Flower Hill.

Soap Bubbles Add Three Special Photo Dates

Bubble Photo Time adds a moving element to the flower displays on three dates. Thousands of iridescent soap bubbles are scheduled to float above selected gardens during sessions lasting 30 minutes.

On April 2, the event takes place among the cherry blossoms at the Former Sakura Garden. On April 25, it moves to the Bouquet Garden and its display of 100,000 blooms. The final date, May 16, places the bubbles among poppies and baby's breath at Flower Hill.

Each date has two sessions: 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. and noon to 12:30 p.m. Visitors interested in these scenes can use the dates to choose which stage of the floral relay they would like to photograph.

The park also places installations in its flower fields for photographs. Train tracks, decorative doors, swings, benches and miniature houses provide settings for compositions among the blooms, including pictures intended for social media.

Special Access for Photographers

The Tulip Garden has a dedicated photography arrangement on April 4. From 9:30 to 10:00 a.m., immediately after the park opens, the garden closes to general admission for 30 minutes. Photographers can take pictures of the empty garden from its perimeter, keeping visitors out of the flower display itself during that interval.

Early entry sessions are scheduled for April 3, April 5 and April 22. Each session allows just 100 visitors to enter at 7:30 a.m., with advance reservations required and a fee of 3,000 yen, approximately $18.80.

The purpose is to give photographers access to morning light and quieter surroundings before regular visitors arrive. The early entry description calls this three hours before standard opening, although the listed standard opening time of 9:30 a.m. is two hours after 7:30 a.m.

Getting There, Admission and Opening Hours

Showa Kinen Park is in Tachikawa, with access described as a walk of two minutes from Nishi-Tachikawa Station on the JR Ome Line. The JR Chuo and Nambu Lines also provide access to the area, making the park a practical trip from central Tokyo.

Regular admission costs 450 yen for adults, 210 yen for people aged 65 or older, and nothing for children aged 15 and under. Two free admission days fall within the flower festival: May 9 and May 10, for the City Greenery Promotion Campaign.

Other free admission dates listed for 2026 are September 21, Respect-for-the-Aged Day, when the exemption applies to seniors only, and October 24 and October 25 for the autumn campaign.

From March 1 through October 31, standard opening hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. On weekends and holidays between April and September, the closing time extends to 6:00 p.m. During Golden Week, the park opens at 9:00 a.m. from May 3 to May 6.

The free access portion of the park opens at 8:30 a.m. and closes at 6:00 p.m. during spring and summer. The park closes entirely from December 31 through January 1, as well as on the fourth Monday of January and the following day.

Seasonal Meals for a Picnic Among the Flowers

Oka Cafe, Stream Plaza Restaurant and Exchange Plaza Restaurant are collaborating on distinct spring menus using seasonal ingredients. The food choices extend beyond quick snacks, with meals intended for visitors spending several hours outdoors.

The Spring Picnic Box costs 1,900 yen and is designed for eating outside among the flower displays. The Menchi-katsu Spring Holiday Bento costs 1,100 yen and features breaded ground pork cutlets. A bento is a boxed meal, making it easy to carry to a picnic spot.

A lighter option is the Shrimp and Avocado Salad Spring Vegetable Bagel Sandwich, served with Italian vegetable fritters for 900 yen. It is available at various kiosks around the grounds.

The park's broad lawns provide room for families to spread picnic blankets between visits to the gardens. A meal break can also divide a day spent walking between flowering areas, which are distributed across the large site.

Facilities for Families and Active Visitors

Wheelchair and stroller loans, baby changing stations, breastfeeding rooms and parking for visitors with disabilities are among the park's facilities. Coin lockers and rest areas provide practical support for longer visits, while designated smoking areas are also available.

Visitors who want to explore beyond the flower gardens can use 11 kilometres of dedicated cycling paths. Bicycle rentals are available at three gates, allowing a visit to include travel along paths shaded by trees as well as stops at the floral displays.

Boating is available on the lake, and guided Segway tours offer another way to move around the park for an additional charge. These options give visitors activities beyond walking and photography.

The Children's Forest includes the Bouncing Dome, a group of large white trampoline structures resembling clouds. Together with the picnic space and family facilities, the playground makes the park a destination for children as well as visitors focused on the flowers.

An Airfield Turned Into a Place of Recreation

Showa Kinen Park opened in 1983 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Emperor Showa's reign. Before becoming a park, the land served as Tachikawa Airfield and later hosted United States military forces following World War II.

The former airfield helps explain the park's unusual flatness and extensive open spaces, features that stand out against Tokyo's often hilly terrain. Its 165 hectares cover more than three times the area of Yoyogi Park. It is described as Tokyo's largest municipal park.

Regular visitors describe an experience with room to spread out even during the busy Golden Week holidays, when other green spaces in Tokyo become crowded. The large grounds give families space for picnic blankets, cyclists room on the paths and photographers opportunities to frame pictures away from dense groups of visitors.

The park combines its role as a memorial to the Showa era with recreation and cultural attractions. Komorebi Village recreates a traditional rural Japanese village and includes Hina Matsuri, or Doll Festival, displays in March.

A Japanese garden with a traditional teahouse, bonsai displays and the Emperor Showa Memorial Museum provide further places to visit beyond the flower fields. Together, these areas allow a spring outing to include Japanese cultural displays, play and outdoor activity alongside the changing blooms.

Quick Facts

• Flower Festival 2026 runs from March 26 to May 24 at Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa.
• The park covers 165 hectares, about 40 minutes west of Shinjuku, with access two minutes on foot from Nishi-Tachikawa Station.
• Admission is 450 yen for adults and 210 yen for visitors aged 65 or older. Children aged 15 and under enter free.
• The flowering sequence includes approximately 250,000 rapeseed blossoms, 1,500 cherry trees in 31 varieties, 250,000 tulip bulbs in 260 varieties, up to 2 million nemophila plants and approximately 1.8 million poppies.
• Bubble Photo Time takes place on April 2, April 25 and May 16, from 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. and noon to 12:30 p.m.
• Reserved photography entry begins at 7:30 a.m. on April 3, April 5 and April 22, with 100 places per session and a fee of 3,000 yen.
• The Tulip Garden closes to general admission from 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. on April 4 for photography from its perimeter.
• May 9 and May 10 are free admission days during the festival.
• Standard hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., extending to 6:00 p.m. on weekends and holidays from April through September. Opening moves to 9:00 a.m. from May 3 to May 6.