Guide to Visiting the Shiba-Sakura Festival

If you just missed cherry blossom season in Japan, then don’t fret! The Shiba-sakura (Pink Moss) festival hosts an equally impressive array of flowers, with the pink moss carpeting the ground and a view of Mt.Fuji. This was such a fun day on our family Japan trip, which you can find the full itinerary to here. While it was along journey from Tokyo, we made the most of it by trying new foods and wild thrills while in the area.

When to go to the Shiba-Sakura Festival

This festival takes place from late April to early May and the peak bloom time is short and varies by year so I advise to check the live cams and Instagram posts leading up to your visit to avoid disappointment. Otherwise, you may make a two hour journey to see an ordinary field and possibly cloud covered Mt Fuji.

How to get to the festival

Although many guides may indicate that you need to take a bus from Shinjuku or Shibuya, there are actually many ways to get there and you can check the festival website here for the bus schedule and locations for this special event. Going all the way to those stations would have added at least another half an hour to our morning commute, so I was happy to find that there is one bus that leaves from Akihabara, which we were only one station away from.

While many passengers were able to buy bus tickets online, the link never worked for me, and after running around the station to figure out where we could buy tickets, we ended up just paying the driver and it was fine. Read the information on the bus waiting areas, ask an employee, or follow the crowd to figure out where you should wait for the bus.

How long is the trip?

It’s then a two hour journey to the base station for the festival where you can buy your entry tickets and round trip bus tickets to and from the festival site (30 minutes each way). Here there are restrooms, vending machines, and food. I would recommend holding your hunger till you get the festival though!

What to expect at the festival

The Delicious Foods festival (the name says it all) is going on there too, so there are food trucks and stands spread throughout the festival site selling everything from octopus balls to cheese stuffed mushrooms. Our food favorites would have to be the crepes, fruit dessert style; and Indian food, a cheese bread and tomato based dip/soup, think pizza flavors!

As you walk through the festival you are overwhelmed by the checkerboard fields of flowers, enchanted by the wildflowers along the path, and then in awe as you finally see Mt Fuji overlooking pink rolling hills. It takes around three hours to walk around, taste some foods and get some photos, so I suggest you plan another excursion in the area after your visit.

What else is nearby?

We went to The Fuji Q Highland amusment park that was nearby and I would definitely recommend if if you love thrills. While most of the park doesn’t have the themes and decoration that you may be used to at Disney, they do have several record breaking coasters, which were hands down the most intense rides I’ve ever been on. 

Getting back to Tokyo

Keep an eye on the time to ensure you make the most of the park before it closes and don’t miss the last bus to Tokyo. While we waited a while for the only bus back to Akihabara, I would suggest just taking the first bus back to the Tokyo area.

If you are looking for an easier way to visit the area, there are also tours available from Viator that in combination with other stops for the day. We did it independently so we would be in control of our schedule and be able to go to the amusement park. So go for it, get off the beaten track, and plan your timing right to visit this once-in-a lifetime event, your followers will thank you for brightening up their feed!