If you are lucky enough to be in the Kobe area for the cherry blossom season, there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of places you can go. Actually, I will be writing a lot about places outside of Kobe and toward the western side of the Kansai region here because some of the best places to see sakura are just west of Kobe or found between Kobe and Osaka.
HIMEJI CASTLE
My favorite place to do hanami is Himeji castle. You can hop on JR West (Japan Rail West) or the shinkansen and head down to Himeji pretty easily. Himeji castle not only features a nice park with a beautiful view of the castle and cherry trees abounding, but visitors can go up to the castle, slip off their shoes, and head into the castle for a little trip into Japan’s past.
If you are traveling with children, there is a small zoo next to the park which is designed for toddlers and younger children… except for the howler monkeys which my kids never got used to. The zoo hosts a lot of Japan’s indigenous animals as well as the standard kiddy zoo fare.
Shops near Himeji castle also serve traditional Japanese and Kansai regional snacks and meals.
AKASHI CASTLE PARK
Akashi is a small city just west of Kobe that is famous for octopus so don’t be surprised if you see cartoon images of them everywhere. There is even a food called Akashi-yaki named after the region. Akashi-yaki is sort of the egg version of Tako-yaki. It’s dipped into a thin broth instead of with the sauce used for tako-yaki (I believe takoyaki is also called octopus-balls or samurai-balls). Akashi-yaki is definitely nice to try if you fancy octopus and egg.
Akashi, like Himeji, has a castle with a nice park around it. The park in Akashi features a lot of good spots for picnicking, and is also easily accessible by JR train and can be seen from Akashi Station. (For shinkansen users, it should be noted that Nishi-Akashi station is one stop away from Akashi Station on the regular JR line.)
SUMAURA PARK
Sumanoura Park is a great place for day-hikers, and people with active kids. There are lots of little playgrounds, and the park itself is up a mountain side. This is a must-see park in Kobe whether it is cherry blossom season or not. I’ve been here several times with my family and loved every time. There are ropeways (like ski lifts) you can ride to different parts of the mountain, a rotating observation tower high on the mountain from which a lot of the kansai region can be observed, and various short hiking courses.
Sakura can be found all over the mountain and there are a lot of nice places to picnic as well as a restaurant in the building with the revolving observation tower.
Sumaura Park is a 10 minute walk from JR Suma Station (Where the Suma Aquarium is located… how’s that for a day trip?), or right at the exit of the Sumaura Koen Station on the Sanyo Railway that runs from downtown Kobe to Himeji.
KOBE OJI ZOO
This may be the most popular place in Kobe city. It is Kobe’s main zoo and houses over 800 animals of over 140 species. There is an entrance fee of 600 yen for adults (over high school age, or about 15 years old) but free for kids up to 8th grade (the end of middle school in Japan).
It’s accessible by public translation at JR Nada Station, or Oji Koen Station on the Hankyu line. The Hankyu station is much closer and easy to get to.
HIOKAYAMA PARK
Another very popular park is found in Kakogawa, also located west of Kobe and between Kobe and Himeji. The park is highly rated, though this is the only place on my list that I have not actually visited personally. There is not a lot of information about the park in English, so it could be a nice adventure. Even sites in Japanese are scarce, but as I said, some Japanese travel magazines rank it quite high on lists of Kansai area cherry blossom viewing sites.
Hiokayama Park is accessible by public transportation at JR Hioka Station. It should be a 5 to 10 minute walk from there.
Anybody else with favorite cherry blossom viewing spots, please feel free to let us know in the comments. As I often say here, sometimes the best place to visit can be that tiny park down the street from the hotel that only the locals know and love.