Japan's Pink Winter: Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival Draws Early Crowds

TOKYO, Feb 7 – The annual Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival, a signature winter event for Japan, opened Saturday in the coastal town of Kawazu on the Izu Peninsula. Known for drawing close to two million visitors each season, the festival will run through March 8.

The centerpiece is a four-kilometer riverside promenade lined with roughly 850 Kawazu-zakura trees. These distinct cherry trees produce vivid pink blossoms, a deeper hue than the pale, fleeting flowers of the more common spring varieties. Their blooming period is notably longer, often stretching across a full month.

This year, the show is starting ahead of schedule. Organizers report that buds on some trees are already 10 to 20 percent open, a slight acceleration on the typical calendar. Throughout the festival, the town hosts street food stalls and cultural events. After sunset, illuminations transform the groves into a spectacle often called "night sakura."

With an estimated 8,000 Kawazu cherry trees in the area, the town becomes a sea of pink against the winter landscape, offering a unique seasonal attraction long before spring's official arrival.