Hanegi Park
Setagaya’s Plum Trees In Western Tokyo
Hanegi Park is an 8-hectares green space located in Setagaya ward’s Umegaoka, in western Tokyo. The area’s inhabitants enjoy the sports and leisure activities it offers while also attracting visitors from the capital to admire its 650 ume plum trees blooming at the end of winter.
Hanegi Koen is usually quiet but becomes more lively each year before spring with the blooming of its 650 ume plum trees, creating a delicately colored forest between mid-February to early March. This large green space is located in Setagaya ward, one of Tokyo’s residential and most populated area in the west, displaying a cityscape of lower buildings.
Umegaoka, that can be translated as "plum trees hill," is one of Setagaya’s small residential areas that developed around the eponymous station, on the Odakyu Line about 15 minutes from Shinjuku by train 🚅. It is where Hanegi park lies, renown among tourists as one of the best plum flower viewing spots in Tokyo.
Umegaoka Hill on the spotlight in February
Ume flowers start to display their white, pink and red hues in February, calling the end of winter, and harbinger of spring and its plenty of blooming sakura 🌸 flowers.
The plum trees viewing area is located on a hill in Hanegi Park. Every year, this ephemeral spectacle causes the peak of the Park’s attractiveness and its walking paths become very lively on the weekends. Strolling is nonetheless enjoyable and visitors can still take the necessary time for pictures or breathing the perfume of plum trees flowers.
People may also enjoy their first picnic under the sun on the lawn or one of the benches. There are small food stalls for the occasion but the konbini near the station is also a good place to buy food.
A sport park on the rest of the year
Aside its seasonal plum flowers peak, Hanegi Koen is busy all year round with the locals who come to use its sports facilities : mainly tennis courts and base-ball fields. The local clubs also train here.
Several outdoor playgrounds are also available and of free access within the park. Families can spend time playing together and the youngest happily use the slides and other jungle gyms. The area is spacious with a large choice of activities.
Being off the capital’s center, Umegaoka may interest those who want to escape the very dense urban landscape of central Tokyo for a few hours. Then, they can explore the typical shopping streets on the southern side of the station, down to the famous Maneki-neko temple (Gotoku-ji), only 1,5 km away from Hanegi Park.