For ten days at the turn of the month, the grounds of a surviving Edo-period castle keep are filled with prize chrysanthemums, and about a thousand maples turn over the moats.
Overview
Hirosaki, in the far north of Honshu, is best known for cherry blossom, but its autumn festival is the quieter and in some ways more rewarding visit. The Kiku to Momiji Matsuri – the Chrysanthemum and Autumn Foliage Festival – grew out of informal gatherings at which residents admired the maples and compared the chrysanthemums they had raised at home. It took its present name in 1962 and is now run by an organising committee with the city.
Hirosaki Park surrounds the castle of the Tsugaru lords, and its three-storey keep is one of only a handful in Japan that survive from the Edo period. Roughly a thousand maples and some 2,600 cherry trees colour the grounds, and from the inner citadel the cone of Mount Iwaki rises beyond the walls.
When and where
The 2026 festival runs from Friday 30 October to Sunday 8 November. The main venue is the Hirosaki Castle Botanical Garden inside the park; in the previous edition the site was open from 9:00 to 20:00 with last entry at 19:30, and the same hours are expected. The foliage in Hirosaki usually peaks in the first days of November, which is the reason the festival sits where it does in the calendar.
Getting there
Hirosaki is about 30 minutes by local train from Shin-Aomori, the Tohoku Shinkansen terminus, which is roughly three and a half hours from Tokyo. From JR Hirosaki Station take the Dotemachi loop bus and get off at Shiyakusho-mae, right at the park entrance; walking takes about half an hour. There is no visitor parking in the park itself, only paid lots nearby, so the bus is the sensible choice.
What to expect
The chrysanthemum displays are the heart of it: banks of large-bloom, medium-bloom and cascade-trained plants entered by local growers, alongside flower-art arrangements and chrysanthemum-covered figures. Blooms are also used to dress the gate and five-storey pagoda of nearby Seiganji. A small free train for children runs through the grounds during the day, and after dark parts of the park are lit specially for the foliage, which gives the maples and the castle walls a completely different character.
One practical caveat: interior viewing of the castle keep has been suspended since late 2025 while the stone walls beneath it are repaired, a project that also involved moving the keep itself. Check the park website before travelling if seeing inside the keep matters to you.
Admission and practicalities
Most of Hirosaki Park is free to enter, including many of the best foliage spots along the moats. The botanical garden and the inner citadel are paid areas, with modest separate or combined tickets – the city publishes current prices on the park site. Fires and unauthorised drones are prohibited throughout the park.
Tips for visitors
Go late in the afternoon and stay into the evening: you get the chrysanthemums in daylight, then the illuminated maples without making a second trip. Bring a proper coat, since early November in Aomori is genuinely cold once the sun goes down. Apple season peaks at the same time, so the local apple pies and cider are at their best – the tourist centre by the park keeps a list of shops that make their own.
Access and map
| Dates | 30 October – 8 November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Hirosaki Castle Botanical Garden, Hirosaki Park, Hirosaki, Aomori |
| Access | Dotemachi loop bus from JR Hirosaki Station to Shiyakusho-mae |
| Admission | Park free; botanical garden and inner citadel are paid areas |
| Enquiries | Hirosaki City Tourist Center, 0172-37-5501 |
Source: Hirosaki Tourism and Convention Bureau
Image: Photo: Marho / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
