Cherry Blossoms of the Heian Shrine Garden – Weeping Cherries Reflected in the Ponds

The Shin-en garden is a stroll garden of about 33,000 m² surrounding the shrine buildings, designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty in 1975. It was created by Ogawa Jihei VII (Ueji), who left many fine gardens in Higashiyama from the Meiji to the Shōwa era, and you walk through its four parts, south, west, middle and east, in turn.

The highlight of spring is the crimson weeping cherries. In the South Garden especially, drooping branches arch overhead as soon as you enter. The double-flowered weeping cherries are also called "Endō-zakura" because their saplings were donated by Endō Yōji, the first mayor of Sendai. They are also known from Tanizaki Jun'ichirō's novel The Makioka Sisters.

At Seihō pond in the East Garden, the view extends past the Taihei-kaku bridge pavilion and Shōbi-kan to borrow Mount Kachō as scenery; when the weeping cherries bloom, they are reflected in the water. In early April each year, the evening event "Heian Jingu Sakura Otoyo" lights up the garden with music. It began in 1989 as the "Beni-shidare Concert" and took its current name in 2023.