AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Furudono Sakura Kaido is a breathtaking seven-kilometre cherry blossom avenue that follows both banks of the Samegawa River through the small town of Furudono in southern Fukushima Prefecture. More than a thousand cherry trees—planted over many generations—line Prefectural Road 14 (the old Gosaisho Highway), creating one of Tohoku's most rewarding spring drives or walks.↗↗
What makes this spot special is its extended season and variety. Different cherry cultivars bloom at the upper and lower sections of the avenue, so visitors can enjoy Somei-Yoshino in mid-April and double-flowered Yaezakura in late April to early May, each with a distinctly different character. On clear days the view from the hilltop Townspeople's Recreation Forest Park takes in the entire river corridor draped in pink.↗↗
A River Corridor of Blossoms
The Samegawa River rises in the hills of neighboring Samegawa Village and flows sixty-five kilometres eastward to the Pacific at Iwaki City. Through Furudono it runs roughly parallel to Prefectural Road 14, the Gosaisho Highway that has linked this inland district with the coast since medieval times. Somewhere along its course residents began planting cherry trees on both banks, and those trees have grown into a continuous canopy stretching about seven kilometres from Kamasaka and Tsurumaki in the west to Nishi-watari near Matsukawa in the east.
