Mito Plum Blossom Festival水戸の梅まつり · Mito no Ume Matsuri

When it is held

The Mito Plum Blossom Festival (水戸の梅まつり, Mito no Ume Matsuri) is held every year from mid-February to late March at Kairakuen (偕楽園) and Kōdōkan (弘道館) in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. The 130th festival ran from February 11 to March 22, 2026. The festival has more than 120 years of history; the dates for 2027 had not been published on the official site when we last checked.

Kairakuen

Kairakuen, counted with Kenroku-en in Kanazawa and Kōraku-en in Okayama among Japan's three great gardens, is the main venue. About 3,000 plum trees of around 100 varieties grow there. With early-, mid- and late-blooming varieties, the season is long, and in 2026 the Ibaraki Shimbun reported that all three could be seen in bloom together from late February to early March.

The garden is said to have been laid out around a contrast of in and yō, shade and light. The recommended way in is through the Kōbuntei front gate, the entrance to the "shade" world, along a quiet grove of Mōsō bamboo and past the Gyokuryūsen spring, before the plum groves open out ahead.

Kōdōkan

Kōdōkan was the school of the Mito domain, founded in August 1841 (Tenpō 12), and the largest domain school of its day. It taught Confucian and Japanese learning and martial arts alongside medicine, astronomy and Western studies, much like a university. Its grounds hold about 800 plum trees of some 60 varieties. Kōdōkan is a Special Historic Site, and its main gate, main hall and Shizendō, which escaped repeated wartime fires, are Important Cultural Properties.

During the 2026 festival Kōdōkan was open daily from 9 am to 5 pm, and admission was 420 yen for adults.

Events

The program changes every year. In 2026 it included:

• an opening day on February 11, when "Mito Kōmon" and his retinue and the Mito plum ambassadors greeted visitors;
• outdoor tea ceremonies (nodate), martial arts demonstrations and hina-nagashi, the floating of paper dolls;
• "Kairakuen UME The Lights", an evening light-and-sound show in the garden on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from February 13 to March 15;
• the national umeshu festival at Tokiwa Shrine from March 13 to 15, with more than 120 plum wines from breweries across Japan.

Tips

• Bloom timing depends on the weather; the official site posts bloom updates from late January.
• Visit both venues: Kairakuen for the scale of the plum groves, and Kōdōkan for the plums among historic buildings.
• An evening visit on an illumination night shows the garden in a completely different light.