A February sakura day on Yaedake and at Nakijin Castle
half dayRiders in Okinawa from late January to early February who want the island's first cherry blossom; road riders climb it, e-bike riders cruise it.
This February day climbs Yaedake under about 7,000 flowering kanhizakura trees, 9.8 km out and back with 412 m of climbing by our route data, then adds soba at Kishimoto's Yaedake branch and the cherry trees at Nakijin Castle.
KonbiniWaterTop of chart 400 m
Hour by hour
The day一日
- 07:30coffeeBreakfast at Hotel Mahaina
- 08:15rideClimb Yaedake from Inoha9.8 km out and back with 412 m of climbing by our route data; go before the festival car parks fill.
- 09:15sightYaedake Sakura no Mori ParkThe festival gathers here halfway up.
- 10:30coffeeWhole-grain bread at Yaedake Bakery in IzumiClosed on Saturdays.
- 11:30lunchSoba at Kishimoto Shokudo's Yaedake branchOpen every day of the week.
- 13:30sightCherry trees at Nakijin CastleThe castle's cherry trees bloom from mid-January to early February.
- 18:30dinnerDinner at Kaiho-maru in MotobuSeafood; dinner from 17:30.
Yaedake's cherry trees open from late January, among the first in Japan, and the Motobu Yaedake Sakura Matsuri brings crowds to the park halfway up. Ride it early on a weekday and you share the road with a few cars; the descent is steep, so take it slowly.
Nakijin Castle's cherry trees flower in the same weeks, and the castle walls make the better photograph in the afternoon. Hotel Mahaina sits a short drive from both, by Ocean Expo Park.
Photo Kugel~commonswiki · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Full route guide
