Spring had come. With spring comes cherry blossoms or sakura. Being new to the area, we were excited to find all the local spots to view sakura. A friends co-worker mentioned that there would be an illumination at this temple, so we thought we’d check it out. Another one of our friends was kind enough to drive us there. The Ankokuji Temple Sakura Illumination in Mito was located about 10 minutes northwest of Akatsuka Station.

Upon approaching the temple, the first thing that caught our eye was the scale of the tree. It was pretty dark outside and when we turned that last corner, the illumination instantly got our attention. It is probably the largest stand alone cherry blossom tree we have ever seen. The lighting did a wonderful job of accurately portraying the size and scale of the tree.

Ankokuji Temple Sakura Reflection

The highlight of the illumination is an artificial pool that sits at the base of the temples gate. The water creates a clear reflection of the sakura tree. With the temple and gate in the background, it created an absolutely beautiful scene. There were also plenty of benches and people were able to sit down and enjoy the sight.

There was another tree to the west that was quite impressive as well. It was less busy and we were able to take some unobstructed photos. Our pictures did not do the scale and coloring justice. There were a good number of daffodils that were a nice compliment to the massive cherry blossom trees.

The temple is closed at night, we’ll come back in the daytime to check it out. We’ve seen some pictures of what it looks like during the day and it looks just as beautiful.

It was not very busy at all. There were only a handful of cars in the parking lot. It appeared that most of the people who came had walked from the surrounding area. The illumination and reflection pool appeared to be a fairly new event, and even made it into the local newspaper the following day.

Final Thoughts

We really enjoyed the Ankokuji Temple Sakura Illumination in Mito. Hopefully, they will continue it next year and expand its duration. Our only gripe was access. Public transportation would have been difficult, cycling at night to a new place is always unadvisable, and it being on a weekday made it more difficult. Having a car would be essential to seeing this illumination and we were grateful for our friend who drove us.

More to Come…