Shibazakura Festival Date

Hirata Village’s 2026 Shibazakura Festival is underway at Jupia Land Hirata in Fukushima, with the bloom entering a key viewing window this week. (vill.hirata.fukushima.jp) The village says the festival runs from April 11 to May 13, with weekday hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekend and holiday hours starting at 8:30 a.m.; last entry is 4:30 p.m. on both schedules. (vill.hirata.fukushima.jp) Admission is 800 yen for adults age high school and up, while children through junior high school enter free. The village also lists a 300-yen round-trip sightseeing cart and 300-yen go-karts and buggy cars on weekends and holidays. (vill.hirata.fukushima.jp) An April 17 bloom update from Hirata Village said the moss phlox was about 50% open, after earlier updates described 40% bloom on April 15 and early flowering on April 11. The same update said an opening ceremony was set for April 19. (vill.hirata.fukushima.jp) That timing matters for spring travelers because shibazakura, or moss phlox, is a short-season ground flower that typically peaks from late April into May. Japan National Tourism Organization describes the better-known Fuji Shibazakura Festival on a similar mid-April to late-May calendar. (vill.hirata.fukushima.jp) (japan.travel) Hirata’s festival is built around scale: the village says about 260,000 plants spread across the park, while the national Japan 47 Go tourism database lists roughly 250,000 plants covering about 2.3 hectares. Both sources place the event at Jupia Land Hirata in Ishikawa District, Fukushima Prefecture. (vill.hirata.fukushima.jp) (japan47go.travel) The event also has a nighttime component. Hirata Village says illuminations are scheduled for April 29 through May 5 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., with last entry at 8:30 p.m. (vill.hirata.fukushima.jp) The flower fields have been part of a longer local tourism project. A 2026 feature on the festival said Hirata officials studied moss phlox cultivation in Hokkaido in 1995 and held the first Shibazakura Festival in 2002 after several years of development. (newsr.jp) For visitors coming from outside the village, Hirata says it is about a 45-minute drive from Koriyama Station and about five minutes from the Hirata interchange on the Abukuma Kogen Road, with a limited-period free shuttle also operating from Koriyama Station’s east exit. (vill.hirata.fukushima.jp)