Hagi Okan Plum Grove

This plum grove stretches beside the historic Hagi Okan road, once traveled by patriots of the late Edo period. It opened on March 27, 1992, to commemorate the 160th anniversary of Yoshida Shoin’s birth.

Covering a vast 9,611 square meters, the park is home to about 250 plum trees of 13 varieties, including red and white plum trees. In early spring each year, the area is wrapped in soft colors and fragrance. The blossoms begin with the early-blooming double-petaled “Hino Tsukasa” of the scarlet plum line, followed by the single-petaled “Bungo,” the double-petaled “Shirobotan,” and the weeping plum “Gyokko Shidare.” One of its highlights is the long viewing season, from late January to mid-March.

The Hagi Okan Plum Grove Festival is held every year from February to March, when the blossoms are usually at their best. During the festival, visitors can enjoy coffee, bread, zenzai sweet red bean soup, and other food, as well as local specialties for sale. A tea service offering matcha is also held in the tea room inside the park.

Nearby, you’ll also find a stone monument marking the former site of “Namida Matsu,” a pine tree once known as the “Tear Pine” because people leaving Hagi wept there in sorrow, and those returning shed tears of joy. Be sure to stop by as well.