Chureito Pagoda and the cherry blossom

The pagoda and the 398 steps

The five-storey pagoda was built in 1963 as a peace memorial. It is reached by 398 stone steps from the entrance of Arakurayama Sengen Park; the Japan Visionary Tour product page rounds it to around 400. One traveller below describes an hour-long stop that included a 30-minute climb, so the time at the top is shorter than the itinerary suggests. Travellers who struggle with stairs should take this into account, and the age limits of the tours point the same way: JRT Group does not take travellers over 70, and Japan Visionary Tour asks for a waiver from 70. If you travel on your own, Shimoyoshida station is about a 20-minute walk from the park.

When the cherry trees bloom

Around 650 cherry trees grow in the park. In the Fuji area they bloom roughly 10 to 14 days after Tokyo. In 2026 full bloom came on 9 April at the Chureito Pagoda and on 11 April at Lake Kawaguchi. The 2027 dates depend on the winter and early spring and are forecast only a few weeks ahead, so book a tour with free cancellation and decide closer to the date. April is also an average month for seeing the mountain: long-term data from Fuji City shows Fuji on about a quarter to a third of April days. Blossom and a clear summit on the same morning is the exception, not the rule. The visibility figures by month show how this compares with the rest of the year.

The festival that was cancelled

On 3 February 2026 the city of Fujiyoshida called off the Arakurayama cherry blossom festival for 2026. The 2025 festival had drawn about 210,000 visitors over 18 days, with peaks of more than 10,000 a day and queues of one to three hours for an observation deck that holds about 15 people at a time. Residents had complained about blocked roads, crowds on the routes children take to school, and visitors entering gardens and using them as toilets. The park stayed open in spring 2026, without food stalls or stage events, and with security staff and temporary toilets from 1 to 17 April. As of October 2026 the city had not announced whether the festival returns in 2027.

Outside the blossom weeks

The pagoda is on the tour routes all year, and outside April the crowds are smaller. From November to February the mountain is visible far more often, and in November the colours around Lake Kawaguchi add to the view. For most travellers who mainly want the pagoda with a snow-capped Fuji behind it, a winter morning is the better bet than the cherry blossom. The tour finder lists the other Kawaguchiko tours as well.