This will be Seibu Railway’s first hanami train tour.

On March 28, Seibu Railway will hold their first cherry blossom viewing train tour in Saitama, just outside of Tokyo. The date corresponds perfectly to our recently-published 2024 sakura forecast, which predicts Tokyo and Saitama’s starting-to-bloom dates on March 20.

▼ Here’s one of the highlights of the tour.

The 52 Seki no Shifuku Ohanami Train Tour will spend a few relaxing hours making its way along the Seibu Ikebukuro Line from either Shinjuku or Ikebukuro all the way into the Chichibu region of Saitama Prefecture, slowing down at three beautiful cherry blossom viewing points: Shakuji River, Inariyama Park, and Iruma River Bridge.

▼ From cityside to countryside.

The tour has two start times–11:09 a.m. from Seibu Shinjuku Station and 2:17 p.m. from Ikebukuro Station–and ends just under three hours. Each tour will seat 30 customers, and everyone will receive a boarding ticket for the train, a course meal, a special stamp rally paper for the event, and a pamphlet explaining the tour. Additional food and drinks are also available for purchase.

▼ This is what the cocktail will look like.

The course menu will start off with a sakura-themed cocktail, and moves through courses like dumpling soup and spare ribs made with local Chichibu ingredients. For dessert, guests will enjoy sakura roll cake.

▼ You’ll even get a seasonal strawberry inside!

Reservations for the tours opened on February 1 at 12,000 yen (US$80.88) per person on the 52 Seki no Shifuku site here.

Sources: PR Times, 52 Seki no Shifuku official website
Featured image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, 52 Seki no Shifuku official website
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