In northern Japan’s Aomori Prefecture lies Hirosaki, a small city. Known for its apples and orchard, this city boasts one of Japan’s few remaining original castles. Within the castle grounds is the Hirosaki Botanical Garden, a beautiful example of Japanese and international flowering and medicinal plants.

General Information

Hirosaki Botanical Garden is Hirosaki’s largest in-city garden (with neighbouring Fujita Memorial Garden being a close contender). It covers 40 acres of the former castle grounds and along with the castle is the only part of the park area that requires an entry ticket.

The garden boasts several distinct areas, including a famous (at least to the locals) Dragon Pagoda, a large greenhouse, various flowering and herbacious gardens, and a medicinal garden. The pagoda opened in 1981 and the greenhouse opened in 1995. Unfortunately both were under renovation when I visited.

Unfortunately while I was there, much of the garden was under renovation, so many parts were simply unavailable.

Video Tour

The following is a compliation video that I took of my time in the garden on 20 August 2024. It was a very hot day with brilliant sunshine:

Visiting and Getting into Hirosaki Botanical Garden

The garden is open from 1 April to 23 November every year and every day from 09:00 to 17:00. The exception to that is during the Cherry Blossom Festival when hours are from 07:00 to 21:00.

A one-day pass to the garden costs ¥320 ($2.05 USD, £1.55 GBP, €1.77 as of December 2025). However I would recommend getting the combined ticket for ¥520 ($3.33 USD, £2.51 GBP, €2.87 as of December 2025), which includes entrance into Hirosaki Castle Honmaru, Kita-no-Kuruwa, Hirosaki Botanical Garden, and Fujita Memorial Garden.

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