Hirosaki

The petals are thick enough to hide the water. In late April, 2,600 cherry trees around Hirosaki Castle drop their blossom into the moats, and the west moat turns into a carpet of pink so dense the boats seem to row through it. The Japanese call it a flower raft, and Hirosaki's is the one everyone photographs.

Hirosaki Castle was completed in 1611 for the Tsugaru lords; the first tower burned in 1627, and the three-storey keep that replaced it in 1811 is the only original castle keep left standing in the Tōhoku region, set among moats, stone walls and corner turrets. The city sits in the heart of Japan's biggest apple country, with orchards that blossom white in spring and hang heavy in autumn; the city's own Apple Park grows some 2,300 trees of eighty varieties and lets you pick. In August the Neputa Festival parades enormous fan-shaped floats painted with warriors through the streets by night, and a festival village shows the floats and the shamisen music year-round. Mount Iwaki, the region's sacred volcano, stands behind it all.