Underrated sakura spots: Nagaoka's Fukushimae Irrigation Channel

There are so many beautiful sakura places across Japan, but one that I think goes under the radar a bit (at least outside the Nagaoka-ish area) is the Fukushimae Irrigation Channel. It doesn't sound all that glamorous, but it's a really beautiful spot -- and if you can visit during the week you often have the area all to yourself. There are some walking paths along the channel so it's nice to just take a stroll and enjoy the blossoms.

BigFamJapan recently wrote about hanaikada, or the idea of a "raft of cherry blossoms," which is where they settle on top of a body of water as they fall. If you like the look of that, the channel is a great place to experience it. We've had some rain here over the weekend and early this week, so I imagine a lot of the blossoms are sitting atop of the water now!