What Is Hagi Like in Each Season? Flowers, Festivals and Pottery

Published 2026-10-04 · Sources checked 2026-10-04 · Treasure Hunting Co., Ltd.

This guide is for visitors who want to choose a month for Hagi and know what is on. It uses the seasonal and product pages of the Hagi sightseeing guide, the city's official tourism site, which we read on 2026-10-04. Event dates vary each year, and the site gives them as general periods, so confirm the dates before you plan around one.

Late winter: camellias, plum and early cherry

• Hina doll displays in the castle town in February and March. The site says 1,200 dolls handed down in Hagi households are shown at several venues.
• The Mt. Kasa camellia forest, with about 25,000 wild camellia trees five to six metres tall. The best viewing is mid-February to late March.
• The Hagi Okan Ume Orchard, with about 250 plum trees, which bloom a little before the camellias.
• Kawazu cherry trees, about 120 of them, around Shinsui Park, in bloom from late February to mid-March in a typical year.

The site also notes that many hotels and lodges in Hagi have onsen baths, and that some facilities accept day visitors.

Spring

From late March to early April, some 600 Yoshino cherry trees bloom in Shizuki Park, the site of Hagi Castle. One Midori-Yoshino tree has unusual snow-white blossoms. The Hagi Sightseeing Boat runs special cherry blossom trips in this period. The boat follows a 40-minute round-trip route past the samurai residences of the Horiuchi and Hiyako preservation district, with a detour to Kikugahama on calm days.

In early to mid May the summer orange trees bloom with small white flowers and a sweet fragrance. The site describes yellow summer oranges peeking over old earthen walls as a typical Hagi view. The spring Hagi Yaki Festival runs from 1 to 5 May, with more than 50 kilns taking part.

Summer

• Kikugahama is open as a swimming beach from mid-July to mid-August.
• A fireworks festival is held at Kikugahama on 1 August, launched from the water's surface.
• The Hagi Mantoe Festival is held on 13 and 15 August at the Mori family graves at Daisho-in and Toko-ji temples, with 500 lanterns lit at night during Obon.
• About 330,000 sunflowers bloom in the Mutsumi area, best from late July to early August. It is far from the center, so you need a car or a local bus.
• Mt. Kasa, a small volcano 112 metres high, has an observation deck with a cafe and a crater about 30 metres deep you can walk down into. At its foot is a wind cave that stays cool all year.

Autumn

• Kimono Week in Hagi in October, when visitors walk the old town in kimono.
• The autumn Hagi Yaki Festival in mid-October, with shops in the Hagi-Tamachi shopping arcade taking part.
• The Hagi Jidai Festival in mid-November, which recreates the Daimyo Procession, the lord's journey to Edo.
• Autumn leaves from the end of November at Daisho-in Temple, Toko-ji Temple and the Kikuya Family Residence.

Hagi yaki and Hagi glass

Hagi yaki pottery began in 1604. The site calls it soft and simple, porous, with fine crazing in the glaze. As tea seeps into the crazing with use, the color slowly changes, which is called the "seven disguises" of Hagi yaki. Many potteries offer visits to a climbing kiln and hands-on classes: painting a cup, shaping clay by hand or throwing on a wheel. The site says appointments are required, though same-day appointments are allowed, and finished pieces can be shipped abroad later for a separate fee.

Hagi glass is made only in Hagi from andesite deposits of Mt. Kasayama. The site describes a moss-green tint, a scratch-resistant surface and crazing like that of Hagi yaki. Workshops offer glass blowing, sandblasting and burner work for pendants.

Food and gifts

The site says the Sea of Japan brings more than 250 varieties of fresh fish through the year. Local specialties it names include summer orange sweets and jam, roasted kamaboko dating to the Edo period, and puffer fish. It also lists Hagi sake and craft beer.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• This year's exact festival dates and bloom conditions.
• Prices of the pottery and glass classes and the boat.
• Restaurant opening hours.

Related guides

• How do you get to Hagi and get around by bus, bicycle and taxi?
• What is Hagi? The castle town and the Meiji World Heritage sites

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. Winter (HAGI Sightseeing Guide) — (hina dolls, camellia, plum, Kawazu cherry)
2. Spring (HAGI Sightseeing Guide) — (cherry blossoms, summer orange, pottery festival)
3. Summer (HAGI Sightseeing Guide) — (beach, fireworks, Mantoe, sunflowers, Mt. Kasa)
4. Autumn (HAGI Sightseeing Guide) — (Kimono Week, festivals, leaves)
5. Regional Specialty Products (HAGI Sightseeing Guide) — (pottery, glass, food)
6. Activities (HAGI Sightseeing Guide) — (classes and boat)
7. Foods (HAGI Sightseeing Guide) — (fish varieties)