Ogawara Cherry Blossom Festival Executive Committee and Times24 to Introduce "Times Parking Caravan" for the First Time for Special Parking Lot Operations at Miyagi Prefecture's Ogawara Cherry Blossom Festival

The Ogawara Cherry Blossom Festival Executive Committee (Ogawara Town, Ogawara Town Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ogawara Town Tourism and Product Association) and Times24 Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President: Koichi Nishikawa; hereinafter "Times24") will introduce "Times Parking Caravan," a mobile parking management service, for the first time in the operation of special parking lots for the "Ogawara Cherry Blossom Festival" to be held in Ogawara Town, Shibata District, Miyagi Prefecture, from April 1 to April 14, 2026.

The "Ogawara Cherry Blossom Festival," held annually around early April when the cherry blossoms bloom, attracts over 200,000 visitors from all over Japan. Although special parking lots are set up along the riverbed near the venue, there was a problem with traffic congestion caused by vehicles waiting to enter due to the time-consuming manual entry process. Furthermore, securing personnel for parking lot operations was difficult, necessitating the establishment of a more efficient and smooth operational system.

To solve these issues, "Times Parking Caravan" will be introduced for the operation of the special parking lots at this year's "Ogawara Cherry Blossom Festival."

"Times Parking Caravan" is a mobile parking management service that uses vehicles equipped with cashless payment machines, license plate recognition cameras, power supply equipment, etc. It travels to parking sites during temporary parking demands, such as for events, enabling short-term, temporary parking operations.

By switching from the conventional method of cash payment and manual handling at the parking lot entrance to a camera-based, cashless pre-payment system, it is expected to alleviate congestion caused by vehicles waiting to enter and reduce the personnel required for operations. Furthermore, by authenticating vehicle license plates, data such as entry/exit trends, duration of stay, and visitor origin regions will be collected and utilized for future operational planning and service improvement.

The Ogawara Cherry Blossom Festival Executive Committee and Times24 aim to create an environment where visitors to the Ogawara Cherry Blossom Festival can access the venue more comfortably and establish a sustainable event operation system by realizing smooth parking lot management.

■Parking Lot Overview

Address	Ogawara Town, Shibata District, Miyagi Prefecture
Event Period	April 1 (Wed) - April 14 (Tue), 2026
Number of Parking Spaces	330 spaces
Parking Fee	1,000 yen per regular car per visit