The present invention provides an upper cover closure cushioning device and a washing machine including the same. The cushioning device includes a drive shaft, a flexible cable and an elastic structure; the transmission shaft is used for being drivingly connected with a rotating shaft of an upper cover; a traction end of the flexible cable is connected to the drive shaft, and the flexible cable iswound on the drive shaft when the upper cover drops; the elastic structure is connected to a load-bearing end of the flexible cable, and is used for generating a gradually increasing tensile resistance when the drive shaft receives the flexible cable; the elastic structure comprises a first magnetic member, a second magnetic member, and an elastic member for generating the tensile resistance whenthe first magnetic member and the second magnetic member attract each other. The cushioning device can effectively solve the problem that the existing upper cover falls too fast during the closure process.