Like a fairytale garden filled with whispy, beautiful wisterias hanging in lacy curtains, this Tochigi destination is an ideal day trip from the big city.
Ashikaga Flower Park is one of Japan's most popular seasonal flower viewing destinations, known particularly for the enormous wisteria trees that burst into purple and white blooms each spring, just about a month after Japan's more famous cherry blossom season. Wisteria season generally starts in mid-April and lasts through the first half of May, with different varieties blooming at slightly different times in different regions. But when it comes to must-see wisteria spots, Ashikaga Flower Park is undoubtedly top three. From individual wisteria trees with branches stretching out 1,000m² from the trunk, to wisterias in different shapes, sizes, and colors, plus plenty of other plants arranged in unique formations to complement the flowers, Ashikaga Flower Park is just about wisteria heaven, and it's only an hour or two outside of Tokyo!
To celebrate the blooming of the famous wisteria trees, Ashikaga Flower Park holds a festival every year during the peak blooming period. While not too much changes in the park during the festival (except the wisterias coming into bloom), they do lengthen the park's opening hours, and of course sell plenty of special wisteria-themed merchandise. If you love pale purple, take a look at some of the souvenirs available!
The festival is also the perfect time to try some wisteria-themed sweet treats, as well. I can't in all honesty recommend the "wisteria smoothie" to you, unless you particularly like mildly blueberry/blackberry flavored purple yogurt, but the equally purple wisteria-flavored soft-serve ice cream seemed to be a crowd-pleaser!
Part of the fun of a visit to Ashikaga Flower Park is enjoying all the less common varieties and colorations of wisteria the park grows alongside the standard purple strands. Some trees trail especially low with long bunches of flowers, while others have extra petals and look a little like purple popcorn. Their tunnel covered entirely with white wisterias trailing down from the heavens is always a popular spot, as are the "sakura-colored" pink wisteria, a ceiling of heavenly white wisterias, and a trellis covered in golden-yellow Kibana wisterias is a special treat, blooming at the very end of the season (and found nowhere else in Japan)!
There's a good reason for lengthened hours during the wisteria festival, though, and that's because at night the flowers are lit with bright lights to create a whole new, extra-romantic atmosphere. The tendrils of purple and white flowers seem to glow in the lights, as they hang down from the dark tree canopies. It truly is like walking into a magical garden from a fairytale. Or maybe the wisteria-covered mountain of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.
If you can't quite time your trip to coincide with the Ashikaga Flower Park Wisteria Festival, don't worry! Try for winter instead! During the colder months of the year, when not much is truly in bloom, the park transforms into a world of beautiful light displays, where flower-shaped fairy lights take on the role of wisterias. Sparkling in the cold winter air, the lights aren't quite the same as real flowers, but they might just be equally gorgeous.
Ready to venture out of Tokyo and north into a world of purple flowers? Ashikaga Flower Park is a little out of the way and far from any major train stations, so in the past, the only practical way to access it was by car. Fortunately, in recent years a small train station was built alongside the park, and now visitors can take the train and get from central Tokyo to Ashikaga Flower Park Station in just about 2 hours. With a JR pass it gets even more convenient, as a short trip on the Tohoku-Hokkaido Shinkansen cuts the travel time down to under an hour and a half. During peak flower-viewing seasons, there are even special trains that run direct from Tokyo to Ashikaga Flower Park Station, with no train changes necessary! So next time you need a fresh of breath air, don't hesitate to seek the wisteria-perfumed breeze of Tochigi Prefecture, and Ashikaga Flower Park in particular.
For more info and updates from Japan, check Japankuru for new articles, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Details
NAME:Ashikaga Flower Park (あしかがフラワーパーク)
ACCESS:Ashikaga Flower Park Station (あしかがフラワーパーク駅)
https://www.ashikaga.co.jp/fujinohana_special2021/en/index.html
PROFILE
Half a lifetime ago I came to Japan for a semester abroad... and I never left. I guess I really like the place! I'd love to hear your Tokyo recommendations via the @Japankuru instagram or twitter (X).
COMMENT
FEATURED MEDIA
VIEW MOREA Very Special Trip on the Ferry Sunflower #japankuru #ferrysunflower #hokkaidotrip #japanexperience #japantrip #girlstrip #oarai #tomakomai #北海道 #北海道旅行 #茨城 #홋가이도 #일본선박여행 #토마코마이 #이바라키 #북해도 #페리여행 #여행에미치다 #여자끼리 #日本渡輪 #sunflower號 #坐船旅行 #日本女子旅 #日本體驗
Japanese Makeup Shopping • A Trip to Kamakura & Enoshima With Canmake’s Cool-Toned Summer Makeup #pr #canmake #enoshima #enoden #에노시마 #캔메이크 #japanesemakeup #japanesecosmetics
⚔️The Robot Restaurant is gone, but the Samurai Restaurant is here to take its place. Check it out, and don't forget your coupon! 🍣신주쿠의 명소 로봇 레스토랑이 사무라이 레스토랑으로 부활! 절찬 쿠폰 발급중 💃18歲以上才能入場的歌舞秀,和你想的不一樣!拿好優惠券去看看~ #tokyo #shinjuku #samurairestaurant #robotrestaurant #tokyotrip #도쿄여행 #신주쿠 #사무라이레스토랑 #이색체험 #할인이벤트 #歌舞伎町 #東京景點 #武士餐廳 #日本表演 #日本文化體驗 #japankuru #japantrip #japantravel #japanlovers #japan_of_insta
Japanese appliance & electronics shopping with our KOJIMA x BicCamera coupon! 用JAPANKURU的KOJIMA x BicCamera優惠券買這些正好❤️ 코지마 x 빅 카메라 쿠폰으로 일본 가전 제품 쇼핑하기 #pr #japankuru #japanshopping #kojima #biccamera #japaneseskincare #yaman #dji #osmopocket3 #skincaredevice #日本購物 #美容儀 #相機 #雅萌 #日本家電 #일본여행 #면세 #여행꿀팁 #일본쇼핑리스트 #쿠폰 #일본쇼핑 #일본브랜드 #할인 #코지마 #빅카메라 #japankurucoupon
Odaiba's DiverCity Tokyo Plaza is home to the famous real-size 20m-tall Unicorn Gundam, and the popular shopping center has even more Gundam on the inside! Check out the Gundam Base Tokyo on the 7th floor for shelves upon shelves of Gunpla, and the Gundam Base Tokyo Annex on the 2nd floor for cool anime merchandise. Both shops have tons of limited-edition items! #pr #odaiba #tokyo #tokyotrip #japantrip #japantravel #PR #divercity #divercitytokyoplaza #tokyoshopping #gundam #unicorngundam #gundambasetokyo #anime #otaku #gunpla #japankuru #오다이바 #다이바시티도쿄 #오다이바건담 #건담 #일본건담 #건프라 #건담베이스도쿄
#okinawa #japankuru #littleuniverse #littleuniverseokinawa #오키나와 #리틀유니버스오키나와 #일본여행 #沖縄 #iias沖縄豊崎 #dmm카리유시수족관 #오키나와여행 #沖繩小小宇宙博物館 #iiasokinawatoyosaki #이이아스오키나와 #japanesekawaii #japantrip #okinawajapan #okinawatrip