Spring is one of the most beautiful times of year in Japan with colourful flowers blooming everywhere you look. Even in Greater Tokyo, you can find some of the season's most stunning showstoppers such as pretty wisteria, colourful tulips and a sea of nemophila.
For one of the best shows of wisteria in this region, you'll have a make a day trip to Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi prefecture. The annual, ever popular Fujinohana Monogatari Ofuji Festival runs from April 13 to May 15, with the evening light-up set for April 18 to May 15.
The park is one of Japan’s top destinations for wisteria, boasting 350 trees that bloom from mid-April to mid-May. The stunning flowers, which dangle from wooden trellises, come in a riot of colours including violet, blue, pink, white and yellow blossoms. Each colour tends to bloom at different times: pink first, followed by purple, white and then yellow wisteria.
A must-see is the park’s magnificent 150-year-old wisteria tree, which is lit up in the evenings and surrounded by still water that reflects the colourful flowers. This ofuji, or Great Wisteria Tree, has a canopy covering about 1,000sqm and features a jaw-dropping 80,000 individual purple blossoms.
The park is also home to a dreamy 80m-long wisteria walk, featuring white blooms drooping over you from the trellis above.
If white’s not your thing, check out Japan's only kibana wisteria tunnel. Best seen from early May, the arched tunnel is covered with kibana wisteria flowers that are a brilliant, bright yellow.
Aside from the wisteria, Ashikaga Flower Park also boasts an impressive collection of azaleas, with more than 5,000 bushes around the wisteria trees. The azaleas bloom from mid-April to early May and there are approximately 1,000 different varieties in the park.
Entrance fees vary depending on the date you visit and the status of the blooms, so check on the website before you go. Daytime adult admission costs between ¥1,000 and ¥2,200 (children ¥500-¥1,100).
Closing hours also vary depending on the date. The park will be open from 8am to 6pm from April 13 to April 19, 7am to 9pm from April 20 to May 6, 8am to 8.30pm from May 7 to May 12.
Ashikaga Flower Park is roughly two hours by train from central Tokyo. From Tokyo Station, take the Keihin Tohoku line to Ueno Station, switch to the JR Utsunomiya line to Oyama Station, and then take the JR Ryomo line to Ashikaga Flower Park Station.
For more festival information and updates on the flowers' progress, visit the website.
This article was originally published on April 14 2021 and updated on April 15 2024.
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