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While this year’s cherry blossoms have started to bloom, there are some other flowers to look forward to later into the season. Spring has a host of colourful blooms popping up in and around the Greater Tokyo region, with stunning wisteria, colourful tulips and a sea of nemophila.
Spring flowers have been blooming earlier than usual this year, and the wisteria are no exception. The annual Fujinohana Monogatari Ofuji Festival 2022 at Ashikaga Flower Park is set to be held ahead of schedule – it will kick off on Saturday April 16.
The park is one of Japan’s top destinations for wisteria, boasting 350 trees which 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 even 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.
The Fujinohana Monogatari Ofuji Festival runs from April 16 through to May 22, with the light-up period from April 16 to May 15. Entrance fees vary depending on the date you visit and the status of the blooms, so check before you go. Daytime adult admission costs ¥900 to ¥2,000 (children ¥500-¥1,000), while evening admission costs ¥700 to ¥1,800 (children ¥400-¥900). Ashikaga Flower Park is roughly two hours by train from Tokyo.
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 March 24 2022.
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