Have you ever heard of Ashikaga Flower Park before? Ashikaga Flower Park is very famous for its wisteria flowers, and many of you have probably seen pictures of the large wisteria trellis. As the wisteria season will be coming soon, I would like to introduce you to this flower park today!
What is Ashikaga Flower Park?
Ashikaga Flower Park opened in 1968 as Hayakawa Farm in Ashikaga city in Tochigi prefecture. Since then, it has been loved and recognised as 250 tatami mats of large wisteria gardens (using the number of tatami mats to express the size of a room in Japan). It was relocated to its current location in 1997 due to urban development and opened as Ashikaga Flower Park.
When the park was relocated, the symbolic giant wisteria had to be transplanted. At the time, transplanting a 130-year-old giant wisteria was an unprecedented attempt and drew attention from all over Japan.
Things to see
There are different themes for the different seasons so that visitors can enjoy different plants all year round, depending on the theme.
There are eight themes in total.
Theme 1 Early spring
Period: Early January to late February
Main flowers: winter-flowering Peonies and plums
Theme 2 Spring Flower Festival
Period: early March to mid-April
Main flowers: tulips,Thunberg spirea, rapeseed blossoms and cherry blossoms
Theme 3 Tale of Wisteria
Period: Mid-April to mid-May
Main flowers: wisteria and azalea
Theme 4 Rainbow Garden
Period: Mid-May to early June
Main flowers: roses, rhododendrons and clematis
Theme 5 Blue and White Garden
Period: Early to late June
Main flowers: hydrangeas and irises
Theme 6 Flower fairies on the waterfront
Period: early July to late September
Main flowers: tropical water lilies and crape myrtle
Theme 7 Purple Garden
Period: early October to mid-November
Main flowers: amethyst sage, lantana and tropical water lilies
Theme 8 Garden of Light Flowers
Period: Mid-October to mid-February
Illumination changes according to the theme during the year, with a total of three types of illumination
The best time to visit is during the wisteria season, when the symbolic giant wisteria is in full bloom! The wisteria trellises, which cover an area of about 1000㎡ and are more than 160 years old, are very beautiful and breathtaking. There is also a large double wisteria trellis which is rare in the world and is magnificent to see! The wisteria flowers all around reminded me of the final exam scene from Demon slayer when I saw it.
Until I came here, I thought that wisteria flowers were only purple, but in fact there are many other colours. You can enjoy light red, white and yellow wisteria as well as purple here! However, the best time to see the flowers changes depending on the colour. It starts off with the light red, purple and then white wisteria bloom in that order. Then the yellow wisteria called kibana wisteria blooms at the end.
The time of visit depends on which colour of wisteria you want to enjoy, so it is recommended to check the blooming conditions on the Ashikaga Flower Park website before visiting.
light red⇒purple⇒white⇒yellow wisteria
https://www.ashikaga.co.jp/parkdayori/flower.php
Access from Asakusa
Of course the wisteria flowers are very beautiful, but the best part is that access from Asakusa is easy.
If you use the limited express and local lines, you can get there with only one transfer although it is a 15-minute walk from Ashikaga-shi Station on the Tobu Line to Ashikaga Station on the JR Line to change. With local lines, you have to change trains four times, but the one-way journey costs 1,190 yen.
Depending on the time of day, you can also come from Asakusa via Tatebayashi, although you may have to make more transfers.
I had never paid much attention to wisteria before, but… I was actually surrounded by many wisteria flowers at Ashikaga Flower Park, and for the first time I smelled the fragrance of wisteria flowers and I absolutely love their good smell.
The highlights of the purple wisteria is the large wisteria trellises and the white wisteria tunnel, but you can enjoy the wisteria flowers wherever you walk in the park as they are everywhere. It is also very beautiful to admire wisteria flowers and azaleas together.
If you have the chance to visit, please do and I am sure that you will in love with wisteria!
