Top Flower Parks Not to Miss in Japan – Traditional gardens always feature high on itineraries of visitors to Japan. But do you know Japan’s flower parks are just as beautiful and magnificent?
Spacious and modern, and ever-changing palettes of colors throughout the year, these wonderlands incorporate the best of Western and Japanese landscaping designs. When illuminated to celebrate the seasons, there are few places in Japan more dream-like too.
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Showa Memorial Park
Located in Tachikawa, 30 minutes away by train from downtown Tokyo, Showa Memorial Park is close enough to the capital to still be considered a Tokyo attraction. For travelers of all ages, it is also one of the best full-day trips to enjoy.
Showa Memorial Park is famous for Cherry Blossoms and Autumn foliage. It is also the top flower park of the Greater Tokyo Region.
Note, full-day trip. This sprawling flower paradise is 165 hectares large, with attractions that include museums, sports facilities, and water features. During Cherry Blossom and Autumn Foliage seasons, the park is also alive with vibrant colors. In fact, many seasoned travelers consider Showa Memorial Park the best location near Tokyo to enjoy seasonal colors.
Outside of sakura blooms and autumn leaves, the grounds are splendid with numerous other seasonal flowers too. Azaleas, tulips, cosmos, sunflowers, to name but a few. In short, this is a flora wonderland conveniently at the doorsteps of Tokyo. You could spend a whole day here surrounded by gorgeous blooms and be back in the capital for dinner.
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Ashikaga Flower Park
Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi Prefecture requires some navigation of local train services to get to. That said, the journey is worth every minute for this is one of the top flower parks in Japan, especially famous for its Weeping Wisteria displays. The star display is also a century-old Wisteria tree with a huge canopy that turns entirely purple at full bloom.
Illuminated Weeping Wisterias at Ashikaga Flower Park.
Besides dreamy purple cascades, Ashikaga Flower Park also hosts numerous thematic illuminations events throughout the year, with the year-end winter illumination always one of the largest in Japan. To stroll through the numerous mini-gardens as the whole park comes alive with lights is an experience that could only be described as magical. On the neighboring hills, there would also be huge LED screens with thematic animations to entertain you.
The summary of it, this botanical gem is one of the most enchanting places in Japan to spend an evening at. You might not want to leave after entering.
Hitachi Seaside Park
Hitachi Seaside Park, in Ibaraki Prefecture, is the place to head to if you love dainty blue blooms.
Blue skies and petite blue blooms at Hitachi Seaside Park. (Source: Pixabay)
Famous for seas of blue nemophila in late April, this 350-hectare wonderland faces the Pacific Ocean and is a peaceful paradise of sky and sea. What’s more, it is also home to a small amusement park and an observation wheel, making it the perfect attraction for young families and couples alike.
And apart from the famous nemophila displays, Hitachi Seaside Park features a variety of other plants during the warmer months. Particularly noteworthy here are the hillside Kochia bushes. In October, these swaying bushes turn a vibrant crimson. Standing beside a knoll full of these strange red bushes is like a glimpse into another world.
Higashizawa Rose Park
Located in rustic Yamagata Prefecture, Higashizawa Rose Park is an aromatic paradise situated between rolling hills and lush forests.
Are Roses the most exotic flowers in the world? Well, a few hundred varieties of them at Higashizawa Rose Park will convince you they are. (Source: Facebook)
As its name implies, it’s all about roses here too. There are over 700 varieties planted, including unique local varieties such as the Murayama Rose. (The park is in Murayama Town)
Open from April to October, these gorgeous blooms are best enjoyed in June and July i.e. early summer. Should you be visiting during later months though, worry not, there are “autumn” blooms too, all the way up to late September. This romantic gem easily constitutes as one of the best flower parks to visit in Northern Japan.
Hitsujiyama Park
Hitsujiyama means “sheep mountain” in Japanese but woolly cuties are not at all the attraction here.
Instead, visitors flock to this top flower park at Chichibu for fields of pink. That’s right, between late April and early May, the fields here are wondrous seas of luscious pink, thanks to abundant moss pink planted throughout the undulating landscapes.
Wouldn’t you want to be part of this incredible scene? (Source: Tripadvisor)
Pink is not the only color on show as well, with different varieties of moss pink providing contrasting swathes of purple and white. To further heighten visual appeal, the different shades are even artistically assembled to form mesmerizing patterns.
Of note, Chichibu itself has in recent years enjoyed international attention for its religious sites. After enjoying the flowers, you can check out the town’s historical shrines. There is also a nearby European-style theme park dedicated to the Finnish Character, Moomin.
Farm Tomita
Ever seen pictures of sweeping, rainbow-colored flower beds in Japan, and long to be among them? If so, Farm Tomita in Hokkaido is the place to head to.
Be mesmerized by seas of harmonious colors at Hokkaido’s Farm Tomita. (Source: Facebook)
Hokkaido’s most picturesque flower park in summer, the immaculately cultivated flower beds here will take your breath away. Most popular among international visitors are the signature lavender blooms from mid-July to August. Outside of those, the farm also has a variety of other flowers, for example, marigolds and poppies. There is even a grove of white birch trees.
Best of all, everything could be enjoyed with the nearby Tokachi Mountains as a spectacular backdrop.
Additionally, Farm Tomita is free to enter and is but one of several attractions in Furano. The resort town is home to the otherworldly Blue Pond, as well as the popular Furano Ski Resort. It is also a short train ride away from Biei, a lovely hill town with fields as far as you can see.
Hamamatsu Flower Park
Located on the outskirts of Japan’s city of music, Hamamatsu Flower Park is a lovely botanical garden surrounded by several recreational facilities. Like other top flower parks on this list, it showcases seasonal blooms throughout the year and is an evening illumination hotspot. The park also contains a sizeable greenhouse with a magnificent fountain centerpiece.
Tulips and Sakura during springtime at Hamamatsu Flower Park. The perfect hybrid of the East and West. (Source: Tripadvisor)
Every November, the Hamamatsu Chrysanthemum Convention is held here too. If you happen to visit during then, you’d be treated to over a hundred types of huge Chrysanthemum blossoms in elaborate arrangements.
For younger visitors, Hamamatsu Flower Park also has a toy tram that travels around the grounds, one that’s sure to be great fun to ride on. Needless to say, this flowery playground is one of the foremost places in the region for Cherry Blossom and Autumn foliage viewing. Together with the adjacent Hamamatsu Zoological Gardens, it will also provide for a full day of fun and adventure.
Nabana no Sato
Within the Crystal Palace greenhouse of Nabana no Sato, Nagoya’s best flower park. (Source: Google Maps)
Nabana no Sato is part of Nagashima Resort, the huge recreational playground outside Nagoya. Always resplendent with colorful blooms throughout the year, this botanical garden is famous as one of the key illumination spots of Central Japan between October and May. On the latter, let’s just say visiting during any illumination is a journey through fields, tunnels, and enclaves of light. A few million glittering LED lights will be your companions.
In addition to which, there is the unique Island Fuji attraction, this being a futuristic moving platform that allows you an aerial view of the colorful grounds. Lastly, a short bus ride will whisk you to the other attractions of Nagashima Resort. You could soak in an onsen, indulge in retail therapy, or scream on a roller coaster, right after experiencing flower power.
Mifuneyama Rakuen
Many words could be used to describe Kyushu’s Mifuneyama Rakuen, located about an hour by train from Fukuoka City. Foremost among all epithets would be the word, dramatic.
The visual splendor of Mifuneyama Rakuen will take your breathe away. (Source: Google Maps)
The landscaping project of Saga Prefecture’s youngest feudal lord, this incredible garden uses nearby Mount Mifuneyama as a natural backdrop for a valley of meticulously pruned shrubs. Spectacular throughout all seasons, this landscaping gem is particularly famous for multi-colored springtime azalea blooms during April. Just imagine a sea of crimson, pink, and white spreading out before you. With a dramatic craggy pinnacle looming in the distance.
With such a fantastic setting, the garden is naturally also mesmerizing during other months. For example, autumn transforms everywhere into different seas of orange. In summer, the grounds are verdant waves of relaxing green.
Finally, Mifuneyama Rakuen regularly hosts evening illumination events. To be able to sip tea under the stars, while surrounded by illuminated foliage, that is an experience that is positively ethereal.
Huis Ten Bosch
Huis Ten Bosch is the most famous and enduring theme park of Southern Japan, a celebration of the historical relationship between Nagasaki and the Netherlands.
This isn’t a street in The Netherlands. It’s the Huis Ten Bosch Theme Park in Kyushu. (Source: Facebook)
A replica of a classic Dutch town with several museums and amusement features, the park is adjourned with flowers throughout the year, with hundreds of varieties of tulips taking center stage each year during March and April. To put it in another way, if you’re unable to visit Amsterdam’s Keukenhof any time soon, this is the best place to enjoy endless spreads of the world-famous bloom.
Post tulip season, the “streets” of this popular theme park are still full of blossoms. For example, vibrant hydrangea fill the canal-side walks in summer.
Lastly, Huis Ten Bosch is a hotspot for VR entertainment in Japan. The many adventures offered naturally include ecologically-themed ones. How does enjoying a cool drink while surrounded by glittering rainbow trees sound to you?
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Ced Yong
A devoted solo traveler from Singapore who has loved Japan since young. His first visits to the country were all because of video game and Manga homages. Today, he still visits for the same reasons, in addition to enjoying Japan’s culture, history, and hot springs.
