Wisteria at Ashikaga Flower Park

What it is

Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi prefecture is built around wisteria. Its centrepiece is a very old vine, well over a century in age, whose branches have been trained across a huge trellis so that you walk beneath a ceiling of hanging purple flowers. There is also a long tunnel of white wisteria, one of yellow laburnum, and pale pink and double-flowered kinds. They bloom in sequence from mid April to mid May. After dark the vines are lit and reflected in ponds. The park has its own railway station, and azaleas, roses and irises fill the rest of the season.

Before you go

• The purple wisteria peaks around late April to early May, the white a little later.
• Stay into the evening for the illumination.
• Avoid the Golden Week holidays at the start of May if you can.

The flowers you will see

WisteriaWoody climbing vines with long, fragrant flower clustersAzaleaShade-loving flowering shrubs with spring blooms and thousands of cultivated formsRoseWoody perennial plants with showy, often fragrant flowers in many colours

Also part of it, and being written: Wisteria floribunda.

More in Japan

🇯🇵 Tokyo · Mar to AprCherry blossom season in TokyoAbout a week of pale pink along moats, rivers and parks, and the picnics that go with it. 🇯🇵 Tokyo · Feb to NovShinjuku Gyoen through the seasonsA large former imperial garden in central Tokyo with a long cherry season and an autumn chrysanthemum show. 🇯🇵 Kyoto · Mar to AprPhilosopher's Path in cherry seasonA canal-side walk of about two kilometres in eastern Kyoto, lined with cherry trees. 🇯🇵 Hirosaki · Apr to MayHirosaki Castle cherry blossomA northern castle park with thousands of cherry trees and moats that turn pink with fallen petals. 🇯🇵 Hitachinaka · Apr to OctNemophila hill at Hitachi Seaside ParkA hill by the Pacific covered in small sky-blue flowers in spring and red kochia bushes in autumn. 🇯🇵 Furano · Jun to AugLavender fields of FuranoHillside lavender farms in central Hokkaido, at their purple best in July.