The Japanese love flowers
and wisteria are among their favorites. Wisteria (known as fuji in Japan) is
said to be one of the archipelago's most ancient noted flowering trees, even
being described in the collected poems of the Man'yoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand
Leaves).
One of the best places
to view fuji flowers is the Ashikaga Flower Park in Ashikaga City, Tochigi
Prefecture. Ashikaga Flower Park features lots of blue, white and pink fuji, as
well as yellow laburnum (Japanese: kingusari) that look like yellow colored
fuji.
Three massive wisteria
trellises extend for more than 1000 square meters, in addition to a large
trellis of rare double-petaled wisteria. One large fuji tree is 100 years old
and its branches are supported to create a huge umbrella of blue fuji flowers.
There is also an 80-meter tunnel of white fuji flowers, while a tunnel of
yellow kingusari needs a few more years to become an actual tunnel. Yae-fuji, a
variety with more than the usual number of petals, can also be viewed.
Besides the fuji, you
will find many other flowers, restaurants and a shop selling plants and local
products. There are no English descriptions and very few foreign visitors. The
entrance fee depends on the season's beauty and is around 1000 Yen per adult
during the fuji peak season.
The
fuji in Ashikaga Flower Park are usually in full bloom in the beginning of May,
one to two weeks later than the fuji of Tokyo. Because Ashikaga Flower Park is
considered one of the best spots to view fuji flowers in Japan, the park can be
very crowded even on weekdays during the peak season.
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