During my almost 2-week trip to Japan in the spring, I visited Ashikaga Flower Park, a botanic garden that is filled with color. Even though I loved every day I was in the country, my day at Ashikaga was my favorite.
I chose my dates of travel specifically to get to see the wisteria festival at Ashikaga. If you’ve seen the wisteria tunnel photographs on social media, many of them were taken at this park. When I arrived, the wisteria was still growing and would be a bit fuller a few days later. But I have no complaints. The sights and scents at Ashikaga were wonderful, with wisteria in purple, white, and pink.
Wisteria season doesn’t really coincide with cherry blossom season, but there were a few cherry blossoms still in bloom at Japan’s Ashikaga Flower Park (Photo by Melanie Votaw)
I was concerned about my allergies kicking up, but the pollens in Japan didn’t affect me like they do the locals. So I didn’t sneeze once as I walked through the large park.
The gift shop was also a treat. It was much bigger than I expected with all sorts of sweets and scented items. I mostly bought wisteria-scented soaps and a wisteria-flavored fizzy drink that was delicious.
For the most part, I’ll let the photographs speak for themselves, but I have to give you some instructions for getting to the park. It was a bit confusing.
I took the train from Tokyo and used my Japan Rail Pass. What confused me, however, was that the park’s website said to use the JR Ryomo line (JR stands for “Japan Rail”). Yet, you can’t get that line from Tokyo. Instead, you must take a local JR train (which isn’t a bullet train) to the town of Oyama. From that station, look for the JR Ryomo line. Since Oyama is an originating station for the line, whatever train you take will go in the right direction.
Ashikaga Flower Park has its own train station as of this year. The next station on the line is simply called “Ashikaga,” but it’s farther away from the park. (For more information about the trains in Japan, see this post.)
From the Ashikaga Flower Park station, it’s just a few minutes’ walk to the park itself. I recommend getting there early in the morning, and take your camera! Check out the photos I took that day.
Melanie Votaw is the Publisher and Executive Travel Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. She has visited more than 50 countries on 6 continents and written for such magazines as Executive Travel, Just Luxe, Business Insider, South China Morning Post, Travel Mindset, and more. She is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association and the International Travel Writers Alliance. Melanie's photography has won awards, and she has also written 39 nonfiction books as either the author or ghostwriter.
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