Ashikaga Flower Park — Attraction in Ashikaga

Ashikaga Flower Park, located in Tochigi Prefecture, is nothing short of an enchanting horticultural experience. A reasonable day trip from Tokyo, this 100,000-square-meter park offers not just a quick visit, but an immersive experience through a meticulously planned year-long floral journey. The park’s officials recommend two to three hours for exploration, but every visit feels like a voyage into an entirely new story.

The floral narrative unfolds through eight distinct seasonal themes. The park's charm starts with the heralding of spring in January and February, where the serene air is filled with the fragrances of winter-blooming peonies, kankobai, and wintersweet plants, the early bloomers thriving in the cold. Transitioning into March and April, the Spring Flower Festival showcases 30,000 colorful tulips, among other flowers, offering a vibrant prelude to the celebrated cherry blossom season.

The park's heart, arguably, beats strongest in mid-April to mid-May, where the grandeur of the wisteria takes center stage. The sheer beauty of the wisteria, with their varieties of colors from pink to purple to white and yellow, is captivating. The 160-year-old ofuji wisteria tree is a sight to behold, covering a staggering area of 1,000 square meters. A walk through the 80-meter-long tunnel of white wisteria is surreal, especially when illuminated at night. The experience has even drawn attention from the 'Demon Slayer' anime fans, which is a testament to the fantastical nature of the park.

From mid-May to early July, the park dazzles visitors with its vibrant Rainbow Garden and serene Blue and White Garden, filled with myriad blossoms from roses to irises and hydrangeas. The Water Nymphs chapter from early July to late September brings an aquatic element, with 1,500 tropical water lilies filling the park with a fairytale-like charm.

The fall season starting in early October heralds the Purple Garden period, imbuing the park with a royal aesthetic, followed by the winter illumination festival known as the Bejeweled Flower Garden. This festival showcases a radiant display of color-changing flowers set to music, providing warmth even in the chilly weather.

Ashikaga Flower Park is truly a testament to Japan's deep appreciation for nature's elegance. It's not just a park, but a living, breathing painting that changes every season. Its ability to merge natural beauty with cultural significance and offer a feast of seasonal culinary delights only heightens the park's allure. Whether you're a local or a tourist, a nature lover, or an anime fan, Ashikaga Flower Park offers a unique experience that warrants multiple visits. A highly recommended destination, especially during the...

What an amazing experience! One of my favorite in Japan so far. I agree with all the other reviews calling this place magical. We visited in late April, which was good because this year the wisteria bloomed earlier than ever in the park's history. I wish we had more than 2 hours to fully enjoy the illumination and flowers. The smell was quite strong. Though I enjoyed it, people with allergies might be affected.

We appreciated the care that went into the entire garden. Not just the "main" flowers, but all the plants and flowers surrounding them. Clearly a lot of work goes into creating a beautiful experience. We tried to balance taking photos and just enjoying with our eyes. The different colors, types, and size of the wisteria was quite impressive.

Obviously it will be very crowded during peak season, so I recommend going in at opening or staying until closing if you want to get shots with less people in them. They have at least one spot where you can line up to have your photo taken by a photographer with a nice camera and they will also take a photo on one device you give them (phone, camera, GoPro, etc.). When we visited, it was just behind the restaurant/café in the middle of the park. If you like their photo, you can purchase it in a commemorative frame/stand, but it unfortunately does not include the data for the photo like some other parks do.

The price varies depending on bloom status, so since we visited during full bloom the price was 1900 yen per person for the night ticket. The night and day tickets are separate. I believe the peak day price is about 2100 yen. I'm sure both are beautiful, but I really enjoyed seeing them illuminated. During the wisteria season, there are extra parking lots available, just sometimes with more walking involved but I can't imagine them running out of...

I visited on April 25, and bought a day-ticket in advanced and got a QR code which is very easy to enter once you reach the park. If you come from Tokyo, you can take the Utsunomiya line local train to Oyama, then change train to Ryomo line until you reach Ashikaga Flower Park Station. I reach around 3.40pm which is perfect because I can get photos of day view as well as night view (buy a day ticket, and you can enter anytime). There are a lot of people even though I went during weekdays, maybe because its closer to Golden week, there's a lot of locals and foreign tourist. When you first enter, you will pass through the souvenir shop, there's a lot of cute things and foods related to wisteria, once you pass the shop you will enter the park. The smell in the park is so amazing, it smells so nice. If beautiful was a smell, it would be wisteria scent. When I was there, the purple wisteria is at peak, and pink wisteria has already pass its peak, as for white wisteria it just started to bloom. I spent almost 5 hours in the park and walk through every inch of the park. There are not just wisteria, there are azaleas and other flowers too in the park and it is a very nice scenery. If you're tired, grab a quick bite at any of the cafe or restaurant, there are couple of restaurants and stalls throughout the park, small souvenirs shops are also scattered throuhout the park. Try the wisteria ice cream and wisteria soda too while you're at it. Dont forget to shop for souvenirs before you leave when you're done with sightseeing. And don't be late to catch the train to go back, as the frequency of the train are every half an hour or so, so you dont want to miss the last train if you're traveling...