Ashikaga Flower Park

Beautiful flowers under eight different themes are planted in the vast 94,000 m2 garden. The garden is beautifully decorated with flowers blooming in each season.

The large wisteria trellis, which is especially spectacular in spring, can be seen from mid-April to mid-May. The wisteria flowers of various colors such as light red, purple, white, and yellow sway in the wind, creating a beautiful scene like a curtain.

At night, the wisteria is fantastically illuminated, creating a spectacular sight. The 80-meter-long white wisteria tunnel is also a must-see. This scenery will be an unforgettable memory. Every year, the “Fuji no Hana Monogatari - Big Wisteria Festival” is also held.

From the end of October to the beginning of February, the illumination “Garden of Light Flowers” is held, attracting many people as one of the three most popular illuminations in Japan.

The “Flower Garden of Light” won first place in the illumination category of the Illumination Awards, and was recognized as one of the three major illuminations in the Kanto region.

Ashikaga Flower Park is home to the “Kiseki no Wisteria” wisteria, which is over 150 years old and was selected by CNN as one of the 10 dream destinations in the world (2014). As a result, it has become an increasingly popular tourist attraction.

The park also has restaurants and souvenir stores, where visitors can spend a peaceful time while admiring the beautiful flowers.

The most popular souvenir is the wisteria manju (wisteria sweet bean paste), which is made of 100% domestic sweet bean paste. Also recommended are wisteria-scented room fragrance gel, hand cream with moisturizing wisteria flower extract, and wisteria-dyed handkerchiefs.

The Ashikaga Flower Park dates back to the 1920s, when President Hayakawa’s father, a landowner in Horigome-cho (now Asakura-cho), Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture, planted a large wisteria tree in a corner of his garden after the war.

In 1968, the garden was renovated and the predecessor establishment, Hayakawa Farm, was established so that local people could enjoy the large wisteria.

At first, the surrounding area was rural, but later the neighborhood became urbanized, and in 1996, four large wisteria trees were transplanted to the current location to accommodate the city’s urban development plans and to improve the park’s profitability. The transplant was the first successful transplant in Japan, and was done by Ms. Konami Tsukamoto, a Japanese female arborist.

The park is decorated with many flowers and plants other than Fuji, attracting many visitors from spring to fall. The park is also known for its ponds and creeks, which were originally wetlands.

The springtime lighting and illumination has been selected as one of Japan’s Night View Heritage sites. This is the first case in Japan where multiple “Japan Nightscape Heritage” sites were recognized at the same facility.

Furthermore, in the spring of 2015, the area was recognized as a satellite of the Lover’s Sacred Place, and a ceremony was held on May 27 to award the nameplate.

At Fuji-no-Hana Monogatari, the main feature of the site is that the Fuji trees are designated as natural treasures by Tochigi Prefecture. The large wisteria trellis (“Sakoma no Fuji”), consisting of two Nodanagafuji trees connected together, is particularly noteworthy, with approximately 160,000 bunches of flowers currently in bloom.

Each tree is 160 years old, and the connected trellis is approximately 2,000 square meters, making it the largest wisteria trellis in Japan.

From mid-April to mid-May, a wisteria festival called “Fuji no Hana Monogatari” is held, and visitors can view the wisteria flowers illuminated at night. This illumination was the catalyst for the later illumination of the area. Many bus tours and special trains are operated during this period, attracting many visitors.

The large wisteria tree was acclaimed for its resemblance to the “Tree of Souls” in the movie “Avatar,” and in 2014 it was selected by CNN as one of the “10 Dream Destinations in the World for 2014. This recognition led to a surge in the number of international tourists.

The Garden of Light holds an illumination event called “Garden of Light Flowers” during the winter season. Under the theme of “the importance of the earth, the universe, and the environment,” this event uses approximately 1.8 million light purple LED bulbs that resemble wisteria petals to create a light and sound performance that reproduces a large wisteria flower in full bloom.

Moving light murals using mountain slopes and existing pergolas and a fantastic illumination using a water mirror are also attractions.

Approximately 5 million light bulbs are used, and it is recognized as one of the “Three Greatest Illuminations in Japan. It is also known as one of the “Three Greatest Illuminations in Kanto” in the Kanto region.

In 2014, the world’s first flexible OLED lighting panel was also introduced. This illumination began in 2001 and has grown in scale over the years; in 2016 it won first place in the nation in the “Fourth Illumination Awards” and continues to rank high.

The illuminations are produced by the park’s employees, and with relatively low admission fees, the park is highly regarded for its cost-effectiveness.

The Flower Park holds an event called “Flower Fantasy in Summer” during the summer season. The main attraction of this event is the laser light show.

The laser light show includes “Laser Fantasy,” which combines laser beams and music, and “Water Fantasy,” which combines laser beams and mist showers.

For children, there will also be a water play area, and opportunities to interact with insects and small animals. The park will be decorated with tropical plants such as moonbeauties and giant moustaches, and some areas will be illuminated ahead of the festival. In addition, the park will be filled with a summer festival-like atmosphere with fair stalls, play spots, and fireworks.