Japan is well known for their flower gardens and parks all across the country and during Spring there are loads of tourists coming to the country to view the flowers. In the peak season of April to May, many come to see the cherry blossoms but other than cherry blossoms, the Wisteria flowers are also extremely popular.
The most famous Wisteria flowers site is the Kawachi Fujien Wisteria Garden which is a private garden with rows and rows of beautiful purple flowers. There are large parking spaces at the garden for visitors and during peak period, you can be refused entry. So you are advised to purchase the tickets beforehand.
The price of the entry differs depending on the crowd and it can range from 500 to 1000 to 1500 yen. If you prepaid tickets are lower than the cost for that day, you can just top up the fee at the counter located at the entrance.
The moment you enter the garden, the first thing you see is the tunnel with the famous flowers. It was a pity that the flowers were not in full bloom when we visited so you can see some flowers but not the long blooming ones like in the internet.
As you walk throughout the gardens, you will see tunnels and domes filled with the beautiful Wisteria flowers.
You can also see other beautiful blooms throughout the garden like these white flowers in bunches
There are certain areas with blooming flowers that is longer than the ones at the tunnel
The flowers are really pretty close up with different shades of purple and white
The entire garden is not big and takes about 30 mins to finish touring but if you really take your time and stop for pictures and take in the sight, you can spend up to an hour in the garden. At the exit, they also provide stamps for visitors to stamp their brochures as a souvenir.
They set up small booths just outside the garden selling local food items as well as souvenirs made from the flowers like bookmarks and biscuits.
For visitors who did not drive, there is also a shuttle bus that drops people off at the Yahata Station twice every hour. However, this shuttle bus is only available during peak periods of April 20 to May 6. During off peak periods, you can take the Nishitetsu bus number 56 from Yahata Station to Kamishigeta, however, from the final bus stop it is still a 45-55 minute walk to the garden. The bus journey is 20 mins and costs 260 Yen per trip.
Overall, when you plan to visit places of interest which is totally up to luck, you need to lower your expectations. The gardens were really beautiful in pictures but when I was there, the flowers were not in full bloom so the experience was somewhat muted. The flowers were no doubt very pretty but it did not match up to what I have expected to see. I will only recommend the gardens to people who really love flowers unless you don’t mind making the trip all the way there
Address: Japan, 〒805-0045 Fukuoka, Kitakyushu, Yahatahigashi Ward, 2, 河内２丁目２−４８
Operating hours: 9 am to 6 pm
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