The most beautiful wisteria trellises in Japan
Kawachi Fuji Garden is a privately-owned wisteria garden which is one of the largest in Japan that was opened in 1977. With an area of 1 hectare, there are wisteria tunnels and trellises that span 6000㎡ as the biggest highlights of the garden. There are 2 tunnels with lengths of 80 and 220 meters, and during blossoming season, 22 breeds of wisteria open up at once with Japan’s loveliest wisteria trellises garnering high praise. The peak time for wisteria in full bloom is from late April to mid-May. Information on when the wisteria are in full bloom is posted on the Net including Facebook, and the admission to enter the area ranges from 300 to 1000 yen depending on the season and the blooming conditions. The garden can be accessed by car or by taxi from JR Yahata Station in about 20 minutes or by taxi from JR Ogura Station in about 30 minutes. There are 22 breeds of wisteria including Kuchibeni Wisteria, Double Wisteria and Short Wisteria. On the giant trellises, there is wisteria that is over a century old in lovely colors of bluish-purple, pink, white and other pale shades with the wonderful scent of the flowers floating in the air. Kawachi Fuji Garden was selected as one of the 10 Beautiful Places In The World That Actually Exist on an overseas website in 2012, and in 2015, it was entered as one of CNN’s 31 Most Beautiful Places in Japan so that overseas tourists have continued to increase year by year. Since the traffic starts worsening from around noon during the peak blossoming period, it’s recommended that visitors come to the garden before opening time and wait.
Get into an onsen on the way home
Just 10 minutes’ walk away from Kawachi Fuji Garden, there is the day-trip onsen facility, Kawachi Natural Hot Spring Ajisai-no-Yu. It’s attractive for being able to enter without having to bring in anything, and it is equipped with an open-air bath, a cave bath, a Jacuzzi, a sauna and even a bath that can be reserved just for a family. There is also a restaurant to have meals and a free shuttle bus from Ajisai-no-Yu to JR Yahata Station, so heading home by using this bus is handy.