totomai.net: Bloomsville

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Bloomsville

It’s a wrap! Springtime’s over. And if you think that Japan only showcases cherry blossoms or popularly known as sakura during spring, think again. Japan is blessed with various flower species, which in one way or another, have the same charm and appeal as that of cherry blossoms. It’s about time to know some of them. It may be a year early but here are some of the places you should visit next spring in Bloomsville aka Japan. Again, I am not including the cherry blossoms spots.

The above photo is taken at Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki. During spring, the field turns blue as hundreds of nemophila (baby blue eyes) joined forces to create a stunning visual masterpiece. Nemophila appears ordinary and doesn’t stand out if alone. However, it does produce magic if grown in thousands. On the other side of the field, you can see a yellow carpet of rapeseed. Similar to nemophila, rapeseed doesn’t stand out too if grown sparsely. But once they are in full bloom, expect your world to turn yellow. Perfect time to visit the park is around mid-April to mid-May.

If you get tired with nemophilas and rapeseeds, you can go to Ibaraki Flower Park, just a few kilometers away from Hitachi Seaside Park. But I think the perfect time to visit the place is from March to April. The park has a greenhouse that shelters roses, orchids, zinnias, dahlias and others. Forgive me as I am not an expert in identifying flowers. And if you are into macro photography, you will definitely enjoy the place. You will not stop taking photos until your battery runs out.

Shibazakura is also popular during spring. It features a carpet of moss flox which has the same appeal as that of rapeseeds and nemophilia. Moss flox totally rocks its role as a carpet in May. If you are lucky, once you visit shibazakura in Yamanashi prefecture, you may able to see Mt. Fuji. It is very crowded during this time so please be patient in taking souvenir photos.

The above destinations are far from Tokyo and would take at least one day of your traveling schedule but it’s definitely worth it. But if you only want to enjoy springtime in Tokyo, the best place to go from April to May is Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa. For a while you will think that you are in Europe with the variety of tulips right in front of you. Tulips are much more beautiful when they are not fully opened. The park names all kinds of tulips but I was lazy to take down notes.

See, that’s tulips overload for you. But if you are not interested with tulips, you can have poppies instead (see photo below). The park also has rapeseeds at the opposite side where the poppies pop. If you are not interested with flowers in particular, you can spend your days walking, biking around. Or you can sleep in the middle of the park. Or have a picnic. Showa Kinen Park is a large park and you have lots of options on how to spend your day.