Japan’s Hitachi Seaside Park and the Beautiful Fields of Shibazakura
Bored Panda 5/7/16 by Hidenobu Suzuki
Japan is known for its beautiful colourful spring. I have already shared images of pl
Japan’s Hitachi Seaside Park and the Beautiful Fields of Shibazakura
Bored Panda 5/7/16 by Hidenobu Suzuki
Japan is known for its beautiful colourful spring. I have already shared images of plums and sakuras blooming and now the colours change.
It’s so good to be alive around these beautiful views.
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from: amusing planet
Hitachi Seaside Park, located in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki prefecture, Japan, next to the Ajigaura Beach, is a flower park and a popular tourist destination. The park covers an area of 3.5 hectares and the flowers are amazing all year round. Each season you will find a different variety of flower blossoming over the "Miharashi No Oka", a hill commanding a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean. The park is particularly famous for blue nemophilas. Nemophilas are annual flowers with transparent blue petals.
During spring, more than 4.5 million blue nemophilas bloom all over the park. The blooming period is called “Nemophilia Harmony” and attracts many visitors.
Aside from nemophilas, the park has about a million daffodils blooming amidst the pine trees, about 170 varieties of tulips and many other flowers. Filled with woods, gardens, a mini amusement area and cycling courses sprinkled throughout the park, Hitachi Seaside Park is a must-see for anyone venturing to Japan.
The Hillside of Takinoue: Painted pink with Shibazakura flower fields
At last, flower season has come to Hokkaido. Today’s feature is shibazakura (pink moss-like cherry blossom flowers) of the sprawling town of Takinoue. The vibrantly colored hillside of Takinoue Park is the highlight of the spring.
The flower field covers about 100,000 square meters of the hillside and draws quite the crowd every year. The best time to see the flowers is from mid May through the beginning of June.
Today, Takinoue Park is famous for its beautiful shibazakura but its history dates back to the early 1900s. The park’s iconic flower-covered hill was created when a number of youth group volunteers planted 1000 plants.
From then, the hill, full of light pink cherry blossoms, gradually became famous for its beautiful flowers. So famous, in fact, that there had been extra Hanami (Hanami refers to flower-viewing picnics popular in Japanese culture) trains during the peak season.
Thereafter, sadly, war, bugs, and typhoons destroyed the flowers. However, after discovering that these flowers are more resilient and can be seen longer than normal cherry blossoms, the park was brought back to life with the seedlings of a single orange planter.
Along the walkway, you can stop at the view post to admire all of the flowers, including some tulips; but for flower aficionados, this might be a little strange. On Honshu, flowers bloom by type according to the season but in Hokkaido, they seem to all bloom at the same time. This flower collaboration makes for a really enjoyable view.
Usually Shibazakura have only five petals, but if you’re somehow able to find one with six or more petals, it’s good luck! For those hoping for a little luck, you might have fun searching for some of these “lucky” flowers!
On Friday, May 10, the 2013 Fairytale Takinoue Shibazakura Festival will start and on Saturday, May 18, the Takinoue Tourism Association will host a national Shibazakura Forum in “Fairytale Takinoue” to commemorate the festival’s 50th anniversary. At the forum, Sayuki Ueno, designer of the garden featured in the popular drama “Kaze no Garden” and Asahikawa’s Ueno Garden, will deliver a keynote speech.
Spring comes late to Hokkaido, but we always look forward to it. You don’t want to miss these flowers and the sweet smell that they bring to Takinoue.