Category: Parks & Nature

Autumn 2014: Cosmos & Kochia at Hitachi Seaside Park

Visit Date: 10/19/2014 (Best viewing Time: mid September to mid October)

Hitachi Seaside Park (国営ひたち海浜公園 Kokuei Hitachi Kaihinkouen) located in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, Japan is a 190-hectare national park and is one of the best places to visit during the autumn season. The colorful cosmoses and blazing red kochia bushes or commonly known as burning bush, ragweed, summer cypress, or Mexican fireweed covering the Miharashi hill (みはらしの丘), located at the northwestern garden, allow the visitors to experience a unique fall colors.

Autumn 2014: Hitachi Seaside Park 01 The Miharashi no Oka hill with the colorful kochia bushes.

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Hiking Mt. Jinba 陣馬山

Traveling and exploring outdoors with your child is a perfect tonic for parenting stress. But with the crowded summer destinations, fully-booked hotels, expensive Shinkansen and plane fares, there seems to be nowhere else to go. Instead, we decided to go on a hike on a lesser visited but no less impressive mountain near Tokyo.

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Fuji Shibazakura Festival 2014

The Shibazakura Matsuri or moss phlox festival at Lake Motosuko is one of the most popular event in Japan. About 800,000 five-petaled moss phlox of more than six varieties bloom in the vast field creating a beautiful bright floral carpet under the foot of Mt.Fuji. These shibazakuras grow in white, fluorescent pink, red, rose pink, deep mauve, and pink-and-white candy stripe.

Along the flowers, there are food stalls, Japanese tea, foot bath, and photo souvenir areas available for visitors. Fuji Shibazakura Festival special frame post stamps, post cards and stamps are also sold in the post office.

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Showa Kinen Park Flower Festival 2014: Tulips Fair

国営昭和記念公園 Kokuei Shōwa Kinen Kōen is a 163 hectares park located in Tachikawa and is only over 30 minutes away from Shinjuku Station. The park is considered as a paradise for families as it offers a wide range of activities to choose from including flower viewing, visiting the different gardens, picnicking, or playing sports like frisbee and catch in the open field area. Children and even adults can also have fun in the playground which has giant trampoline, hammocks, slides, and swings. Facilities like pool, water playland, barbecue, bird sanctuary and restaurants are also available in the park. Other activities like biking, boating, and mini golf are also possible.

During the Spring, it is one of the best places to enjoy the season as it boasts a wide range of seasonal flowers. The best time to visit this park is between mid April to early May as it boasts a wide range of seasonal flowers and it is specially gorgeous when the tulips are in bloom.

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Sakura 2014: Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens (2014.04.01)

One of the surviving gardens from the Edo period and one of Tokyo’s oldest and best preserved Japanese garden. Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens also provides visitors with gorgeous cherry blooming trees. It features beautiful weeping cherry trees around the garden’s entrance gate and several Someiyoshino Sakura near the pond.

Please note however, that some parts of the pond and several structures and walkways in the park are under renovation and may have certain impact on the view.

Korakuen - Weeping Willow 01Visitors taking photoi of the Weeping Cheery tree near the garden entrance.

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