Beauty of Kawachi Fuji Garden

Today Schauwecker and I undertook a mission to check out one of the more elusive, yet popular sites in Japan. You may remember photos of beautiful tunnels of purple, pink and white wisteria flowers that went viral on the internet a while back. Those tunnels are located in the kawachi Wisteria Garden (河内藤園, Kawachi Fujien) a private garden in Kitakyushu, which exploded with those pictures on the foreign blogosphere and have become a popularly asked about destination for flower hunters.

The Kawachi Wisteria Garden only opens seasonally in spring and autumn (mid April to late May, and mid November to mid December respectively). Its main feature are the beautiful wisteria vines planted over an 110 meter long tunnel, an 80 meter long tunnel, two domes, and a large trellis the size of several tennis courts.

The wisteria usually bloom from late April to mid May, typically peaking during the Golden Week. Considering the fast pace of the cherry blossoms in northern Japan this year, some prospective visitors to the wisteria garden have been wondering whether the pace of the flowers at the Kawachi Wisteria Garden will be equally swift; however, recent temperatures in western Japan were a lot more average than in northern Japan, and the wisteria's pace seems pretty average. Today the wisteria flowers were still opening at around 60-80%, and they are expected to reach their peak from May 2 to 10. The garden is open from 9:00 to 17:00 and costs 1000 yen to enter.

While the Kawachi Wisteria Garden lies just south of central Kitakyushu, difficult access by public transportation puts it relatively far off the beaten path for most foreign travelers. The easiest way to reach the garden is by rental car. There are 200 free parking spots at the garden and various other free lots about a 15 minute walk away. The biggest problem with driving, however, is that traffic congestion during the peak season can result in delays of up to two hours. You may be able to avoid some of the traffic by approaching the garden from the south.
Alternatively, the nearest station is Yahata Station (about one hour, 1110 yen from Hakata Station; or 15 minutes, 280 yen from Kokura Station) from where visitors can take a taxi (about 3000 yen one way) or one of two (non-ideal) bus options:

 

Bus from Yahata Station

Take Nishitetsu Bus No. 56 to Kamishigeta (上重田) bus stop, the terminal stop on the line. The buses costs 260 yen and depart approximately hourly. From Kamishigeta it is about a 3.7 kilometer, 45 minute walk to the garden. Bus schedules in Japanese: http://jik.nishitetsu.jp/busroute

Free shuttle bus to Ajisainoyu Onsen

Patrons of Ajisainoyu Onsen hot spring next to the garden can use their free shuttle buses to and from Yahata Station. The buses operate hourly: http://www.souyu.co.jp/ajisai/

  

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