Monday, 4 March 2024

Japan Is Well Known For Its Parks With Cherry Blossom,

but it is often overlooked that some parks have over 3,000 plum trees,


photographs courtesy of Kanpai!-Japan.com blooming in February and March, 

the plum trees are in Kairaku-en garden, the botanical landscape is as beautiful as it is vast, with a 300 hectares surface, that makes it one of the biggest urban parks in the world. It ranks among the top 3 of Japan’s most famous gardens (日本三名園), with Koraku-en in Okayama and Kenroku-en in Kanazawa,

its names literally means "the garden for everyone’s pleasure," and reflects the will of its founder to create from the beginning a welcoming public place, Nariaki Tokugawa (1800 - 1860),

the first plum trees were planted in 1842. Nowadays, Kairaku-en shelters about 3,000 trees, of a hundred of different species, with colours varying from white to red or rose during the blooming season from mid-February to the end of March, 

Kairaku-en is located in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture and is about 1 hour and 10 minutes from Tokyo. The journey from Tokyo Station to Mito Station takes about 70 minutes by limited express (Hitachi or Tokiwa) on the Joban Line, or about 2 hours by local train, the garden is open 6:00 to 19:00 (mid February to September), 7:00 to 18:00 (October to mid February), the entrance fee is 300 yen, at today’s rate £1.58 or $2.00, and yes I would love to go there.


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