JAPANESE WISTERIA
LATE APRIL - EARLY MAY JAPANESE NAME: FUJI
Once cherry blossom season has become just a memory, the arrival of late April means one thing for flower lovers; it’s time for Japan’s lush wisteria (known as ‘fuji’) to make their less hyped but equally impressive appearance. The flower’s most recognisable form comes in shades of royal violet and delicate light lavender. Yet their colour spectrum ranges from these purples to pinks to whites and even bright, sunny yellows.
In Japanese culture, the wisteria holds significant meaning. Its purple shade is a symbol of royalty, which 1,400 years ago, was a colour worn only by the Imperial family and high-level officials. ‘Fuji Musume’ (in English, Wisteria Maiden), the most famous dance in kabuki (a traditional Japanese theatre), is based on the wisteria blossoms and their role as a symbol of love and togetherness.
Horticulturalists love the elegantly drooping wisteria. Their long, lazy branches can easily be crafted into large, immersive flower displays, with gardens throughout the country drawing crowds of admirers wanting to wander through multi-coloured tunnels and experience flower viewing from a whole new perspective.
If your timing is right and the seasons favourable, Tokyo guests can experience both the cherry blossom and wisteria season in one visit.
Some of the best places to see the wisteria in full bloom in Tokyo are Hie-jinja Shrine in Akasaka, the Imperial Palace East Gardens and Kameido Tenjin Shrine in the Koto Ward, which hosts the annual Kameido Tenjin Wisteria Festival from mid-April until early May.
A day trip from Tokyo to Ashikaga Flower Park is well worth adding to the itinerary.
Here you’ll be able to witness a staggeringly big, almost 2,000 square metre-large, 150-year-old wisteria tree that’s so large and full of flowers that its canopy vines have to be held by steel supports.
“THE WISTERIA IS A SYMBOL OF LUCK, SUCCESS AND LONGEVITY.”