If you think you have to go all the way to Saitama prefecture to be wowed by magical, mystical, red spider lilies as far as the eye can see, think again! When the autumn solstice rolls around, Kyodo-no-Mori Park dishes up a fabulous display of higanbana that rivals Kinchakuda’s, but you can enjoy its beautifully restored historical buildings, rushing streams, waterfalls and splash parks (with animatronic mist-spewing dinosaurs!), bonsai trees, and a choice historical museum with a planetarium any time of year.
When it comes to fantastic displays of red solstice lilies, Kyodo-no-Mori Park is far closer to central Tokyo than Saitama’s Kinchakuda, and it boasts attractions for the whole family that make it well worth the train ride to Bubaigawara Station. Come for the lovely lilies…
which transform the park’s extensive plum grove into a dazzling sea of crimson for a week in September.
But stay for the exuberant bush clover tunnel…
the babbling brooks and restorative waterfalls…
the charming historic buildings…
that invite you to explore inside…
and participate in traditional seasonal activities that you can usually only learn about through the glass at a museum.
There are bonsai trees galore…
of every shape and variety…
and the children’s splash park would get five gold stars even if it didn’t have…
a steam-spouting animatronic dinosaur.
And if that’s not enough to entertain everyone in your family, there’s a beautifully designed historical museum that not only features artifacts and models of the people, plants and animals that have lived in the surrounding area since prehistory, it’s got a killer exhibit on the spectacular local festival that happens every May.
It even has a life-sized model of the incredible rice straw offering that goes up in flames every new year to ensure good luck and good harvests!
Hours: 10:00 – 17:00
Open: Every day
Admission: Adults, ¥300; Children up through middle school, ¥150; Under 4 free
Entry to the museum is included.
Information about events at the park and museum, as well as daily photos showing the blooming progress of seasonal flower displays is on the park’s website.
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And here are the other places I take my friends when they come to town
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
