Getting to Kawachi Fuji Garden April 2014

My friends and I would like to see the Wisteria Flower Tunnel in Kawachi Fuji Garden. What area would you recommend we book a hotel during our visit? And what is the best way to we get to the garden?

We also want to see Hitachi Seaside Park on the same trip, how do we get there?

I hope you can give us some advice.
Thank you very much!

Last year, the tunnel was in full bloom just after golden week, but you will need to adjust for different seasonal variations. Last year was an early year for cherry blossums, so the Wisteria tunnels may be at their peak in mid May, instead of early May.

You will want to go to JR Yahata station, which is very close to Spaceworld in Kitakyushu. When I went, I used the shuttle provided by Ajisai-no-yu Onsen. This is a day onsen. When you exit front of the station, the free shuttle pickup will be on the left side. Here is a link to a photo of the sign at Yahata station of the Shuttle schedule:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/191/img1779hv.jpg/

The gardens are just up the hill, and you will have to walk about 400 meters to get to the entrance. After viewing the tunnels, go back to the Onsen and have a bath before going back. It makes for a very relaxing day.

I did my trip from Hataka station in Fukuoka. I used my JR pass to get from Hakata station to Yahata, on the JR Kagoshima line. If takes about an hour. The kagoshima line runs between between two Shinkansen stations, Hakata and Kokura, and yahata is actually closer to Kokura (13 minutes away). If you have a JR Pass, you can actually make this a day trip from Hiroshima by taking a Shinkansen to Kokura, and then taking the Kagoshima liner. That takes a little over an hour.

Thank you for your quick response.

We will be flying in for a week just to view the Wisteria flower tunnel and the Hitachi seaside park. Can you help us figure out which week would be best? Should we go the week of May 15?

Thank you. You have been very helpful

A lot depends on the unpredictable weather, but normally the time for wisteria is from late April to mid May with early May the best time for full bloom.

Time for nemophila in Hitachi Seaside Park is also from late April to mid May and again early May is a very good time for it. And as a bonus we also saw lots of tulips there when we were there on May 5 last year.

Note that Kawachi Fuji Garden in Kyushu is a LONG way from Hitachi Seaside Park which is in Ibaraki Prefecture. Closer to Hitachi Seaside Park is another popular wisteria destination of Ashikaga Flower Park.

So I guess 1st week of May is really the best time to go. Perhaps right after Golden Week so flights and hotels are not so full.

Thank you for suggesting Ashikaga. We will include that in our itinerary. But Kawachi flower tunnel is in one of a friend's bucket list, so it's a non-negotiable :)

We will probably start with Kawachi then stop over in Osaka or even Tokyo before doing Hitachi Seaside and Ashikaga another day. Does that sound like a good plan?

Thank you for all your inputs!

If flying open-jaw entering Japan in Kyushu and leaving in Tokyo, yes it is feasible to cover Kawachi Fuji Garden and Hitachi Seaside Park + Ashikaga Flower Park in a short 1-week stay - if you don't mind the long distance travel.

When we went to Hitachi Seaside Park and Ashikaga Flower Park last year during Golden Week, to our relief the crowd was quite bear-able. Though we were driving, traffic was not that bad and the line up for parking was pretty quick.

Not sure about your whole itinerary but another big seasonal flower event during that time is the annual Tonami Tulip Fair near Toyama. Last year it was on from April 23 to May 6, another reason to go early May if you are after a quest for flowers.
http://www.tulipfair.or.jp/fair2012/

Ooh. We would love to check out the tulips as well. You are making me think we should really brave the Golden Week this year.
Thank you so much!

I'll be in Japan in May 2014 as well.

I'm planning to make a stop at Kawachi from Tokyo to Fukuoka. I'll have some luggage with me, is there any place where we can drop our luggage for few hours? a locker maybe?

@Arnold

I guess coin locker is not in the garden perhaps. I think if you plan to go to there from Yahata Station, you will be able to use it in the station.

Hi ebaychucky311

may i ask how long does it takes to travel from Hakata to Kawachi Fuji Garden?

I'm planning to go in June and was thinking of a day trip to the Garden and back to Hakata. :)

I will be in Fukuoka in early June. Is the garden still worth visiting in early June?

Not worth it to go there in June, the best time to see the wisteria in the garden would be finished in May.

Yahata Station is between 45 minutes and an hour away from Hakata Station, depending on
if you are using a Shinkansen or just a local line. From the station, it's a twenty to twenty five minute drive on the shuttle bus to the Onsen, and then a five minute walk up the road to the garden.

The lake at the bottom of the valley is wonderful, and is used for crew racing. The Onsen is also worth visiting.

As for doing it in June, I agree with the other commentors that the Wisteria will be done blooming by then.

I'm planning on visiting as a day trip from Nagasaki on May 20. Will it still be blooming at this time? Is there anywhere that says the dates of flowering (like it does for cherry blossoms)? Thanks

I am going to give you my experience from last year. Before I do that, let me say that the Cherry blossim season in 2013 started on March 16th in Tokyo. This year, the cherry blossom season started on Marth 25th in Tokyo.

This does not mean that the Wisteria will bloom 9 days later than last year, but it will probably be a bit later.

I arrived in Fukuoka last year around April 22th, and went to the Kawachi Fuji Gardens the next day. The Wisteria was just starting to bloom, and I was only charged half price to visit. I then did a swing south in Kyushu, which included going to Yakushima Island, Miyazaki, Takachiho, and Beppu, before returning to Fukuoka. I re-visited the Kawachi Fuji Gardens on May 1st, and the Wisteria was almost in full bloom.

From this experience, and, knowing that the cherry blossoms occured about a week later this year; my guess is that you will be too early.

I went there during Golden Week this year. Being experienced how crowded and crazy it can get, I ran from the train station to the spot where the bus would leave (after confirming it).
There were already a lot of people lining up.

I saw a group of foreigners standing around chatting who didn't notice where they had to line up. They were quite late lining up.

The shuttle bus is very small. I didn't count, but I think no more than 20-25 people fit in. Right after me they cut the line and all the other people couldn't ride the bus. They had to wait for more than another hour for the bus to come back - including the foreign tourists who were there before me, chatting, but didn't know they had to line up.

If you happen to visit during Golden Week be prepared! Actually, if you travel in a bigger group, than a taxi might be an option.

It's almost 8km, so it's not impossible to walk. There's also a nice dam you'll pass.

I want to visit this garden on 15 May but today it has been raining all day long in Fukuoka where I am at now, and the same counts for Kitakyushu's weather. Do the Wisteria flowers still look good after rain? Is it still worth going?

I visited Kawachi Fuji Garden this year as well as Ashikaga Flower Park near Tokyo to see the Wisteria. The places are amazing! I recommend getting there early to take advantage of times with fewer crowds. Here's a link with more info such as directions, best time to go, etc. Hope this helps!

http://www.thepassportlifestyle.com/wisteria-tunnels-of-japan/