Zhang Yueli’s Tokyo Flower-Viewing Self-Guided Trip: Loves the Wisteria Waterfall at Ashikaga Flower Park

▲ Veteran entertainer Zhang Yueli worked as a flight attendant and has flown all over the world. She loves the recent start of Japan’s wisteria season. (Photo provided by Zhang Yueli, same below)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

The veteran entertainer Zhang Yueli, formerly a flight attendant for China Airlines, has traveled all over the world. When it comes to the most dreamy tourist spots, she doesn’t hold back and highly recommendsAshikaga Flower Park, which features an incredibly romantic wisteria waterfall.

▲ Ashikaga Wisteria Garden is currently in full bloom.

Taking advantage of her daughter Mindy’s mid-term break from university in the United States, Zhang Yueli and her daughter went on a four-day, three-night self-guided trip to Tokyo at the end of April. She said, “Thankfully, a good friend booked the hotel for me a month ago; otherwise, with the flower season, both flights and hotels would have been more expensive!” Coinciding with cherry blossom season, many people visit Japan to see the cherry blossoms, but compared to the delicate pink cherry blooms, Zhang Yueli prefers the hanging wisteria with its fragrance that fills the air.

Zhang Yueli said, “This time, it was all thanks to my daughter leading the way. We used our phones to get around online the whole time. For ramen and barbecue, we relied on her Japanese-savvy friend who shared recommendations for special little shops!”
In the conveniently accessible city of Tokyo, Zhang Yueli and her daughter took a train from Ginza to Asakusa and then transferred to Ashikaga Wisteria Garden. After waiting and transferring for over two hours, they finally saw the garden in full bloom. Especially since the wisteria season had just begun, the fragrance was everywhere, and they couldn’t help exclaiming, “The romance factor is off the charts!”

▲ The popular tsukemen (dipping ramen) in Ginza—chewy noodles with tons of toppings.

In addition,Zhang Yueli also recommends taking a subway from Ginza to the Tokyo National Museum and Toshogu Shrine in Ueno Park, then heading to Shinjuku to enjoy grilled chicken at Torikizoku for a one-day trip. Especially the ramen shop in Ginza—they arrived when it opened at 11:30 am and waited nearly twenty minutes for one of only fifteen seats, finally getting to taste the clam and chicken tsukemen piled high with ingredients.

She said, “A bowl of ramen, even the bowl itself, is chilled. On top, there’s green vegetables, a hot spring egg, seaweed slices, and paired with a bowl of rich, hot soup for dipping the noodles. The chewy texture is addictive—you can’t stop eating. It costs only 1,180 yen per bowl.”

▲ Zhang Yueli and her daughter Mindy went on a Tokyo flower-viewing self-guided trip together and also took the opportunity to enjoy the largest solo exhibition of avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama.

At the same time, Zhang Yueli also visited the largest retrospective exhibition of the Japanese national treasure-level art master Yayoi Kusama, “I Who Have Arrived in Heaven,” at the National Art Center, Tokyo in Roppongi. She said, “Because my daughter is studying product design in the United States, she especially wanted to see the master’s works. They even waited in line for half an hour to buy souvenirs. There was even a ‘polka dot room’ where visitors could stick colored dot stickers and experience the avant-garde art of the ‘Queen of Dots’!” The exhibits were truly stunning.