Three sea of flowers in one visit: The Yoshimineyama Park flower season is like a landscape painting

By MOOK Scenic Spots Editorial Department

Designated as a Japan National Registered Cultural Property, Yoshimineyama Park spans 150,000 tsubo and presents different beautiful sceneries throughout the year. From April to May, visitors can enjoy three types of sea of flowers: over 200,000 azalea bushes, a 170-year-old large wisteria, and the green maple leaves of spring. These colorful blossoms complement each other, making it one of the most beautiful flower-viewing spots in spring.

With an elevation of 210 meters, Yoshimineyama features a unique terrain. The park was designed by Kuniyoshi Nabeshima, the 28th lord of the Takeshima Domain and the Chikujo region, who invited a painter from the Kano school—a hereditary artist for the shogunate based in Kyoto—to create a conceptual painting inspired by Chinese landscape art, with the Yoshimineyama cliffs as the backdrop. It took three years to develop the stroll-style pond garden seen today.

The biggest highlight of spring is the bowl-shaped Azalea Valley, where vast fields of colorful azaleas spread out like a floral carpet on the ground. With 200,000 bushes of varieties such as Kurume and Hirado, they form a breathtaking scene.

Located next to the ?no Ocha-ya tea house, the large wisteria, estimated to be 170 years old, blooms in cascading clusters that fill the entire wisteria trellis like a waterfall of flowers, creating the illusion of a romantic purple rain. The view is truly mesmerizing.

In addition, there's the beauty of spring maple leaves in fresh green. Their translucent light green leaves are no less captivating than autumn foliage. They shine brilliantly under the daytime sun and transform into a dreamy night scene when illuminated at night.