Tulip Gardens at Showa Kinen Park Tokyo

Nano @ Travels With Nano

7 years ago

While cherry blossoms steal all the limelight during spring in Japan, they are not the only beautiful flowers that deserve attention. To be honest, I didn’t like tulips as a kid. There was only one variety sold in Georgia – red and black – back in the day (in 90s Georgia was in a pretty dark place economically) and it reminded me of poppies. It was not until later that I read about and saw photos of Keukenhof Gardens in Netherlands that I got mesmerized at the sheer variety of one flower and was quite smitten by the color palette. I have always wanted to visit, but haven’t made it yet. And while I get constantly get teased via gorgeous photos on Instagram I decided to visit a local tulip garden. A few weeks ago my friends and I got some snacks and threw a little spread (mind the matching pink picnic blanket that Celia brought) on the lawn under the cherry tree in Showa Kinen Park. I was told by a local friend that it used to be a U.S. military base, before it was returned back to Japanese and consequently turned into a vast public space. There is a large pond with colorful boats, cycling path and bicycles available for rent, concert stage and I even spotted a swimming pool. Most importantly, it is an expansive land with myriads of flowers and plants blooming throughout the year. We arrived at a perfect time for tulips though. The bulbs were planted and color coordinated beautifully. It looked like a carpet of candy colored blooms covered the grounds and created mesmerizing views. Anyway, I won’t bore you with my fruitless words any more and let the photos do the talking. Enjoy!