Spring is a glorious season in Japan, where various blossoms announce warmer days. One of the most romantic of the spring flowers is wisteria, which hangs in trailing bundles as the plant vines around anything it can find to climb. Kawachi Fuji-en is a hillside wisteria garden in Kita-kyushu, Fukuoka, where visitors can enjoy wandering … Continue reading Kawachi Fuji-en: Hillside Wisteria Tunnels
Tag: wisteria in Japan
Flowers, the fount of knowledge at Kameido Tenjin Shrine
Early April sees the start of the Japanese academic year and for me as an academic, this seems the perfect time to seek out a Tenjin shrine and pay my respects. Tenjin is the deification of Sugawara no Michizane, a 9th century poet/scholar who, in his later life, served the emperor as a diplomat and … Continue reading Flowers, the fount of knowledge at Kameido Tenjin Shrine