Ashikaga: City of Love and Flowers

Posted on 03/22/2022 Last updated on 05/02/2022

Top Photo: melody111さん via PhotoAC

Ashikaga is a city that is located north of Tokyo in Tochigi Prefecture. It takes about 2 hours or so to get there from Tokyo. In the past, this place was known for its education, and has Japan’s oldest school still standing as of 2022. Today, Ashikaga is best known to tourists for a few other places.

Ashikaga Flower Park

Ashikaga Flower Park is the biggest draw to this city today. The park goes through 8 different floral seasons throughout the year, meaning there’s always a new set of flower displays to see. Each season spans about 1 & 1/2 to 2 months. Of course, the most popular time to go is during the spring season, especially during the time when the wisteria bloom. Wisteria bloom around mid-April to mid-May. The oldest and largest wisteria in Japan is at this park.

But there is another season that has been becoming more popular recently. During the end of October to late January, the park puts up a beautiful display of lights around the park. If you love looking at all the amazing winter illuminations around Japan, this is definitely a place not to miss. You can see the lights around the park set up as if they were the different plants throughout the year.

Orihime Shrine

Another notable place in Ashikaga is its Orihime Shrine. If you are familiar with the story of Tanabata, this is the Orihime from that story. Tanabata is also a love story, although a little tragic. It is between a princess who weaved clothes for her father and a herder named Hikoboshi. As textiles are a big part of Ashikaga, they built this shrine is dedication to the princess. This shrine is also popular for marriage since the story focuses on two lovers.

At the entrance there is two paths. Behind the main torii gate is a steep set of stairs totaling about 229 steps. It is said that if you climb up this path, you wish will come true. At the top of the stairway path is the main building known as Oka no Ryugujo which is said to be modeled after the famous Phoenix Hall in Kyoto. On the way down, it is recommended to take the less steep path though the 7 colored torii gates. Exiting through these will ensure luck and positive links to people, health, knowledge, life, studies, work, and management. The different colors are orange, blue, yellow, green, purple, light green, and red.

Conclusion

Although Ashikaga is a decent trip from Tokyo, it is still easy to get there using available train lines. And best of all, there is so much more to see there then just these two places. There are many other shrines and temples, as well as the oldest school in Japan. Even the walk to these places feels calm and refreshing, just admiring the scenery and the city itself. It’s also a great place to pair with for a weekend trip to Utsunomiya! So, if you feel like adventuring outside of Tokyo and you want to see a place with a lot of beauty, please visit Ashikaga.

You can visit Ashikaga. Or you can live there! Find out more about being an Assistant Language Teacher today!

Photo Credits:

Top Photo: melody111さん via PhotoAC

Previous Version: Raita Futo / CC BY 2.0