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2/17/2017

Furouen (Garden Park of Eternal Life)

Hello!!! It is almost spring in Japan now, and that means it's near the time for flower viewing or "Hanami". So, this time I'm going to introduce you to a great place for flower viewing here, in Yamanashi. 

This time I am going to introduce you about a plum blossom park. This park called Furouen. Furouen is located in Yamanashi prefecture, Kofu city, Sakaori 4-3. You can get there by walking for about 10 minutes from Sakaori station. 

Furouen has more than 3000 plum trees with 20 different varieties of plum trees in a 50 km² areaThe park is more like a hiking place so it has some hills and slope. Here you can enjoy some colorful plum blossoms while hiking. When you get to the highest place in the park, you can see amazing views of Mount Fuji and the Southern Alps. This is a really good place to take plum flowers with Mount Fuji.  Furouen has food concessions and gift shops inside the park so that you can enjoy your picnic there. 

And for you who loves taking pictures, there is a photo contest of the park in Furouen. The winning pictures will be put in on display inside the park. I think this place has a really nice photo shoot spot because it not only a plum blossom park it also has some traditional Japanese building such as the house of the park owner, Mr. Okumura since 1897, though now they do not live there anymore. 

These are some interesting facts about plum blossom. Plum blossom is one of the most popular trees for flower viewing in Japan besides cherry blossom. Plumtree blooms faster than cherry blossom. While cherry blossom blooms around April to May, Plum blooms around February to March. Hence Plum blossom is the sign of the end of winter and the beginning of spring in Japan. There is also some plum festival around the time when the plum trees starting to bloom in Japan. So, if you want to experience Japan's spring 
The park is open from February 1 until March 31. It is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., 7 days a week. The entrance fee is ¥500 for adults and ¥200 for children under 12 years old. But recently the park is also open in autumn when the color of the leaves are changing or "Kōyō". 

For more information about the park visit their homepage at http://www.furouen.jp

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