Wisteria in Ushijima

From mid April through early May, this wisteria garden is open for just the 3-week blooming season. The premises used to be a Shingon sect’s temple, which is abandoned today. It is now preserved as Tokaen under Kojima family’s care.

There is an episode about this temple; long ago, locals believed that taking wisteria in the hedge into the temple will heal the sick. When the wisteria was replanted in the temple’s yard, a farmer's daughter was recovered from illness.

Upon entering Tokaen, head for the observation platform on a small hill, where you can take a grand look at the 1200-year-old Ushijima’s wisteria trees. The roots’ circumference is over 9m (30 feet). The wisteria covers 700m² (837yd2) trellis with blossoms hanging 2m-long (7 feet). The largest wisteria cluster in Japan is breath-taking.

It is said that Reverend Kobo planted these wisterias in the late 700s. In 1955, it was designated as Japanese Special Natural Monument. We hope you will get to see the nation’s largest trellis of wisteria open to the public only for 3 weeks a year.