This Japanese Garden Is So Colorful It Will Turn The Brownest Of Thumbs Green

Published September 8, 2015
Updated April 23, 2023

Hitachi Seaside Park changes drastically from month to month as new flowers bloom. Each variation is breathtaking as the next, and we have the pictures to prove it.

Hitachi Seaside Park

Just two hours from Tokyo in the city of Hitachinaka is one of the world’s most colorful parks — Hitachi Seaside Park. Covering almost 500 acres, the vast park is home to thousands of blooms, and draws millions of tourists throughout the year.

Visitors can see everything from roses and daffodils to zinnias and poppies, and can feast their eyes (and feet!) on a scenic train route and cycling tours, as well as a giant “flower ring” ferris wheel.

Because Hitachi Seaside Park grows hundreds of distinct flower species, the month you visit can greatly impact the kind of park you see. Sometimes its hills are rainbow-striped, with more than 260 tulip species on display. At other times, when four-and-a-half million nemophila make an appearance in what’s called “Nemophila Harmony,” the park turns monochromatic blue.

If you can’t make the trip out, you can still take part in the visual feast in the gallery below:

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Hitachi Seaside Park Narcissus
There are more than 550 distinct narcissus species in the park. Source: DPlus Guide

Hitachi Seaside Park Suisen
Spring means Suisen Fantasy is in full swing at the Hitachi Seaside Park. Source: Hitachi Seaside Park

Hitachi Seaside Park Tulips
The colorful tulip fields are one of Hitachi Seaside Park’s biggest attractions. Source: Hitachi Seaside Park

Hitachi Seaside Park Serpent Garden
The tulip fields are in bloom from mid to late April. Source: Agustin Rafael Reyes

Hitachi Seaside Park Blooms
Visitors can see more than 270,000 tulips representing over 260 species. Source: Trover

Nemophila Blooms
4.5 million Nemophila blooms turn the park into a sea of blue. Source: Hexapolis

Blue Blooms

Hitachi Seaside Park Blooms Close
Source: Tokyo Lolas

Hitachi Seaside Park Blue
Nemophila are more commonly called “baby blue eyes.” Source: World’s Awesome Places

Hitachi Seaside Park Nemophila Girl
The flowers bloom every April through May. Source: Hexapolis

Hitachi Seaside Pictures
In early autumn and summer, more than 3,000 roses bloom in the Hitachi Rose Garden. Source: Hitachi Seaside Park

Hitachi Seaside Park Kochia
For most of the year, the Kochia plants look like ordinary green bushes. Source: Life in Yamaguchi

Hitachi Seaside Park Incredible
Yet in autumn, they transform Hitachi Seaside Park into a sea of burning red bushes. Source: Dad & the Code

Hitachi Seaside Park Kochia Hill
Kochia plants (aka summer cypress) are often used to make brooms. Source: Japan Guide

Burning Red Bushes
Source: Panoramio

Hitachi Seaside Park October
This is what Hitachi Seaside Park looks like in October. Source: Hitachi Seaside Park

Hitachi Seaside Park Tourists
Source: Todanang

Hitachi Seaside Park Cosmos Tourists

Hitachi Seaside Park Cosmos
Source: Japanize

Hitachi Seaside Park Ice Tulips
Though winter isn’t a big season for blooms, beautiful ice tulips like these brighten up the park from December through the middle of January. Source: Hitachi Seaside Park

Watch this vlog to take a virtual tour of the park on a day when the area's baby blue eyes turn the landscape a dreamy aqua shade:

This video captures the beauty of Hitachi Seaside Park on a colorful autumn day:

author
Kiri Picone
author
Kiri Picone holds a B.A. in English and creative writing from Pepperdine University and has been writing for various digital publishers for more than 10 years.
editor
Savannah Cox
editor
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.