The Kinchakuda Manjushage Park 巾着田曼珠沙華公園 is named after its most famous occupants, around 5 million of them who come to life in early Autumn.
Manjushage is the Japanese name for Red Spider Lillies, however I understand that the official name is ‘Higanbana’. The flowers are distinguished by straight stems and and long narrow petals. They are bright red but there are white, yellow and orange variations.
The Kinchakuda Manjushage park is spread over 3 hectares by the Koma river and has around 5 million of these red flowers which flourish from September to early October.
Travel sites warned of limited parking space so we set out early from Tokyo, hitting the expressway before 06:00. But the one constant about traffic in Tokyo is that the weekend traffic will slow you down even at this early morning hour.
The traffic eased up after Shinjuku, our aim was to reach the park around 7:30, as the park opened up at 08:00. There were two surprises, the park was open around 7:30 when we reached however there was a long line of cars waiting to get into the limited parking space.
We chose the first opening and ended up parking at the edge of a grassy plot right next to the fields. it costs 500 Yen to park, there is no time limitation and another 500 Yen per person to enter the park.
The crowds were milling around the booths set up for the occasion and I could see a few people drinking beer at one of the booths at that early hour.
The skies were cloudy and it started raining a few minutes into our entry into the park, we took shelter beneath the tents laid out over benches serving as the place where people could take a break and a bite.
The sign outside the park entrance said ‘No tripods allowed’ but there were a few people carrying tripods, setting them up on the sly and moving on before anyone could object.
Spider lilies stretched across all corners of the park, planted in neat rows with a walking path in the middle. The flowers were in full bloom and so were the crowds. There were groups, large and small and there were people who came all alone. Many came with cameras, beginners to professional, standard lenses and zoom ones, those without the cameras used their phones, everyone was here to take pictures!
It took an hour to take a leisurely walk around the park, wait for the vantage spots to open up, take pictures and move on. There is an opening to the Koma river at one corner of the park, a narrow stone bridge stretching across the river.
One had to manoeuvre around other people on the bridge, ensuring your or their backpacks didn’t knock the pedestrians into the river.
The tickets allow you to enter the park as many times as you want on the same day, however there is little else to see once you finish traversing the ends of the park.
The fair was on near the park entrance, shops selling carved art, the items ranging from trays to iPad stands. There were other shops selling local craft beer and Sake, the food offerings included one selling Indian food.
We came early in the morning and were done watching the sea of spider lilies by 11:00. However the lines of cars waiting for parking were much smaller than the early morning ones. The lesson probably is that coming early in the morning wasn’t too beneficial, we would have got in even if we came later in the day.
The park is a good day trip from Tokyo, around 90 minutes drive each way. It an also serve as the starting point for a longer hike. Driving is not the only option, the Koma station is around 10-15 minutes walk from the park. If you are lucky enough to be in Tokyo in late September a visit is recommended.
