Japan is renowned for its cherry blossoms; everybody knows that. Now, there is another flower of hidden beauty that can be found decorated the floors of Japans fields and parks, such as Takinoue Shibazakura Park. The flower is called Shibazakura in Japanese; and pink moss / moss phlox in English. An interesting little plant with astounding beauty.
Like most flowers they can be found sprouting all over the place in Hokkaido. Easy to catch your eye as you pass by them on the street, they look like little cherry blossom trees on the floor.
Now, the ones that REALLY take your breathe away do so in the sheer numbers in which they grow. The best places to see this are the few parks around the island where there is almost nothing except for this moss phlox. One of the most famous is in Takinoue (滝の上), about 2 hours drive from Asahikawa.
When I heard there was a park filled with these little pink guys, I thought sounds nice, let’s check it out. I thought it would be a small hill, maybe 50 meters across with a space where we would have to line up to take the special instagram photo. Little did I know… The Shibazakura covered the WHOLE PARK.
Like a lot of things in Japan, I’ve never seen anything like it!! Can I say stunning, gorgeous, and breathtaking all in the same sentence? Amongst all the Shibazakura there are several dirt pathways which you can walk up and through the park, taking you to different areas of pink. This is great, because the number of tourists visiting is also quite large, and you want to try and find a spot without too many people for your photos, right?
There are a lot of flower fields in Hokkaido hosting tulips, lavender, cosmos, however I would say this one is quite unique in itself. Mainly because, when you visit the other flower fields, there is a lot of dirt and empty space between the rows of flowers. However with the Shibazakura, since it is a type of moss, it grows and packs in all that space, so there’s no dirt or empty ground to be seen in comparison. If you get the chance, it’s worth seeing with your own eyes, worth walking amongst the immense shades of pink. The pictures on this webpage are doing an injustice to the park, in my opinion.
A Little History
Apparently, they used to have cherry blossom trees all over this park, until a big storm in the 1950’s where they were all wiped out. After that, cardboard box filled with moss plox was gifted by a local temple. The locals tended and grew the moss phox to the size it is today. An immensely powerful symbol of what a community can do if they work together.
So, when should you visit?
The best time to see the Shibazakura is between the start and end of May. We went during the middle of May in 2024 and it looked as it does in the pictures shown on this post. It is still a little chilly at that time, so bring a jacket with you, especially since the park is located on a hill.
If you are driving your own car it’s about a 2 hour drive from the city of Asahikawa. If you are staying in Sapporo it would be 4-5 hours drive, so that would be a bit much for a day trip for most people.
Where do we park?
There are a lot of spaces to park, however note that you probably won’t be able to park directly at the park. Most likely, especially during the busy hours of the day, there will be locals to guide you to where you can park your car.
After we parked there was a station to buy our entry tickets. It was ¥500 per person for us to enter in May, 2024. After purchasing, you can walk towards the park or there is a free shuttle bus that will take you up the hill to the flower (or should I say moss?) field. There are also some toilets and local shops at the top of the hill where the flower fields are, and you can get some special pink soft cream if you’d like to try it.
That’s all for today; if you ever get the chance I would highly recommend visiting this quiet town in May. If you like flowers (or road trips) like I do, can’t imagine you having any regrets!