Wisteria (also spelled Wistaria or Wysteria) is a
genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae，
that includes ten species of woody climbing bines native to
the Eastern United States and to China, Korea, and Japan. Some species are
popular ornamental plants, especially in China and Japan. An aquatic flowering
plant with the common name wisteria or 'water wisteria' is in fact Hygrophila
difformis, in the family Acanthaceae.
Wisteria Tunnel is located at the Kawachi Fuji Gardens
in Kitakyushu, Japan. Flowering trees hang overhead and the different colored
rows speckle the garden.
Kawachi Fuji Gardens in Kitakyushu, Japan (5 hours
from Tokyo, if you take the Nozomi high speed train) is where you will find
this pastel-colored fairytale tunnel. The gardens are home to about 150 Wisteria
flowering plants spanning 20 different species (white, blue, purple,
violet-blue and pink). This is the reason why the “tunnel” is so colorful and
graceful.
The best time of the year to go from late April to mid
May (depends on the weather each year). The peak is normally at end of April to
the Golden Week. Not every year wisteria bloom so magnificently. To get to the
garden from JR Yahata station, take Nishitetsu bus #56 and get off at Kawachi
Elementary School. Then walk 10-15 min to the garden. It is difficult to
imagine Kawachi Fuji Garden any other way but in full bloom, yet according to
Atlas Obscura, visiting the place outside the mentioned time period will lead
you to a “disheartening mass of lifeless, twisted branches”. If you had the
chance to walk along this flower-covered pathway, feel free to drop a line and
tell us how it felt!
