On our third and final day in Tochigi prefecture, we took a day trip to Ashikaga Flower Park. Ashikaga is in the far southwest corner of the prefecture, making it well within reach of Tokyo and Saitama prefectures. As you will see, Ashikaga is a very popular day trip destination from Tokyo. Join us on our exploration of the southern half of Tochigi to see what the hype is about.
3… 2… 1… IKOU!
Bunchinro Restaurant
We started our morning in the town of Moka. Before set off we had to get some brunch at Bunchinro. This is a Cantonese restaurant at the edge of Moka. Moka is famous for strawberries and this restaurant has an exclusive strawberry menu. There are strawberry burgers, strawberry fried rice, strawberry omelet rice, and strawberry choco-ramen (yes, there’s actual chocolate in the ramen). We decided to get everything except the omelet rice.
The strawberry burger has a strawberry-infused rice patty, a burger patty, lettuce, and a sweet strawberry sauce. It’s probably the mildest of all the strawberry dishes, but it’s still unique and delicious.
Strawberry fried rice has similar flavors to normal Cantonese fried rice but with a sour twist. There are diced strawberries and cucumber with a sweet dressing. The strawberries’ sweetness blended with the savory rice made an amazing combo on my taste buds.
Last but not least strawberry-choco ramen. It has a miso broth, strawberries, pork, cabbage, chocolate cereal, and an egg. This was my second time eating this, and I surprisingly enjoyed it. The first time I had it the cereal and ramen combo threw me off, but the second time I was on board. The richness of the broth with the tang of the strawberries was perfect, and the chocolate added a nice sweet aftertaste. I felt like Remi from Ratouille when he ate the cheese and strawberry together and it all clicked. Michael was surprised that he enjoyed it well after making fun of me all morning.
Ashikaga Flower Park
If you have seen wisteria in Japan, you’ve seen this park. Ashikaga Flower Park is very famous in May when the wisteria blooms. We weren’t there during wisteria season but it’s still quite beautiful in spring. The park is open all year and has different flowers each season. We went in March which had tulips, plum trees, and the first budding cherry blossoms.
I recommend you try the wisteria and cherry blossom ice creams. They have light floral flavors with just enough sweetness. Since it was off-season it wasn’t crowded and easy to walk through. Most of the park is dedicated to wisteria, so in early spring it can have a bit of an empty feel.
We enjoyed seeing the start of spring and seeing the rainbow of tulips. Tulips are my favorite flower so I was overjoyed. This year cherry blossoms bloomed much later than normal, but we were able to catch the start which was great.
Just outside of the park is a famous train station decorated in wisteria. From Tokyo station, it’s a 1.5-hour journey, so it’s a perfect day trip from Tokyo. We were lucky enough to have the entire train station to ourselves but it’s normally a very popular photo spot.
Wisteria Season
Last year when I visited Tochigi Prefecture I was fortunate to see the tail end of the wisteria. When I arrived at the train station the aroma of the flowers filled the cool crisp air, it’s a smell I can’t forget.
The park is incredibly busy in May. I recommend going at opening times to avoid some of the crowd. There are white, yellow, and purple wisteria everywhere draping down from the trellis. The day I went it was cloudy but they popped out at the perfect moment, beaming through the flower garden.
I would estimate spending about two hours in the park to be able to get pictures and walk around. In other seasons the park is still great but if you can, May is the best time to visit.
Joyfull
As our meal before heading back to the airport, we ate Japanese Diner Brand Joyfull. It had very similar vibes to a Dennys/ IHOP interior feel. They have unlimited drinks and their menu is very diverse. It has ramen, don katsu, and hamburg steak. I’ve never had hamburg steak so I chose that. It had cracked black pepper and light sauce. It satisfied my hunger with its simple flavors. Michael got a combo set with ramen with gyoza. Joyfull was not high-quality dining but had a similar experience to a very good IHOP. I would go if everyone wanted a different meal and you couldn’t decide.
Thoughts on Ashikaga Flower Park
Ashikaga Flower Park is a beautiful place in a scenic area. You could easily spend 1-2 hours here, and in the surrounding area are several other major attractions in Nikko and the rest of Tochigi. I recommend this as a day trip or as a part of a weekend trip to Tochigi. If you want to see the wisteria, you have to visit around April-May, but even if you can’t visit then it’s still worth it as there are seasonal flowers all year and even light displays in winter.