Sawara Aquatic Flower Festivals
Less than an hour from Narita Airport is an area filled with low-lying wetlands, aquatic flower fields and seasonal festivals that make for a fabulous day trip from Narita Airport or Tokyo. In spring Suigo Sawara Ayame Park and another park close-by, Suigo Itako Ayame Park, are ablaze with millions of irises and in summer, water lilies and lotuses bravely bloom in the searing heat. The word suigo in Japanese is used to describe areas filled with marshes and waterways and the flora and fauna that thrive in these habitats.
A boat ride through lotus blossoms at Suigo Sawara Ayame Park in August.
Suigo Sawara Ayame Park
Suigo Sawara Ayame Park in Katori City, Chiba prefecture is an aquatic botanical garden. It is most famous for the 1.5 million irises (ayame in Japanese) of 400 different varieties that bloom from late May through June. Less crowded, probably due to the intense summer heat, are the 300 types of lotus and water lilies that cover the waterways in July and August. During both these stunning flower seasons, there are many events, including the lovely boat rides that gently weave in and around the flowers, ducks and fish, deftly navigated by the boat person dressed in traditional clothing.
You can buy fish food near the boating dock.
There is plenty of seating as you take your time meandering along the paths up and over wooden bridges and under wisteria tunnels, the longest wisteria of which is 70 metres (flowering late April - May). The park consists of 8 hectares of waterways which are included in the bigger Suigo Tsukuba Quasi-National Park managed by the local governments of Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures.
Gliding through water lilies under one of the many arched bridges.
The park itself is low-key, given that the area is very rural. There are a couple of shops selling local souvenirs and seasonal plants but check the website (Japanese site only) ahead of time to see that they will be open when you plan to visit.
The park is so big that the gardeners cycle around.
Best time to visit:
Wisteria: May
Iris: late May - June
Lotus and Water lilies: late July – August
Address: 1837-2 Ohgishima, Katori City, Chiba prefecture
Suigo Itako Ayame Park
Less than a ten minute drive from Suigo Sawara Ayame Park is Suigo Itako Ayame Garden in Ibaraki prefecture, which also has over 1 million irises made up of 500 different varieties. The boat rides here glide along the Mae River on the types of boats fisherman would have used in days gone by. One of the highlights of the iris festivals here and at the Suigo Sawara Ayame park are the special days, often on a Wednesday and the weekend, where locals hold real, traditional wedding services on these waterways. Historically the bride-to-be, her matchmaker and her goods and chattels were transported down the river in a boat to her groom’s home to start their new life together. The festivals celebrate these traditions.
Checking the condition of the irises at Suigo Itako Ayame Park in June.
Best time to visit: late May – June
Address: 1-5 Ayame, Itako City, Ibaraki prefecture
Website: https://www.e-tabi.org/ (site is in Japanese)
Sawara
After feasting on the beauty of nature at the two locations mentioned above, we recommend visiting the nearby town of Sawara in Chiba prefecture, for a bite to eat and a walk in their excellently preserved traditional town. Unagi (river eel) is a specialty of the area given the vast, clean water. The town of Sawara has about 92 buildings from the Edo Period (1603 - 1868) that have been preserved and lovingly restored after the area was devastated by the March 3 2011 Tohoku earthquake. There is also a museum dedicated to the first person to make a map of Japan, Ino Tadataka (1745 – 1818), who spent part of his life living in Sawara. You can visit his private home too. Again, in Sawara, you can take a boat ride along the Ono River that runs through the centre of the town.
The boating dock in Sawara. The Tadataka Museum is opposite.
Sawara has two famous grand festivals, one in summer and one in autumn. You can see some of the actual floats in the Suigo Sawara Float Museum if you miss the festivals.
Best time to visit: anytime. The festivals are in summer and autumn.
Address: Sawara Historical District, Katori City, Chiba prefecture
