Wisteria in Japan

Hanging Purple Flowers

Wisteria (fuji) begin to flower from mid-April, with the season lasting until mid-May. The popular species Wisteria floribunda is native to Japan and is admired for its purple blooms and gentle, sweet fragrance, with people growing it on trellises or cultivating it as bonsai.

Wisteria are mentioned in such Japanese literary classics as the Kojiki, the Man’yōshū poetry anthology, and The Tale of Genji, and ancient poets described the flower clusters swaying in the spring breeze as “wisteria waves.” This long appreciation in Japanese art and literature is honored with wisteria appearing on the reverse of the ¥5,000 banknotes, newly issued from 2024.

There are famous wisteria throughout Japan, including a 160-year-old specimen at Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi Prefecture, that is part of Japan’s largest display of the flowers, which spreads some 2,000 square meters.

(Originally written in English. Banner photo © Ashikaga Flower Park.)