A Healing Space of Flowers and Greenery
The garden was created by Osaka Prefecture by making use of approximately 10 hectares of land that had previously served as a forestry research facility.
It was established based on the philosophy of the International Garden and Greenery Exposition, Osaka, Japan, 1990, commonly known as the Osaka Flower Expo. The garden aims to enrich people’s lives and bring people closer to nature through flowers and plants.
Plants collected from around the world are cultivated throughout the grounds, while seasonal flowers create constantly changing scenery. Visitors can therefore enjoy different aspects of the garden throughout the year.
Three Guiding Principles
“Relax with Flowers,” “Learn from Flowers,” and “Connect through Flowers”
The Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden is based on three fundamental principles: “Relax with Flowers,” “Learn from Flowers,” and “Connect through Flowers.”
“Relax with Flowers” means providing a place where visitors can refresh their minds and bodies and find peace among beautiful flowers.
“Learn from Flowers” means creating opportunities to learn about nature and deepen understanding of the environment through the diversity of plants.
“Connect through Flowers” means creating a community where people who love flowers can gather, interact, and share their appreciation of nature.
Since opening in 1990, the garden has provided visitors with a peaceful and inspiring environment surrounded by flowers and greenery.
Pyramid-Shaped Large Greenhouse
A Tropical World of Unusual Plants
One of the most recognizable features of the garden is its pyramid-shaped large greenhouse. The greenhouse is divided into several zones, including tropical and dry environments, and houses unusual plants from around the world.
Visitors can see orchids, tropical flowering plants, cacti, succulents, and many other species. Entering the greenhouse feels like stepping into a completely different world.
Particularly noteworthy are the many rare species orchids, making the greenhouse an appealing destination for plant enthusiasts.
A café is also located inside the greenhouse, allowing visitors to enjoy a relaxing tea break surrounded by greenery.
Garden Highlights: Flowers Throughout the Seasons
The greatest attraction of the Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden is its beautiful scenery, which changes with the seasons. Various flower beds and themed gardens are spread throughout the grounds, offering something new to discover on every visit.
Decorative Flower Beds
Immediately after passing through the entrance gate, visitors are greeted by colorful decorative flower beds.
The flowers are replanted according to seasonal themes. In spring, visitors can enjoy tulips and pansies; in summer, salvia and marigolds; and in autumn, cosmos and dahlias.
The flower beds also provide an excellent backdrop for photographs.
Rose Garden
Designed as a symmetrical formal garden, the rose garden contains approximately 470 varieties and 1,400 rose plants.
During the spring and autumn rose seasons, colorful roses bloom throughout the garden and fill the air with a sweet, elegant fragrance.
Rose arches and pergolas create picturesque walking paths surrounded by flowers, making this an especially enjoyable area for rose enthusiasts.
Plum Garden
Located on a slope in the eastern-central part of the garden, the plum garden contains approximately 90 varieties and 340 plum trees.
The trees usually reach their peak from mid-February to early March, when white plums, red plums, and weeping plum trees bloom together.
One of the garden’s popular winter traditions is the “Warm Plum Viewing in Kotatsu” event. Visitors can sit beneath a warm kotatsu, a traditional Japanese heated table, while enjoying the plum blossoms. This unique experience makes it possible to appreciate the flowers even on chilly winter days.
Hydrangea Garden
The hydrangea garden reaches its best in the rainy season, generally from mid-June to late June.
Approximately 140 varieties and 920 hydrangea plants are cultivated here, including lacecap hydrangeas, mophead hydrangeas, and mountain hydrangeas.
One particularly distinctive variety is the oakleaf hydrangea, named for its leaves, which resemble those of an oak tree.
Hydrangeas covered with raindrops are especially beautiful, creating a tranquil atmosphere characteristic of Japan’s rainy season.
Clematis Garden
Clematis is known in Britain as the “Queen of Climbing Plants.” The clematis garden features approximately 200 varieties and more than 450 plants.
Clematis climbs over arches and pergolas, producing flowers in many forms and colors, including large blooms and double flowers.
The wide variety of shapes and colors allows visitors to appreciate the elegant character of this popular garden plant.
Fragrance Hill
Fragrance Hill is based on the theme “Happiness in the Heart, Together with Fragrance.”
The area brings together fragrant plants such as gardenia, fragrant olive, sweet violet, and banana shrub.
Visitors can enjoy the garden through their sense of smell as well as sight and touch, experiencing the distinctive fragrances of flowers and leaves.
Nature Trail
A nature trail approximately 500 meters long has been developed so visitors can walk through the grounds while looking out over the garden.
Different plants can be enjoyed throughout the year. In early spring, wildflowers such as dogtooth violets and violets appear. Spring brings mochi azaleas, rhododendrons, and wild cherry trees, while early summer features lilies such as Sasayuri.
In autumn, colorful foliage transforms the landscape.
The trail is also suitable for birdwatching and forest bathing, offering a relaxing way to spend time close to nature.
Facilities and Services
The Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden offers a variety of facilities and services designed to make a visit comfortable as well as enjoyable.
Training Rooms and Event Hall
Training rooms and an event hall are available for classes, exhibitions, and other activities.
Regular workshops include gardening classes, flower arrangement, and craft workshops, providing opportunities to learn practical skills and knowledge related to flowers and greenery.
Exhibitions and community events are also held, making the facilities a place for local residents and visitors to interact.
Restaurant and Cafés
HONEYSUCKLE restaurant serves lunch menus featuring local ingredients, as well as light meals, desserts, and drinks. Its open atmosphere makes it a pleasant place to enjoy a meal after exploring the garden.
Hanabun Café overlooks the rose garden and serves coffee, tea, sweets, and other refreshments. It is an ideal place to take a break during a walk.
Garden Shop
The garden shop sells a wide range of plants, including flower seedlings, seasonal potted plants, herbs, and vegetable seedlings.
Visitors can also find gardening tools, fertilizer, soil, decorative goods, original honey products, and Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden merchandise.
It is a convenient place to look for souvenirs or pick up plants and supplies for starting a garden at home.
History and Philosophy
Continuing the Legacy of the Osaka Flower Expo
The Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden opened in accordance with the philosophy of the International Garden and Greenery Exposition held in Osaka in 1990.
Its basic principles of “Relax with Flowers,” “Learn from Flowers,” and “Connect through Flowers” have continued to guide the garden since its opening.
As a permanent botanical garden operated by Osaka Prefecture, it has become a familiar place for local residents as well as a destination for visitors from within and outside Osaka.
Kinekan: Learning About Forestry and Wood
The garden grounds also contain a facility called Kinekan, which houses the Minami-Kawachi Branch of the Osaka Forestry Association.
Kinekan provides information and exhibits about wood and forestry. Visitors can learn about the uses of wood, the role of forests, and the importance of environmental conservation.
The facility is open for general viewing and offers an opportunity to deepen one’s understanding of forests and wood resources.
Events and Experiences Throughout the Year
The Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden hosts a wide variety of events and hands-on programs throughout the year.
Seasonal flower events, workshops, nighttime openings, and illumination events provide visitors with new experiences depending on the season.
Cosplay Day
The garden regularly hosts “Cosplay Day,” an event where cosplayers gather among the flowers to take photographs and enjoy socializing.
The colorful garden scenery provides a distinctive backdrop, allowing visitors to experience the Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden in a different way.
Night Opening and “Hanabun Thanks Illumination”
During winter, the garden hosts the nighttime event “Hanabun Thanks Illumination.”
The grounds are decorated with illuminations, creating a magical atmosphere that is very different from the daytime garden.
“Ume-Kota” Plum Viewing
The popular winter event “Warm Plum Viewing in Kotatsu,” also known as “Ume-Kota,” is one of the garden’s distinctive experiences.
Visitors can sit comfortably beneath warm kotatsu tables while viewing plum blossoms in the winter garden. The experience is popular with families, couples, and groups of friends.
Garden’s Own Honey
Since June 2021, the Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden has sold its own honey made from nectar collected by honeybees from flowers grown within the garden.
The honey has a rich flavor and captures the fragrance of the flowers from which it is produced. It is available at the garden shop and is also used in restaurant dishes.
As a product made from the garden’s own natural environment, it has become a popular souvenir.
Management and New Initiatives
The Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden introduced the designated management system in 2011 and is currently operated by “Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden with World Intec.”
In recent years, the garden has expanded its activities to include growing vegetables and herbs, harvesting events, and keeping goats.
These initiatives add new experiences to the traditional botanical garden and continue to expand the ways visitors can enjoy the site.
Fururu: The Garden’s Friendly Mascot
The garden’s beloved mascot is Fururu, a rabbit-inspired character created to commemorate the garden’s 10th anniversary.
Fururu appears at events and welcomes visitors to the garden.
In recent years, objects and hand-drawn illustrations depicting Fururu have also been placed around the grounds, adding a playful touch and bringing smiles to visitors.
Access
By Public Transportation
From Kawachinagano Station on the Nankai Koya Line or Kintetsu Nagano Line, take a Nankai Bus bound for Takawuko or Takihata Dam.
Get off at the Kamotakou (Hanabun) bus stop and walk for approximately 15 minutes. The bus ride from Kawachinagano Station takes approximately 20 minutes.
By Car
From Kawachinagano Station on the Kintetsu Nagano Line, travel south along National Route 170. Turn south at the Bunkaen-guchi intersection and continue for approximately 500 meters.
Parking is available at the garden.
A Day Surrounded by Flowers and Greenery
Osaka Prefectural Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden combines seasonal flowers, unusual plants, diverse events, and comfortable visitor facilities in a spacious botanical garden.
Surrounded by flowers and greenery, visitors can refresh both body and mind while enjoying close contact with nature.
The garden is suitable for a wide range of visitors, including families, friends, couples, and solo travelers.
When visiting Osaka, consider spending a relaxing day at the Flower and Greenery Cultural Garden and discovering the changing beauty of flowers and plants throughout the seasons.