Fukuyama Rose Parade 2015

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 10 months ago

After Cherry blossom season is over, we have the season for Roses! There is a annual Rose festival in Fukuyama city in Hiroshima prefecture.

The rose season comes to Fukuyama in May. Approximately 500,000 roses are in full bloom, and the Fukuyama Rose Festival is held to commemorate the event. Each year more than 800,000 people visit the Fukuyama Rose Festival, with its amusing attractions such as the parade and stage event centering on Rose Park.

In Rose Park, with its myriad flowers, the rose parade organized several civic groups excites the festival. Unique stalls are open, and wonderful stage events are held. “Light and Rose Fantasies,” which lights up the Rose Park with electric lamps, is extremely popular.

Rose Park is covered with the romantic scent and atmosphere that its namesake blooms provide. The rose contest and rose concert have also caught on in Midori-machi Park. There are also traditional stage performances of Fukuyama, a handmade goods bazaar, a gourmet plaza and a sales corner featuring Hiroshima’s specialty products. Original rose goods, including soaps and aromatic mists, are sold in the museum shop.

The biggest event of the festival, however, is the “Rose Wedding.” One couple of every year blessed by the festival visitors has a wedding ceremony, surrounded by sweet, beautiful roses.

You can enjoy the street performances and music festival on the shopping streets in the city, and the “Rose Bus” also runs in the venue.

About one hour from Hiroshima Station to Fukuyama Station, so get your JR pass and head to Fukuyama for romantic day!

The official website in Japanese for this years festival can be found here: http://fukuyama-matsuri.jp/bara/

About Fukuyama:

Fukuyama City, which is located at the southeastern end of Hiroshima Prefecture, in the south-central Chugoku region of Western Japan, has the fifth-largest population in the Chugoku-Shikoku area, after the cities of Hiroshima, Okayama, Matsuyama and Kurashiki City. The city is very livable, being blessed with a warm climate and many clear days.

One of the tourist spots, Fukuyama Castle, is found on the north side of JR Fukuyama Station, and it is considered the gateway to Fukuyama. Around the castle you’ll find a wide range of museums featuring exhibits of art, history and literature, including many whose unique characteristics have brought national renown. Traveling south from Fukuyama Station, there is “Tomonoura,” a representative scenic spot of the Seto Inland Sea National Park, one of the first in Japan to receive such a designation. The many islands spread out across the tranquil waters of the Seto Inland Sea create a highly picturesque scene. Additionally, in May and October nearly half a million roses—the city flower of Fukuyama—come into bloom, mainly around the appropriately named Rose Park, and bring their color and fragrance to the streets of Fukuyama.

How to get there:

It is 4 hours from Tokyo, you need to take the Nozomi Shinkansen at the Tokyo Station and go towards Hakata.

It costs 17,170 YEN.

You can also book a over-night bus to Okayama (Adults JPY 5,440?JPY 8,200 (Child JPY 3,200?JPY 4,200) and take a train from Okayama station to Fukuyama. It takes just 41 minutes from one city to another and might be a more cheap solution than going by Shinkansen. Check for your best bus connection here: http://willerexpress.com/en/

Period : From May 19 (Saturday) to 20 (Sunday)

Venue : Rose Park, Midori-machi Park and central city, shopping streets

Inquiries : Fukuyama Festival Committee Bureau (in Tourism Division, Economic Affairs Department, Economic Environment Bureau of Fukuyama City)

TEL (084)928-1042?1043

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