Eastern Hokkaido is amazingly gorgeous with its breathtaking flower parks and gardens in spring. It does not only offer you to see stunning cherry blossom but also other flowers such as tulips and shibazakura (moss phlox). Takinoue Shibazakura Park, Kamiyubetsu Tulip Park, and Higashimokoto Shibazakura Park are the most valued flower kingdoms you could visit in this area.

Often many people who don’t reside in Hokkaido think that its spring season is not as famous as it is for the mainland Japan. In fact, this sort of belief could hurt the farmers who dedicate their lives to grow such beautiful flowers every year throughout the Hokkaido region. Please note that this park is much bigger than the Takinoue Shibazakura Park.

If you are a nature lover and have a passion for discovering flower parks around the world, Higashimokoto Shibazakura Park is right there to delight you with its millions of moss phloxes. The park is located in a small town called Ozora, in Abashiri district. Here, you can spend hours after hours with no feelings of boringness.

Every time you gaze elsewhere over the hill that is painted with approximately a million of shibazakura would charm your life with joys. This is an incredible place to hunt for in which everyone can enjoy the pleasant atmosphere it offers. The best time to see Shibzakura in this park is from mid-May to early-June. Let’s us explore more about this park.
Insights into Higashimokoto Shibazakura Park

The Hokkaido region to foreign visitors means unspoiled nature and winter wonderland. What’s your though about it? “Hokkaido’s actual beauty lies in its inaccessibility and remoteness throughout the year” – if you believe in this, I could assume that you would like to embark on a trip to Hokkaido in spring.

It has two famous Shibazakura flower parks: Higashimokoto Park, and Takinoue Park. Both of these parks are located in Eastern Hokkaido. When it comes to talking about Higashimokoto Park, the first thing that comes to my mind is a pink carpet crafted by a million of moss phloxes. Imagine yourself how could you deal with it, so many enchanting moments are waiting for you there – now decide yourself!

The way I see it is a wonderful place like paradise. Shibazakura that grow here spread over an area of 100,000 square meters on a steep hill slopes. You can see glorious pink moss phloxes along the hills sides. Walking along the winding paths is great as it is for climbing up the stairs leading towards top of the hill.

Please bear in mind, there is a perfect observatory on the top of the hill. The views of the surrounding areas from the observatory are pretty impressive though, I believe while taking a stroll there, every step of yours would create imaginary observatory for you. How? Once you step into the park, and then just take a look around, hopefully everything would look to you incredibly awesome – right?!

What is Shibazakura? Here, Shiba means lawn and Zakura means sakura (cherry blossom). The Shibazakura of Higashimokoto comes in variety of colors. Though light pink shibazakura dominates most of the areas of the hillside along with white, light purple, and red moss phloxes. Shibazakura flower’s shape and petal resemble the traditional Japanese cherry blossom (sakura).

It is true that these two flower varieties bloom in the spring; however the difference is that shibzakura lie on the grounds whilst cherry blossoms are not.

As the park itself is very big, you should discover everything it offers from viewing the pink moss to visiting a shrine including eating Shibazakura soft serve ice cream from the food stall. Walking along the flower fields and gazing at stunning colored flowers are two of the most popular spring and summer activities on the island.

This park is the ideal place to do it, have you got it? So take a leisurely stroll through the paths, visit the shrine, and enjoy the pink vistas that surround you. In fact, when the peak season arrives, a festival is held here in which visitors are offered to do some amazing outdoor activities.

One of the most impressive ways to enjoy the pink moss is up from the sky, just ride a helicopter! In addition, you can take the touring car if you are not interested in hiking. Also, there are play grounds available for your little ones including cozy accommodation.
How to Access to Higashimokoto Shibazakura Park?

There are many hidden secrets in Hokkaido; I think this is one of the hidden destinations that many people did not know about, especially foreign tourists! If you are to find out the best and outstanding outdoor adventure attractions of Hokkaido, without having any doubt, this is what I could recommend you to visit this spring. So how do you get there?

If your time is limited but want to catch pink moss phlox actions, prefer coming here in Abashiri by air from Sapporo – Capital city of Hokkaido. In addition, you can get there by JR Okhotsk limited express; it is fully covered by Hokkaido Rail Pass/Japan Rail Pass. If you are coming from Sapporo, hop on the train (JR Okhotsk limited express) and get off at JR Abashiri Station.

There is also highway buses depart from Sapporo to Abashiri. When you are in Abashiri you could either take a direct bus to get to the park or rent a car from downtown Abashiri. It takes about 45-50 minutes to reach to Higashimokoto Park from JR Abashiri Station.
Important Things to Know

Place & Address: Higashimokoto Shibazakura Park, 393 Suehiro, Higashi-mokoto, Ozora-cho, Abashiri-gun, Hokkaido.
Festival Period: Early May to Early June, 2019
Parking lot: Yes
Admission Fees: ¥500 for adults, ¥250 for children
Tel: 0152-66-3111
Official website: http://www.shibazakura.net/

As the spring progresses, the flowers of different kinds will be bloomed one by one. Indeed, it’s great news for flower lovers! With the spring return, the temperature rises. Though, you are suggested to wear a light winter jacket or sweater.

Sometimes it is really hard to predict the weather, if the day you visit the park is cloudy with little breeze then you should always wear a light jacket. Meanwhile, it is always great to embark on an outdoor trip here if the weather is pretty good which I mean sunny and clear blue sky with no clouds.

Higashimokoto Shibazakura Park provides the epic landscapes and pleasant views that in fact the majority of Japan’s visitors would like to experience in spring.

I have done various sorts of outdoor trips and expeditions around Hokkaido, but flower viewing on the island either in spring or summer was absolutely mind-blowing even much more than what I experienced participating in the snow festivals during winter.

Hokkaido is an ideal destination for flower lovers, so a visit to this amazing park will inspire you discovering other outstanding nature wonders of Hokkaido.