Wisteria 藤

Some friends and I went to visit the Fuji flowers - which deceptively led me to believe that they were remotely near mount Fuji... Instead I discovered that Fuji is how the Japanese say wisteria. We went to visit a huge park whose sole purpose is showing off wisteria plants and other beautiful blossoms. 

         After a long walk along a river lined with colorful lanterns and floral paintings we entered the park through the West Gate-which honestly makes the park sound like something out of a fantasy novel-and proceed through the purple haze. Haze is the best word I can think of to describe that many wisteria. The smell is heavy and sweet, but not sickeningly so. The sheer quantity of flowers hanging from trellised  archways, bridges, walls, and patios made it impossible to comprehend the flowers individually, yet the minute size of the flowers means that they do not become a solid mass. It really is just a hate. The sight and smell together with the sound of running water from the lakes and ponds in the park and made me think of the feeling that I have been getting a lot in Japan and which was best described by John Denver's in Annie's Song, "you fill up my senses..."  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNOTF-znQyw). 

One of the most stunning sights in my opinion was the spectacular walls of wisteria that were built around the park, There were at least three of them in different colors. Below is a purple one that is three stories tall and at least a quarter mile long around a lake. To give you perspective of size, that is a man in white in the bottom right corner. 

Above is the tunnel of white, dozens and dozens of trees composing roof over a long walk with pure white wisteria, perfect for a wedding.

One girl was posing in front of the wisteria in a kimono with a professional photographer. 

Because the fuji gardens are so popular to visit during golden week, they are prepared for tourists to stay a very long time (Yes, look at the crowds. It was crowded.) After nightfall, all of the gardens were lit up, so that the haze of flowers looked like they were glowing.