The weather in Japan can change rapidly, and sometimes it's not very friendly for outdoor activities. However, there are places that tourists can enjoy during any weather conditions, even when it's very cold outside – roofed parks and greenhouses located in floral gardens or big parks! I visited some and found them really fascinating!
Kobe Animal Kingdom is quite a big park located on the Port Island of Kobe City, and can be reached by Port Liner from central Kobe. The spacious park unites several zones – a big pool with a great variety of water lilies, an owl zone, toucan zone, penguin zone, and a special 'theater' with performances from trained kites and owls. Besides birds and water lilies, there are gorgeous flowers hanging all over the park – it was really beautiful and impressive! A similar Owl and Flower Park is located in Shizuoka Prefecture, not far from Fujinomiya City, as well as Vogel Park in Matsue.
One of the best greenhouses I visited was at the Hamamatsu Flower Park. The spacious greenhouse located in the center of the park is called the "Crystal Palace". Inside it there is the Garden Theater, where elaborate displays of flowers change from season to season. When I visited the Flower park, there was an exhibition of orchid and gerbera flowers. Also, there are interesting displays like the ‘Mexican Garden’, ‘Indonesian Garden’ and ‘European Garden’, which are each represented with special plants and sculptures.
The greenhouse at one of the famous parks of Tokyo — Shinjuku Gyoen — contains quite an impressive collection of exotic plants, and creates an atmosphere of the tropics with a waterfall in the center. Plants grow and bloom all year round there, even in winter.
I always admire when I find gorgeous gardens and greenhouses in small places such as the town of Obuse. The greenhouse at the Floral Garden Obuse displayed a wonderful exhibition of orchids on the day of my visit, with many kinds of orchids I’d never seen before!
On Japan Travel you can find more great places with plants worth visiting, such as Honai Park in Niigata and the Botanical Garden in Kyoto. Cultivating plants and flowers is an essential part of Japanese culture.
