FUROUEN
(不老園; Garden Park of Eternal Life)
4-3 Sakaori, Kofu-shi, Yamanashi-ken
www.furouen.jp
The plum aroma from more than 3,000 plum blossom trees of some 20 different varieties covering the hiking path and hill slope will free you from the daily stressful life. The park is open from February 1 till March 31. Depending on the weather and temperature, your visit to FUROUEN is most enjoyable with colorful flowers at full bloom towards the end of February through early to mid March. Food concession and gift shops are available inside the park for your picnic pleasure with your family and friends.
The park was conceived by the 7th generation of the Okumura family in 1912 who owned traditional Japanese clothing retail and wholesale business (Asaya Gofukuten) located in downtown Kofu. Shouemon Okumura who owned several acres of hilly property had a dream to develop it into a plum blossom park.
FUROUEN Park is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., 7 days a week. Entrance fee is ¥500 for adults and ¥200 for children under 12 years old.
Direction to FUROUEN PARK
Take the Chuo-Express train (Chuo-Honsen) (Azusa or Kaiji) from Shinjuku or Matsumoto to Kofu station. You can take a taxi from Kofu station to FUROEN (approximately 10 minutes), or catch the local train from Kofu to the next station (Sakaori). FUROUEN is a 10 minutes walk from Sakaori station. (Ask anyone at the station to point you in the right direction)