Why don’t you go to see Soga plum grove and Mt.Fuji?
I’m Nobu, I like traveling overseas and in Japan, visited 25 countries. I’ve got the license of the certificate English guide in Japan for 8 years.
I show you hidden Japan which you have never seen and heard of!
Soga plum grove
I went to the Soga plum grove in Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
This place is famous for its 35,000 white and red plum trees.
It is the collective name for the three plum groves of Bessho, Hara, and Nakagawara that stretch around JR Shimosoga Station.
3 popular plum groves
Together with Kairakuen in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and Ogose Plum Grove in Ogose Town, Saitama Prefecture, they are sometimes counted among the 3 major plum groves in the Kanto region.
History
Odawara City’s city emblem is also patterned after the plum flower.
Odawara has long had strong ties with the plum tree.
The Go-Hojo clan began planting plum trees in the 14th century.
It is widely believed that the cultivation of plum spread during the Edo period (1603-1867).
It’s a result of the encouragement of Tadamasa Okubo, the lord of the Odawara domain.
Odawara used to have an abundant supply of salt due to the spread of salt fields.
Furthermore, travelers using Odawara-postal town to cross the Hakone Mountains bought pickled plums to prevent rotting their lunch boxes.
That is why the production of pickled plums developed in Odawara.
In “Tokaidochu hizakurige”the popular novel published in the Edo period (1603-1867), pickled plums are introduced as a specialty of Odawara-postal town.
Here, there are mostly white plum trees for eating, but the red plum trees for viewing are also beautiful.
And I found the large weeping plum were in full bloom.
Mt.Fuji
The good thing about this Soga plum grove is that if the weather is fine, we can even see Mt.Fuji.
Although it was a little hazy today.
JR Shimosoga Station is 1.5 hours from Tokyo Station and costs 1,520 yen( 15.2 dollars) .
The Soga plum grove is 15 minute walk from the station.
But we can see many plum trees on the way to the plum grove.
It’s free to walk around Soga plum grove area.
If you come to Japan in late February until early March, why not visit the Soga plum grove?
You will experience the early spring beauty here!
I’m Nobu, one heart enjoy together!!!