Last Updated: May 10, 2025

The Nemophila of Toneri Park

Backyard Tourism Vol. 16

This story was originally published on donnykimball.com and has been syndicated here on Medium.

Let’s be frank. When it comes to springtime flowers in Japan, the cherry blossoms steal all of the limelight. Widely considered to be iconic of the country’s very year, millions of tourists flock to Japan to see these pink pretties. However, they are not the only spectacle of spring to enjoy in Japan. What’s more, the cherry blossoms are notoriously short-lived, meaning that you only have a short window to enjoy them if you’re not willing to chase full bloom north into Tohoku. Thankfully, there are other marvels of Mother Nature to enjoy during spring, though — like the azure nemophila.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that arguably the best place to experience nemophila is Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki Prefecture. Alas, the cat is largely out of the bag on that locale thanks to Instagram, so nowadays, you really can’t expect to get a photo without tons of other people in the frame. What’s more, you also need to commit to going up to Ibaraki itself, and while I’ll be the first to say that the prefecture is truly rife with all sorts of hidden gems, it can be a bit too far out of the way for some overseas visitors to Japan.

Enter Toneri Park on the outskirts of Tokyo. Officially the third-biggest park in the 23 special…