Seaside park in Osaka is also one of Japan’s best places to see the sunset.

Right now, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Japan’s most populous cities. As beautiful as the sakura are, though, there’s often a certain sense of anxiety that comes from going out to see them, since the petals don’t last for very long before falling off the trees and fluttering away in the wind.

The silver lining, though, is that Japan has many other breathtakingly beautiful seasonal flowers to enjoy, and in the case we’re looking at today, that silver lining is a brilliant blue.

Maishima is an island located in Osaka Bay. Part of Osaka City, on the western half of the island is Maishima Seaside Park, where every spring visitors are treated to the sight of nemophila flowers, also known as baby blue eyes, blossoming across a 44,000-square meter (437,612-square foot) field.

Usually, the nemophila begin to bloom in early or mid-April, and stick around for about a month’s time. This year though, thanks in part to a warmer-than-normal winter, the nemophila have arrived early, and are already reaching full bloom. That means that visitors to the park will get the rare treat of seeing the best times to see both the nemophila and sakura overlapping with each other, making for some very beautiful photo spots.

Speaking of gorgeous color contrasts, anyone hoping to capitalize on the complementary blue/orange color wheel combination will be happy to know that during Maishima Seaside Park’s Nemophila Festival, which runs from April 6 to May 6, the park extends its hours on weekends and holidays, allowing entry until 6 p.m. and those inside to linger until 6:30. That should give you the chance to snap some photos during the golden hour, which promises to be especially beautiful, seeing as how Maishima Seaside Park has been selected as one of the 100 most beautiful places to see the sunset in Japan.

It takes less than an hour to get from downtown Osaka to Maishima Seaside Park, so time-wise it’s easy to fold a visit into other sightseeing plans you might have in the city, and it’s even a doable daytrip from Kyoto if you’re staying there and need a break from temple-hopping. And if a trip to Osaka isn’t in your travel plans right now, there’s also a park within day-trip distance from Tokyo that’s no slouch in the nemophila department either.

Location information
Maishima Seaside Park / 舞洲シーサイドパーク
Address: Osaka-fu, Osaka-shi, Konohana-ku, Hokukoryokuchi 2
大阪府大阪市此花区北港緑地2丁目
Open 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (weekdays), 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (weekends, holidays during Nemophila Festival)
Admission 1,500 yen (adults), 500 yen (elementary/middle school-age children)
Website

Source, images: PR Times
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