Annual Nabana no Sato Winter Illumination, Japan’s Largest Light Show!

When the sun sets on the city of Nagoya, the trees illuminate with vivid colors at one of the largest flower gardens light shows in Japan, the Nabana no Sato Winter Illumination is the highlight on a list of things to see in Nagoya, and you’d be missing out if you skip this gorgeous display.

Before I go on, I would like to apologize for some of the terrible pictures, I don’t own a camera that is good enough to take night photos and so please bare in mind that my horrible photographs don’t represent the true beauty of Nabana no Sato…

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Picturesque Nabana no Sato Flower Park

The Nabana no Sato flower park is one of the largest in Japan, though this park is open throughout the year, during the winter season, Nabana no Sato becomes something incredibly magical due it it’s illumination light display which is the topic for our adventures in today’s blog post.

A brief description of the Nabano no Sato flower park first, the park covers an area of roughly 230,000 square meters and is filled with over 12,000 species of flowers! The flowers are divided into different showcases exhibits such as the “Begonia Garden” and the “Plum Garden”.

You’ll also notice that some people refer to Nabana no Sato as a Flower Village as well. This is not an exaggeration as the park contains all the necessary infrastructure and buildings that would make up a typical European style village. Some points of interests you can find here are:

Restaurants, bakeries, and cafes.
The Nagashima Beer Garden
A Chapel that sits in the center of the park
The Satono-yu spa

Yes, you read that right, this flower park even includes a spa!

Largest Illumination in Japan

nabana no sato tunnel of lights — *These pictures don’t do the flower park justice, it’s more beautiful when you see it in person*

Alright we’ve come to the main event, the Nabano no Sato Illumination, the largest flower garden illumination in all of Japan.

This illumination display takes places annually every winter usually from late October to late May. As of 2023 when this article is written, the Nabana no Sato illumination takes place from October 21 2023 to June 2 2024, with the park being open daily from 10AM to 10PM.

Located just on the outskirts of Nagoya city, in the neighbouring Mie prefecture, The Nabana no Sato illumination is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the area, so you definitely don’t wanna miss this.

Another popular attraction close to the flower park is the Nagashima Spa Land which is a waterpark filled with roller coasters, waterslides, and of course spas and hot springs. So why not knock two birds with one stone and visit both? :)

Exploring the Nabana no Sato Illumination

nabana no sato map — *There is so much to explore!*

As previously mentioned, the Nabana no Sato flower park encompasses an area of around 230,000 square meters, so there is MUCH to explore, expect to do a lot of walking.

I’ll admit, I didn’t fully explore the area because there was just so much and I had limited time, however I did manage to go to some of the highlights such as the Illuminated tunnel and the Pyramids of Nabana no Sato located at the Hanahiroba Flower Garden. I’ll go over these later.

nabana no sato chapel — *The bright illuminated chapel glowing in the distance*

With dark skies, and a cool breeze, the illuminated trees and flowers give off a romantic and eloquent vibe like no other, seriously you’ll find 2 types of people here: tourists, and couples. And if you happen to be traveling without your significant other like I was, you’ll feel very lonely…

Also remember to wear some warm clothes, as the winter seasons can be very chilly especially during sundown. There wasn’t any snow when I went but I have heard that snow fall can occasionally occur, which isn’t a bad thing, it’ll only add to the magical winter wonderland feel even more.

misty pond — *One second glance, this image is pretty creepy, especially with that woman standing on the bridge there…*

Exploring Nabana no Sato can be confusing especially with all the points of interests, I know I found the maze-like park confusing when I went.

If you would like a more organized walking tour, you could check out this Half-day Tour to Nabana no Sato which includes a local guide, and included entrance tickets. I’d recommend tours like these for those who want to fully explore the park and to see all there is to offer without having to be worried about getting lost.

Nabana no Sato Tunnel of Lights

One of the big highlights of the Nabana no Sato flower park are the light tunnels of which there are 2. The light tunnels are quite long, they’ll take you a good 5 minutes to walk through, longer if you are taking pictures every 10 steps of the way (like my mom…).

But it’s a good 5 minute walk as the atmosphere is absolutely gorgeous and well worth the walk, especially during the winter nights where there is a cool breeze.

nabana no sato tunnel of light — *This is just blue… I’m blue da ba dee da ba di*

The two light tunnels lead directly to and from the Hanahiroba garden where the pyramid light show is located. Please excuse my horrible low light photos but, the LED lights in the light tunnel smoothly changes color every few seconds, from blue to yellow to purple to green etc…

Like walking through a slow rave if you will. The atmosphere is really something else, and you feel like you are in a magical Christmas themed Disney movie.

The Golden Pyramids of Nabana no Sato

nabana no sato pyramid — *Behold! The Pyramids of Giz- Nagoya!*

Once we are through the light tunnels, walk a little further and we’ll arrive at the Great Pyramids of Nabana no Sato, 3 pyramids whose support beams are lined with thousands of LED lights.

These pyramids aren’t just for show mind you, these pyramids come to life in a spectacular LED light show in the same vein as the Las Vegas Sphere (although less impressive).

Changing colors, depictions of Egyptian deities and pharaohs, and even some form of visual story telling are all on show at these pyramids.

The show is really beautiful especially on a clear night where the LED lights have the chance to brighten the sky.

Hungry? Nabana no Sato has you Covered

nabana no sato restaurants — *The food looks really good guys, these restaurants are no joke*

One more things I would like to share with you is that Nabana no Sato is full of restaurants and food options available for you if you ever go hungry looking at all those flowers.

While I didn’t get the opportunity to try them out for myself, I saw that there were restaurants serving Japanese, Chinese, and even Italian cuisine.

Aside from sit down eateries there are also stalls where you can buy simple snacks like a Wagyu Beef Bun or soft serve ice cream.

Details About Nabana no Sato

Nabana no Sato is a flower park is a major tourist and local attraction located in the Mie prefecture near the city of Nagoya, Japan.

Although you can visit Nabana no Sato all year round, the best time to visit Nabana no Sato is during the winter months as the illuminations are the main event and attraction of the flower park.

This park is popular with young couples and families during the weekends so I would advise you visit during the weekdays to avoid the huge crowd.

Location: Japan, 〒511-1144 Mie, Kuwana, Nagashimacho Komae, 漆畑270

Opening Hours: 10:00AM - 9:00PM | Mon - Sun

Entrance Fee: 2,000 JPY during the winter months, 1,500 JPY outside of winter.

How to get to Nabana no Sato

I will assume you will be starting form Nagoya city. You can board the JR Kintetsu-Nagoya Line from Nagoya/Kintetsu Nagoya Station from there it’s about a 20 minute ride to Kintetsu Nagashima Station.

From there you can board a shuttle bus that specifically take you to the Nabana no Sato Illumintion for 220 JPY per person.

Taxis are also an option but they are pretty expensive coming in at about 1000 JPY, so I would not recommend that.

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