Cherry blossoms are the flowers on everyone’s lips when Japanese spring is mentioned, but on my Japan Photography Workshop tours, specifically my Niigata Photography Tours, after having set up my satellite office here, I know that there many other varieties of flowers for my clients, friends, and I to enjoy year-round. Now that the sakura petals have mostly fallen, Niigata residents like myself are enjoying fields of tulips in many locations across the prefecture.
One of the advantages of viewing the glorious tulips is that it’s easy to maintain social distance while viewing them. North of Niigata, there is a huge field that is several hectares and grows approximately 60 different varieties and about a million or more tulips planted. Initially, I had a difficult time conceptualizing the idea of how big a hectare is, but I heard that most sports fields are around the same size. For Niigata locals, that’s about two Denka Big Swan sports stadiums pushed together in a luxurious carpet of shining tulip blossoms. And that is just one of the locations that offer such flowering sights. And with that much land set aside for the tulips, there are thousands of specimens to enjoy at a safe distance. Beyond that, at this location, you will be able to see the tulips with a bird’s eye view because there are helicopter rides offered so that you can take in the entire expanse of a million or more photo ops.
Niigata has the most tulips produced of any prefecture across Japan, and considering Niigata is home to beautiful tulips, sakura, saké, and the country’s best rice, which is in the process of being planted at this very moment, local residents, in spite of social distancing mandates, can enjoy the fruits of nature in Niigata prefecture without having to do any serious traveling.
In another Niigata location that boasts millions of tulips, everyone will find a tulip variety to connect to and enjoy the day with your camera in hand. Another aerial option is riding in a hot air balloon to enjoy the view of the tulips from above. During peak viewing times, you can see a hot air balloon aloft countless times in less than one hour while different visitors decide to raise the level of their Japan Photo Workshop adventure. As a photo workshop leader with more than two decades of experience, I always remind my clients and my friends as well, not just to look down at the tulips but to also take in the breathtaking seascapes and landscapes around them as they ride in the hot air balloon is a chance to explore a different photographic perspective, and that’s what I’m always doing while I chase the light (and the flowers) on my Niigata Photography Tours/Workshops and every photography assignment I take part in worldwide. Happy Hanami Tulip 2021.