Explore a charming seaside city and its renowned rose garden, which lies next to a protected wetlands area visited by numerous migratory birds.
Narashino is a Tokyo Bay city with a fascinating waterfront area. A regional commercial centre, Narashino features exciting shopping, dining and entertainment a short distance from the bigger metropolises of Tokyo and Chiba. The city’s waterfront industrial area is built on a large tidal flat, making it an interesting place to spot migratory birds and other wetland creatures.
Explore Narashino’s city centre to visit department stores and shopping malls, such as Aeon Tsudanuma. Enjoy a recital or performance at the Narashino Bunka Hall, which primarily hosts classical music concerts.
Amid Narashino’s commercial and industrial areas are scenic parks and wetlands overlooks. Check out Yatsu Bara-en, a magnificent rose garden with thousands of flowers blooming from May through October. Stroll around this European-style garden and under beautiful trellised pergolas. In spring, a mass of blossoms unfurls throughout the garden, creating a beautiful kaleidoscope of colour.
The rose garden extends to meet the tidal flats in the bay and a protected area called Yatsu-higata. Learn about the importance of wetlands ecosystems in this designated “Ramsar Site” tidal flat at the on-site information centre. Informative signs, binoculars and helpful staff will help you to identify the different bird species, some of which have stopped at Narashino on their way to eastern Australia’s coastal wetlands. Look for black-winged stilts, ducks, gulls and myna birds. In spring and summer, small crabs and jellyfish appear with tide changes in the wetlands.
See the fascinating waters of Tokyo Bay from a different perspective by getting your scuba licence at Narashino’s dive school, Coconut. From here, join a dive tour of Chiba prefecture’s coastal areas and meet some of the area’s captivating aquatic creatures, such as the Asian sheepshead wrasse.
Reach Narashino by rail from Tokyo Station within 50 minutes. Chiba Station is a 20-minute train ride away. The best times to visit Narashino are spring and fall, when the weather is mild and roses are in bloom.
