This was our third DIY trip in Japan and it was also our longest trip (19 days). Our first trip was about autumn leaves, second trip on summer festivals and flowers. As for this third trip we focused on the spring effect.
Many visitors visited Japan in Spring for cherry blossoms but we were in Japan for wisteria! By the time wisteria flowers were at their best, cherry blossoms were already wilted and gone. I had seen pictures of wisterias tunnels and were totally captivated by their out-of-this world beauty. These tunnels were sort of those “die-also-must-see” places.
Unlike cherry blossoms which had many beautiful sites in Japan, the best wisteria gardens were in only two places, 1100 km apart and 7-10 days different in their best blooming timings. So to have both gardens in our itinerary we went on a complicated driving route that started day 1 at Kawachi Fuji Garden driving all the way to Ashigaka Garden Park by day 11 and finally back at Fukuoka on day 19.
Driving route for 19 days in Japan
The full cost of our 19 days trip for both of us which included airfares, car rental, hotels, meals, entrance tickets, ferry rides, wifi router, insurance and everything other things came up to SGD$7800, (¥624,000). Not too bad for 19 days.
The cost breakdown in term of percentage was as below
| Category | Percentage |
| car rental, parking fee, toll charges, petrol | 31% |
| accommodation | 29% |
| air tickets & travel insurance | 20% |
| meals | 9% |
| entrance tickets | 8% |
We had a wonderful time, beside wisterias the time was also right for “flooded” padi terrace and snow corridor. Below were some of the most memorable sights we experience during this trip.
Kawachi Fuji Garden
 Wisteria Tunnel 1 |
Maruyama Senmaida
 View Point 1 |
Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route
 Snow Corridor |
Miyama
 Kayabuki no Sato – Thatched Roof village |