Flower gardens at Kyushu brewery entertain visitors every spring and autumn

May 28, 2014

Flower gardens at Kyushu brewery entaintain visitors every spring and autumn

A beer brewery in Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu, southwestern Japan, has a 70,000-square-meter farmland, which turns into flower gardens with quite different tastes every spring and autumn. The land, to be covered with 10 million red and pink poppies in May and white and light purple cosmos from October to November, attracts tens of thousands of people from neighboring regions every time.

The Kirin Brewery Co. plant was opened at the site formerly occupied by an airfield for the defunct Imperial Japanese Army before the last war, then said to be the largest one in Asia, in 1966. The plant was built there not just because vast land lots had been available but also because pure river and underground water can be obtained nearby.

The poppy and cosmos garden fairs, launched a few years after the opening of the brewery, were expanded year after year. The events have now become so famous that traffic jams usually occur on roads to the plant every weekend while they are under way. A free shuttle bus service is available to carry visitors from the nearest railway station to the brewery in about 10 minutes.

This year’s Poppy Festival started on May 10 for a three-week run. Visitors stroll in the poppy fields and enjoy shopping and eating with booths set up by local food and farm product vendors..

“They (the poppies) were in full bloom around the middle of this month, “ said a person at the information. “Some flowers then fell in rains, but they should be still attractive toward the month’s end　this year,” she said. Careful visitors may also find double-petaled poppies.

The flower gardens lie right in front of the main gate to the brewery compound. After enjoying the flowers, registered visitors can take part in guided tours of beer brewing lines at the plant and try various beer brands free of charge.

The flower garden events are part of Kirin’s value-sharing social activities as a corporate citizen. But they have also become a precious tourist asset for the agriculure-oriented local economy. The events are expected to be even more popular as Japan is becoming aware of the importance of environmentally friendly green tourism.