Lavender Hills Tony Stewart (Gunma)
After a long winter of snowy ski slopes, the hills of Tambara Park change color during the spring to welcome fragrant fields of lavender in the summer months. The park also has different varieties of other flower arrangements that make their wide park change colors over the course of the spring, but their most famous ones are the few types of lavender that peak in bloom at different times during late spring and summer to ensure a long season of beautiful purple hills. I visited the park in late July with friends by riding their car up the mountains of North Gunma on a sunny day. The bright color of the flowers is great against the blue sky for good pictures. The park is easy for pedestrians to go up the hills but also has a lift you can use for part of the ride up. Surprisingly, at their restaurant, I had one of the best sauce katsu-don I ever had in Japan, which I was surprised to find in such a remote random location. The park also has some lavender ice cream and even lavender soba, the noodles a weird purple color that didn’t attract me too
114 |
much but that my friends dared to try. You can also buy lavender tea and dried lavender for cooking, as well as various health products including the flower at their gift shop. The best way to get there is by car, passing the winding mountain roads up to the park, 1,300 m up. You can also take shuttles or local buses from Numata Station, on the JR Joetsu Line. It’s worth making the detour up there on a hot summer day, since the elevation will usually offer cooler winds and a more endurable temperature. A great way to freshen up bathed in the aroma of lavender fields.