Jozenji Temple Wisteria Festival

The large wisteria in the precincts of Jozenji Temple, commonly known as “Wisteria Temple. The magnificent wisteria, said to be over 500 years old, covers the garden with a single trunk circumference of 3.7 meters. Every year around Golden Week, clusters of purple flowers as large as 1 meter bloom all over the precincts, attracting visitors not only from the neighborhood but also from other parts of the prefecture and beyond.
When the wisteria was designated as a natural monument by Fukuoka Prefecture in July 1962, Tatsujo Ohba, the abbot of the temple at that time, named it “Gejyo-no-fuji” after the name of the temple, “Hakuunsan Gejyo-in Jozen-ji,” with the wish that everyone would come into contact with and love it.
The wisteria festival, held on April 29 every year, was started in 1969, the year after the closure of the Houjou Coal Mine, to “encourage the local people as much as possible. The wisteria, which has been popular since the days of the coal mine, has become a symbolic flower of Fukuchi Town.

Best viewing time: mid to late April