🏮 Minamikata Hanashobu Matsuri

みなみかた花菖蒲まつり

Tome, Miyagi (Minamikata Hanashobu no Sato Park) · Every year, mid-June to early July

Summer festival

274 days to go
Rooms around Tome, Miyagi fill up while the festival is on.

The Minamikata Hanashobu Matsuri is an iris festival held every year from mid-June to early July at Minamikata Hanashobu no Sato Park in Minamikata, Tome City, Miyagi Prefecture. It is run by the Regional Affairs Section of the Citizens' Affairs Division of the Minamikata General Branch Office of Tome City, and roughly 600,000 iris plants of 250 varieties bloom across the approximately 5-hectare grounds. Visitors can also see Hana Katsumi, a legendary six-petaled flower said to have been celebrated in the Kokin Wakashu, an early Heian-period poetry anthology. On Saturdays and Sundays during the period, the Minamikata Cultural Association holds stage events and an outdoor tea ceremony, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry runs a booth area. Related events include a photo contest themed on the scenery and outdoor sculptures of Hanashobu no Sato Park. Admission is free, and parking is available for about 100 cars. Note that some areas remain damaged from the earthquake and are off-limits, so caution is required.

Getting there

About 15 minutes by bus bound for Sanuma from Sakuragi Station on the JR East Tohoku Main Line, get off at Takaishi, then about 15 minutes on foot. About 20 minutes by car from Tsukidate IC on the Tohoku Expressway. Parking: free (about 100 spaces).