Since my last post, I have been getting back into the swing of working and being a graduate student. This summer put a lot of things in perspective for me, which I will be sharing over time. But for now, I want to talk about my day trip to Hidaka, Saitama.

I get a lot of my inspiration for adventures from my Instagram feed. A picture of Higanbana (spider lilies) floated by, and I knew I needed to see them.

Before deciding to take the trip to see them, I did some research on the meaning behind the flowers. According to the Tokyo Cheapo Website, these flowers represent loss and death in flower language. A little dark, but so is life sometimes.

After some more Googling, I came across the Saitama with Kids website which had more information about the Kinchakuda Red Spider Lily Festival. By the time I found out about this, it was already the last week of the festival so I could only make it on the final day.

If you decide that you would like to see the spider lilies, I do not suggest going on the last weekend of the festival.

I repeat, do not go on the last weekend of the festival.

Apparently, these flowers have a very short lifespan. The festival only lasted about two weeks, from September 16th until October 1st. While the location has thousands of plants, when I went on the last day, about 90% of the flowers were dead. If you’re expecting to see a beautiful sea of red when you walk in on the final day, you will be disappointed.

If you continue to wander through the park, it will become a treasure hunt of sorts, with the reward being bursts of red higanbana in unlikely places. The flowers that I did have the opportunity to see were still beautiful, despite being on their last leg.

I’m 100% confident that if you go during their prime, it would be a beautiful sight. I would recommend this spot, especially since I will be going again myself.

Until next time,

Onjel