JOURNAL ・ FIELD NOTES
Akeno Sunflowers — A Summer Below Yatsugatake and the Southern Alps
In Akeno, Hokuto City, in Yamanashi, there is a highland said to receive more hours of sunlight than anywhere else in Japan. For a few weeks each summer it fills with a sea of flowers the colour of the sun. Hundreds of thousands of sunflowers, with the ridgelines of Yatsugatake, the Southern Alps and Mount Fuji behind them, all turn to face the same direction — the blue of the sky and the gold of the petals meeting at their clearest.
A Sea of Flowers Turning to the Sun, Mountains Behind
At the height of summer, the gentle highland fields turn to gold. Behind them Yatsugatake spreads its slopes softly, and when you turn around the ridgelines of the Southern Alps, Mount Fuji and Mount Kayagatake stretch across the horizon. Ringed by mountains on every side, the ground at your feet fills with hundreds of thousands of sunflowers. Seen one by one they are humble flowers, yet gathered like this they look as though light itself were rising up out of the earth. Something about that meeting point — the blue of the peaks against the yellow of the blooms — catches in the chest. Perhaps it is simply that the flowers turn their faces toward the sky, toward the light, without the slightest hesitation.
On a Highland of Endless Sunlight
Akeno is known as one of the sunniest places in the whole country, well above the national average, with something like two and a half thousand hours of sunshine a year. Bathed in that long light, the sunflowers grow tall and straight. At midday in high summer, the sight of the flowers all turning the same way in the strong light has something quietly prayer-like about it. For me — someone whose days in emergency medicine are spent racing against the clock — time here seems to move at an entirely different pace. Simply standing still, looking at the mountains and the flowers, something begins to loosen and let go.
On the highland nearest the sun,
even the flowers face the sky.
Planning your visit — season
Aim for the height of summer, on a clear blue day.
The best season is usually from late July to mid-August. Because the flowers are planted across a wide area in different varieties and at staggered times, the fields come into bloom area by area, so there is a fairly long window to enjoy them. In summer the Akeno Sunflower Festival is held, with sunflowers blooming across several sites, including a main venue and a rural-park venue. How far the bloom has progressed shifts from year to year with the weather, so it is worth checking the latest bloom report before you set out.
Getting there
By train, it is about twenty-five minutes by bus from Nirasaki Station on the JR Chuo Main Line; get off at the stop for the Heidi's Village area and walk from there. By car, it is roughly fifteen minutes from either the Sutama or Nirasaki interchange on the Chuo Expressway. As the fields sit out in open country, they can be hard to find by car navigation, so setting a nearby landmark such as Heidi's Village as your destination helps. During the festival there is guidance for parking and a cooperation fee, so please follow the directions on site.
Tips for photographers
With a panorama this grand, you will want to frame not only the sunflowers but the mountains rising behind them. To bring out the peaks crisply, the clear air of early morning is on your side. In front light the yellow reads boldly; in backlight the petals glow softly as the sun passes through them. To make the most of high summer's deep blue sky, a low angle looking up at the flowers, with plenty of sky in the frame, works beautifully. The flowers sway in the wind, so a slightly faster shutter will keep them sharp.
While you're in the area
Hokuto City, where Akeno lies, takes in the highlands of Kiyosato and the southern foot of Yatsugatake — ideal country for escaping the summer heat. After the sunflowers, you might climb a little higher to the highland cafés, pasture farms and spring-water villages. In the clear air, amid greenery that runs on as far as you can see, a cool breeze meets you even at the peak of summer. Take your time, and savour a full day held in the arms of the mountains.
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