Kanagawa Prefecture Chrysanthemum Exhibition (神奈川県菊花大会)

What Is the Kanagawa Prefecture Chrysanthemum Exhibition?

The Kanagawa Prefecture Chrysanthemum Exhibition (神奈川県菊花大会) is a chrysanthemum show held every November at the Kanagawa Prefectural Ofuna Flower Center (神奈川県立大船フラワーセンター) in Okamoto (岡本), Kamakura. It is organized by the Kanagawa Prefecture Chrysanthemum Federation (神奈川県菊花連盟) and the Ofuna Flower Center, and chrysanthemums that federation members have spent about a year growing are displayed by training style.

Dates, Hours and Admission

The exhibition runs from early November to around Labor Thanksgiving Day (November 23). The garden is normally open from 9:00 to 16:00, with last entry at 15:30. The exhibition is closed on the Flower Center’s regular closing days: the 2nd and 4th Mondays, or the following day when that Monday is a national holiday.

Entry requires the Ofuna Flower Center admission fee: ¥400 for ages 20 and over, ¥200 for students and those under 20, ¥150 for high school students and those 65 and over, and free for junior high school students and younger.

Highlights: Chrysanthemums Shown by Training Style

Cut flowers are displayed in the exhibition hall, and bonsai and other potted plants in the chrysanthemum sheds in the garden. Categories include kengai (懸崖), trained so the branches cascade downward; atsumono (厚物), with many overlapping petals that form a full, rounded ball; atsu-hashiri (厚走り), similar to atsumono but with the lower petals radiating outward; and kudamono (管物), with long, thin tubular petals. There are also bonsai chrysanthemums, fukusuke-zukuri (福助作り) and daruma-zukuri (だるま作り), which carry a single large bloom on a short plant in a pot, and dome chrysanthemums trained into a half-sphere. Early in the exhibition some plants are still in bud, and potted entries such as kengai and bonsai chrysanthemums are at their best in the second half.

At the chrysanthemum corner you can ask about growing chrysanthemums and buy seedlings. On Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays during the exhibition, guided tours explaining how to appreciate and train chrysanthemums are held twice a day (once on days with other events in the garden). Tours gather beside the chrysanthemum corner near the entrance. Autumn roses and cosmos are often in bloom in the garden at the same time.

Visitor Notes

Under the garden’s rules, visitors are asked not to use tripods for photography or to sketch when it is crowded or inside buildings. The garden is closed on the 2nd and 4th Mondays, so the exhibition cannot be visited on those days.

Access: Visiting During a Stay at Toshi’s Place

The garden is about a 16-minute walk from the West Exit of Ofuna Station (大船駅), heading toward Fujisawa (藤沢). You can also take a bus from stop 1 at the West Exit and get off at Okamoto, about a 3-minute walk from the garden. There is a parking lot; standard cars cost ¥200 for the first hour and ¥100 for each additional 30 minutes. Ofuna is two stops from Kamakura Station (鎌倉駅) on the JR Yokosuka Line (横須賀線), so staying at Toshi’s Place (トシズプレイス), fully unmanned smart hotels with kitchens for self-catering stays, lets you see the chrysanthemums in the morning and then head off to sightsee in central Kamakura.

Wrap-Up

The Kanagawa Prefecture Chrysanthemum Exhibition lets you see, all in one place, chrysanthemums that federation members have spent a year training, in a botanical garden in late autumn. For the garden’s seasonal flowers and facilities, see Ofuna Flower Center.

Basic Information

Item	Details
Name	Kanagawa Prefecture Chrysanthemum Exhibition
Dates	Early November to around Labor Thanksgiving Day (closed on the 2nd and 4th Mondays; the following day if a holiday)
Hours	Normally 9:00–16:00 (last entry 15:30)
Admission	Ofuna Flower Center admission (¥400 ages 20 and over, ¥200 students and under 20, ¥150 high school students and 65 and over, free for junior high school students and younger)
Organizers	Kanagawa Prefecture Chrysanthemum Federation, Ofuna Flower Center
Venue	Kanagawa Prefectural Ofuna Flower Center
Address	1018 Okamoto, Kamakura, Kanagawa
Access	About 16 min walk from Ofuna Station West Exit, or 3 min walk from the Okamoto bus stop
Notes	No tripod photography or sketching when crowded or inside buildings
Contact	Kanagawa Prefectural Ofuna Flower Center, 0467-46-2188
Official Website	Ofuna Flower Center

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