Admission is 500 yen per person per day during the bloom, free for junior high school students and younger. Free shuttle buses run on seven of the busiest days.
The festival at a glance
Autumn in Japan has a very short red window. For roughly two weeks in late September, the banks of the Koma River in Hidaka City, Saitama, turn a solid crimson — and the Kinchakuda Manjushage Festival (巾着田曼珠沙華まつり) is built around exactly that window. Here are the confirmed details for 2026.
| Event | Kinchakuda Manjushage Festival (巾着田曼珠沙華まつり) |
|---|---|
| Dates | Monday 21 September (public holiday) – Tuesday 6 October 2026 |
| Hours | 9:00 – 16:30 |
| Venue | Kinchakuda Manjushage Park (巾着田曼珠沙華公園) |
| Address | 125-2 Komahongo, Hidaka City, Saitama Prefecture |
| Admission | 500 yen per person per day, charged during the bloom period only Free for junior high school students and younger |
| Flowers | About 5 million red spider lilies |
Image: from the official site (kinchakuda.com)
What Kinchakuda actually is
Kinchakuda is not a garden someone laid out. It is a piece of flat land, roughly 500 metres across and about 22 hectares in area, formed by a sharp meander in the Koma River. The river loops almost all the way around it, leaving a pouch-shaped plot — which is where the name comes from, since kinchaku is a drawstring pouch and da means rice field.
The colony of red spider lilies growing on that plot is estimated at around five million flowers, which makes it one of the largest sites of its kind in Japan. That scale is the whole point of the trip: instead of a flower bed you look at from a path, you walk through a wooded flat where the ground itself is red in every direction, with the river on the outside of the loop. It photographs unusually well because you can change your angle constantly — low through the stems, down a path, or across the open field.
The Japanese name manjushage (曼珠沙華) is simply another word for higanbana (彼岸花), the red spider lily that flowers around the autumn equinox. If you have only ever seen a handful of them on a rice-field ridge on your commute, this is the same flower at a completely different scale.
When the flowers peak, and how to check before you go
In a normal year the bloom is at its best from the middle of September into early October, which is why the festival is scheduled where it is. But the flowering date moves with the weather, and a warm September can push the peak later. Going a week early means green stems; going a week late means brown ones.
Image: from the official site (kinchakuda.com)
The organisers publish a bloom report through the season, and it is the single most useful thing to look at before you commit to a date. Check it the evening before you travel rather than a week in advance.
Bloom report: official bloom information page · Top page: kinchakuda.com
Admission: who pays, and when
Kinchakuda Manjushage Park is free to enter for most of the year. Admission is only charged while the red spider lilies are flowering, and the rate is 500 yen per person for one day. Junior high school students and younger get in free.
Payment methods at the gate are not stated publicly, so bring cash to be safe — the same goes for the stalls inside. If you are curious about what is and is not covered, the official site is the place to confirm on the day.
Getting there from Tokyo, plus the free shuttle bus
By train, which is the easy option
The nearest station is Koma (高麗) on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, and the park is a 15-minute walk from there. Coming from central Tokyo, that means a single line out of Ikebukuro with a change to the Seibu Chichibu Line branch, then a short walk through a quiet town. If you are coming in on the JR side instead, take a bus bound for Hanno Station from Komagawa (高麗川) Station and ride for about 20 minutes.
| Train & walk | Koma Station, Seibu Ikebukuro Line — 15 minutes on foot |
|---|---|
| Bus | From JR Komagawa Station, take the bus bound for Hanno Station — about 20 minutes |
By car: park away and take the free shuttle
The roads around Kinchakuda get congested during the peak, and for 2026 the organisers are running free shuttle buses specifically to ease that. The shuttle connects the free car park at Koma Jinja (高麗神社) shrine with the park itself, so the sensible plan by car is to leave the vehicle at the shrine and ride in rather than crawling toward the venue.
| Operating days | 21 September (Mon, holiday), 22 September (Tue, holiday), 23 September (Wed, holiday), 26 September (Sat), 27 September (Sun), 3 October (Sat), 4 October (Sun) |
|---|---|
| Hours | 9:00 – 16:30, every 30 minutes |
| Route | Koma Jinja car park (833 Shinbori, Hidaka City — free) ↔ Kinchakuda |
| Fare | Free |
Note that the shuttle only runs on those seven days — the three-day holiday run at the start, and the two weekends after it. On a weekday outside that list you are on your own for transport, which is one more argument for the train.
If you are building this into a longer autumn trip rather than a day out, a rail pass can change the maths: our guide to the Aki no Norihodai Pass, three days of JR local trains for 7,850 yen, covers who it actually pays off for, and the JR East Tokudane half-price shinkansen fares are worth a look if your autumn plans run further north.
Food stalls and local products
The festival is not only about standing in a field. Food vendors and local product stalls set up at the venue during the event, so you can eat something from Hidaka and browse regional goods while you are there. That is what turns a 40-minute flower walk into a half-day outing, and it is the reason the festival period is worth targeting rather than just any day in the bloom window.
Image: from the official site (kinchakuda.com)
Which vendors appear, what they sell and at what price is not published in advance, so go with an open mind and cash in your pocket rather than a shopping list.
Practical tips for the day
- Go early. The gate operates from 9:00 to 16:30, and the first couple of hours on a holiday are noticeably calmer than the middle of the day. Morning light through the stems is also the kinder light for photos.
- Weekdays beat weekends. The festival runs for 16 straight days, including plenty of ordinary Tuesdays and Thursdays. If your schedule allows a weekday, you get the same flowers with a fraction of the crowd — just remember the shuttle bus does not run then.
- Dress for uneven ground. This is a riverside flat with earth paths and tree roots, not a paved park. Flat shoes you do not mind getting dusty are the right call.
- Carry cash. Admission and the stalls are the sort of small-scale operation where cash is always accepted and anything else is a gamble.
- Do not pick the flowers. Obvious, but worth saying for a colony of this size: the whole attraction depends on people leaving it alone.
- Check the bloom report the night before. Both the peak and the paid period can move. Five minutes on the official site can save you a wasted round trip.
Autumn is also when a lot of domestic travel discounts land, so if this trip is the excuse for a longer weekend it is worth checking what else is running — for example the Ito hotel discount of up to 20% across six booking sites, the Kagoshima stay discount of up to 60%, or the current Marriott Bonvoy points promotion for two-night-plus stays if you collect hotel points.
FAQ
- Q. When is the Kinchakuda Manjushage Festival held in 2026?
- From Monday 21 September, a public holiday, through Tuesday 6 October 2026, with the venue open from 9:00 to 16:30. The organisers note that the dates may change depending on how the red spider lilies bloom.
- Q. How much is admission?
- 500 yen per person for one day. Junior high school students and younger enter free. The fee only applies during the flowering period, and that period is not identical to the festival dates.
- Q. How do I get there by train?
- Walk about 15 minutes from Koma Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line. Alternatively, take a bus bound for Hanno Station from JR Komagawa Station and ride roughly 20 minutes.
- Q. Is there a free shuttle bus?
- Yes. It runs on 21, 22, 23, 26 and 27 September and on 3 and 4 October, from 9:00 to 16:30 at 30-minute intervals, between the free car park at Koma Jinja shrine and Kinchakuda. It is free to ride.
- Q. How many flowers are there?
- About five million red spider lilies, spread over a flat of roughly 22 hectares formed by a meander in the Koma River. It is known as one of the largest such sites in Japan.
- Q. When is the best time to see them?
- Typically from the middle of September into early October, though the flowering shifts with the weather each year. The official site publishes a bloom report during the season, so check it before deciding on a date.
- Q. Is there anything to eat at the venue?
- Yes. Food vendors and local product stalls operate at the venue during the festival, so you can try Hidaka City food and shop for regional goods alongside the flowers.
Details above are based on the official Kinchakuda site. Dates, the paid-entry period and shuttle operation can change with the flowering, so confirm on kinchakuda.com before you travel.