Spring flowers in Japan: tulips

Tulips are particularly popular in Japan in recent years. They can bloom as early as March in some parts of Japan and last until mid May. Where I live, in the Kanto plain, the typically bloom mid April. However, like the cherry blossoms, they have been early to bloom the last few years. So they have been blooming around the end of March to early / mid April. 

In the West, the meaning of tulips is generally perfect love. However, in Japan, the general meaning is compassion. Furthermore, the tulips have different meanings by color. For example, a red tulip as in the photo below, is a confession of love. Meanwhile a pink tulip represents a sincere love and purple tulips are for immortal love.

If you time it right and Mother Nature is on your side, you can often see tulips with cherry blossoms in early April. As was the case in 2024 and is the case again in 2025. The featured photo of this post was taken on April 9th 2024. As you can see, there are cherry blossoms in the background. The yellow flowers beside them are pansies. They really set them off. But tulips look beautiful all on their own too!

Have you seen any tulips yet this year? If not, use the search function on City-cost to find places with beautiful tulips near you. You will find many reviews and posts with information for tulips in various areas of Japan.