Chinguruma Flower Fields was added to Your Favorites!
Daisetsuzan NP, Hokkaido
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
An Environment Ministry ranger calls Susoaidaira Japan’s broadest Chinguruma flower field: the low alpine shrub carpets the ground on a scale unmatched elsewhere in the country. Peak bloom is usually early to mid-July.
At Asahidake, Chinguruma flowers about 2 weeks after the snow melts. Because snow retreats at different times across the slopes, neighboring patches can hold buds, open flowers and fluffy seed heads all at once.
Chinguruma is thought to be shortened from chigo-guruma (稚児車, “child’s pinwheel”), inspired by its feathery, wheel-like seed heads—not its white petals. After flowering, those tufts give the meadow a second look.
As summer ends, the same Chinguruma plants shift the meadow from white to red: their leaves turn vivid scarlet while feathery seed heads remain. The flower field gets a dramatic autumn encore.
The approach to Susoaidaira has its own seasonal mascot: a lingering snow patch is nicknamed Hakucho no Sekkei, or “Swan Snowfield,” for its bird-in-flight shape. As the snow melts, the silhouette quickly changes.
Despite its flower-field appearance, Chinguruma is a deciduous alpine shrub, usually only about 10 cm tall and creeping close to the ground. Each white blossom is roughly 2.5 cm across—a miniature plant behind a giant display.
At Susoaidaira, crews tested coconut-fiber mats to repair trail erosion. Researchers later recorded 5 plant species sprouting in treated plots, with Chinguruma dominant—a small restoration experiment alongside the flower field.
Susoaidaira lies within Daisetsuzan, revered by Kamikawa Ainu as Kamuy Mintara, “the gods’ playground.” The name reflects a deep spiritual relationship with the mountain landscape and the natural gifts it provides.
