![](https://prd-static.gltjp.com/glt/data/article/12000/11618/20170911_074437_6389d676_w1920.jpg)
A Fall Foliage Viewing Spot in Hokkaido: Breathtakingly Beautiful Kosetsu-en, a Garden Constructed by a Magnate by the Name of Iwafune in the Meiji Period
In Hokkaido’s Hakodate, there is a park called “Miharashi Park”, which covers an area of 460,000 m2 and features a Japanese-style garden called “Kosetsu-en”. In the garden, about 150 varieties of trees, the flowers and the quaint buildings provide the perfect foil for each other. What’s more, the fall foliage is too beautiful for words.
![Kosetsu-en, a famous fall foliage viewing spot in Hakodate](https://prd-static.gltjp.com/glt/data/article/12000/11618/20171109_231409_820bed1b_w1920.jpg)
A Garden Constructed by a Magnate in the Meiji Period
Kosetsu-en was constructed by Minejiro Iwafune, a local magnate, in Meiji 31 (1898). So it is also called Former Iwafune Family Garden. The then abbot of Chion-in, the headquarters of the Pure Land Buddhism, visited the garden and acclaimed it as a “garden with scented plum blossoms in snow” for he was overwhelmed by its beauty, and thus the garden got the name “Kosetsu-en” (which literally means Scented Snow Garden).
![Picturesque Japanese-style garden](https://prd-static.gltjp.com/glt/data/article/12000/11618/20170911_074437_6389d676_w1920.jpg)
In Showa 2 (1927), in gratitude for the locals, the Iwafune family leased the garden to the Hakodate Government, which have had the garden open to the public for free since then. Now, Kosetsu-en is the sole nationally designated cultural property among the gardens in Hokkaido.
![Interior of the pavilion in Kosetsu-en](https://prd-static.gltjp.com/glt/data/article/12000/11618/20170911_075108_e850bbaf_w1920.jpg)
Fall Foliage in Kosetsu-en
Between late October and early November, the fall foliage, including those of ginkgo, palmate maple, red maple, oliver maple and baby’s breath, lend red and yellow to Kosetsu-en, which is amazingly beautiful. Red Foliage Garden that is elaborately adorned and the Red Foliage Path that runs for about 100 m in the garden are simply a riot of colors and full of poetic charm.
![Red Foliage Garden](https://prd-static.gltjp.com/glt/data/article/12000/11618/20171109_231555_da59c398_w1920.jpg)
![Red Foliage bridge](https://prd-static.gltjp.com/glt/data/article/12000/11618/20171020_084659_4eaa0f9d_w1920.jpg)
![Red Foliage Path](https://prd-static.gltjp.com/glt/data/article/12000/11618/20170911_075945_f7cdede0_w1920.jpg)
Further, during this period, an annual small concert is staged in the Green Center (a recreational facility in the garden), and when night descends, the fall foliage is illuminated to create a dreamlike romantic atmosphere.
![Illuminated fall foliage at dusk](https://prd-static.gltjp.com/glt/data/article/12000/11618/20170911_080523_cde7bd17_w1920.jpg)
![Illuminated fall foliage at night](https://prd-static.gltjp.com/glt/data/article/12000/11618/20170911_080332_e46fe876_w1920.jpg)
Video on the Fall Foliage in Kosetsu-en
Basic information on Kosetsu-en
- Best time to view fall foliage
- Mid-October to early November
- Facility name
- Miharashi Park: Kosetsu-en (Former Iwafune Family Garden)
- Address
- 56, Miharashi-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido
- Phone
-
0138-57-6210
0138-57-6210 - Opening hours
- Regular / 9:00-17:00 (Pavilion) / 8:45-17:30 (Green Center)
- Closed
- No
- Admission
- Free
- Parking lot
- 155 parking spaces (free)
- Access
- A ride by a bus of Hakodate Bus System 14 from Hakodate Station on JR’s Hakodate Main Line to Kosetsu-en Bus Stop (or an about 40-minute taxi ride)
- Official website (in Japanese)
- http://www.hakodate-jts-kosya.jp/park/p_miharashi.html