Information for the Cosmos at Konosu’s Cosmos Arena Fuikage and the two day cosmos festival. Information for the poppies and Nadeshiko flowers (in May) has been moved to its own post here.
Cosmos Arena Fukiage
On the flood lands of the Arakawa river, millions of flowers grow annually in front of the Cosmos Arena Fukiage. Cosmos Arena Fukiage is a municipal sports facility with a gymnasium and some sports fields, including a popular putter golf course. It is also used for municipal events and during the period of Konosu’s famous dolls festival, they have some hina dolls on display in this facility too.
In addition, there is an aviary on the grounds “Tenku no Sato”, that houses stork “kounotori”, the namesake, symbol and the bird of Konosu City. It only costs 100 yen to visit Tenku no Sato. They have feeding time that you can participate in too. Furthermore, there is a small, free, playground in front of the aviary.
Also, Cosmos Arena Fukiage has a view of Japan’s longest water pipe bridge, the Arakawa Suikan Bridge. Moreover, at certain times of the year you can see magnificent flower displays backdropped by the scenic bridge. In spring its poppies and “nadeshiko” dianthus flowers. And in Autumn, the namesake of the facility – cosmos. Millions and millions of cosmos!
Konosu Cosmos
Approximately 12 million cosmos grow on the Arakawa riverbed near “Cosmos Arena Fukiage” in Konosu annually in autumn. During the period of the bloom there is usually a two day cosmos festival. However, in 2019 the festival was cancelled due to typhoon Hagibis and in 2020 and 2021 the festival was cancelled due to the pandemic. It was on in 2022 and is scheduled for 2023 too. The festival is only on for two days, but you visit the cosmos for free anytime. And as of September 24th 2023, the sulphur cosmos are blooming.
In 2020, it was a much smaller display than ‘normal’, but in 2021 there was the full 12 MILLION (give or take) again. We visited on September 25th 2021 and the orange / sulphur cosmos were already in full bloom. However, in 2022 I visited on September 28th and the orange cosmos, while blooming are still very low in height. Also, the other colors of cosmos (white, purple, pink etc) were not really flowering yet. In 2023, my first visit was on September 24th and the sulphur cosmos are blooming beautifully and the colored cosmos have started to bloom too. Overall though, they say the best time to see the cosmos in Konosu is mid to the end of October.
However, if you are coming all the way to Konosu for the fireworks on October 7th 2023 you might want to pop by to see the orange cosmos, although not in their prime yet. Sometimes you can also see sunflowers nearby at “Hana no Oasis” until the day of the fireworks, but this year I doubt they will last until the 7th. “Hana no Oasis” is a community garden, also in Konosu city. The “flower bus” links them both, or if you are driving it takes about 15 minutes between the two locations.
Cosmos X Mt Fuji
You can see Mt Fuji from Cosmos Arena on a clear day. Particularly from the parking lot. And there is a lookout platform in the playground that affords a great view.
Cosmos Picking
In 2022, I visited again, coincidentally a month after my previous visit. The orange color cosmos were pretty much finished, but a lot of the purple, pink and creamy yellow cosmos were in good nick. However, you they had opened the cosmos up for picking, until the 31st of October. There weren’t that many people picking that day, so the cosmos, but how long they last after picking opens depends on how many and how much people pick! Sometimes they don’t last more than two or three days as so many people pick them. There is no charge for cosmos picking. Bring your own scissors!
Cosmos Festival in Konosu, 2023
During the period of bloom of the cosmos flowers, there is a two day festival. It is held close to the flower fields in the parking lot of Cosmmos Fukiage. It normally takes place toward the end of October, often the weekend of the third week in October. In 2023, it is on Saturday October 21st and Sunday October 22nd from 9 am to 4 pm. On the Sunday there will also be a Kounotori Market from 10 am to 3 pm.
During this period you are usually allowed walk on Japan’s longest water pipe bridge (weather permitting) to view the flowers from above. However, it had not been possible since 2018 (2019 because of the typhoon). But they opened this event to the public again since 2022. However, in 2022 it was only on Saturday and was restricted to 320 people. Information for the 2023 water bridge walk is not yet available. But they have confirmed stage events, farmers market, festival stalls and flea market are scheduled for this year. They will also have a section where you can pick cosmos for free on the days of the festival. Official 2023 event page.
Poppies and Corncockles in Spring
Information
Event: Cosmos Festival 2023 第25回コスモスフェスティバル
Date: October 21st and 22nd 2023. The flowers are open to the public all the time they are in bloom, which in 2023 is from now (September 24th) until around the end of October.
Time: the festival is on from 9 am to 4 pm. The cosmos are ‘open’ 24 hours, but the parking lot may close overnight.
Cost: there is no admission fee
Venue: Cosmos Arena Fukiage, 636-1 Myoyo, Konosu, Saitama 369-0135. View on Google Maps.
Access
By Public Transport: Cosmos Arena Fukiage is a five minute bus ride on the “Flower Bus” （フラワーバス）from JR Takasaki Line Fukiage station （ＪＲ高崎線吹上駅). The bus goes toward Kita Kounosu (北鴻巣行き). The stop for the flowers is called Cosmos Arena Fukiage （コスモスアリーナふきあげ）.
By Car: The poppy / cosmos fields are about 11 kilometers from the Higashimatsuyama Interchange of the Kanetsu Expressway. You can park in front of Cosmos Arena Fukiage for free. It is the closest car park to the larger displays. Map at the bottom of the post.
Official page on Konosu City website
Konosu Events
Konosu has a lot of famous events on over the year as well as some other low key ones. Among their annual famous events are the Guinness World Record holding Konosu Fireworks and Japan’s tallest Hina (Doll) display:
Posted in 2014 and updated annually. Republished on September 25th 2021 with just the cosmos festival information. Completely revamped with spring information added and republished on May 6th 2022. Last update: April 25th 2023.
Such a shame that the festival isn’t on, nice that you can still visit the flowers and they didn’t just mow them to prevent people from turning up.
Hopefully everything can go back to normal soon.
Yes, thank goodness they didn’t mow them down! Last year, they had a smaller display, so its great that they at least grew millions again this year to cheer us all up! Pretty phenomenal numbers eh!
“Millions of flowers…” in a Doctor Evil voice.
These look great! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Ian. They are definitely worth visiting, so beautiful. And there are also sunflowers blooming nearby (15 minute drive)… I just added info for those tonight. 🙂
Seriously – you are the best. I’m so glad you didn’t give the blog up