TL;DR below
On August 3rd, we went to a sunflower field nearby, at Urushino sunflower field close to sayo town, which is open between August 2nd – August 7th.
Even though we are here on the 2nd day of its opening, there is still a crowd of people coming in and out of the field. We arrived around 12:30, which took about 1-hour drive from our ryokan, the parking lot is filled up, we were lucky to have a spot left for us.
As soon as we arrived and finished parking our car, we were greeted with this wonderful scenery.
There is a yet to bloom sunflower field near the parking lot, the picture of the bud bearing one and the one that started to bloom blends in with each other, making this place feels surprisingly calm and refreshing.
At the foot of the hill leading to the sunflower field, there is a small shop selling many interesting local specialties.
As you can see, there are many intriguing products, such as a snack made from sunflower – pumpkin – watermelon’s seeds, sunflower ice-cream, and even sunflower beef curry!
Vanilla ice-cream with sunflower seeds, the texture feels like an almond ice-cream, but replaced the almond with sunflower seed. An overall unique taste.
One of our staff got herself a shaved ice, a must for summer!
Going up this hill leads to a sunflower field; it was not far but during this hot summer, some might be tired easily, so don’t forget to stay hydrated!
After we arrived at the front gate, we needed to pay the entrance fee for ¥200/person ($2/person). There is still a pandemic going on, even if it is considering safer around here, to guarantee absolute safety, all of us still need to practice social distancing, so there will be no staff to receive your entrance fee, but you put the exact amount in the box instead, with that being said, there will be no changes, please prepare the exact amount. (Also, please use the hand sanitizer at the entrance before entering).
After paying a fee, you can take this free sunflower seeds for visitors! Now you can grow your own sunflower in your own backyard.
After you stepped in…look at this gorgeous view!
The 180,000 sunflowers are everywhere within this 3.6 hectares field, the mountain full of greenery as a background is a cherry on top, making this even more refreshing to see. It feels like this scenery is shouting “Summer is here!” at me.
We took our time to enjoy the view and take pictures here.
There is a model with her personal cameraman here for what seems to be a photography session as well. So, we figured this place might be a really great photo spot, more than what we anticipated at the very least.
After some time, we think this place is not just a place to relax with your friend or family, but we think it would be a great dating spot for lovers too!
We took around 30 minutes going around the field before we went back down the hill and leave with a new, wonderful memory of summer.
Unfortunately, since we already ate before coming here, we didn’t try any meal from the local shops along the way, even though most of them look really delicious.
For example, in Sayo town, which is only a 15 minutes’ drive from the sunflower field, there are many yakiniku and grilled beef udon restaurants.
If we haven’t eaten before, I will definitely try those dishes!
TL;DR
There is the sunflower field in Urushino, near Sayo town (1-hour drive from our ryokan).
There are many local specialty products selling there.
¥200 for entrance fee, free sunflower seeds for visitors.
Very good scenery, great for taking pictures or just come relaxing with family, friends or lover.
On the way to this field, there are many restaurants with local foods, a must-try for gourmet.
Info:
Urushino sunflower field
Sayo town, near Urushino 48-2
Open from August 2nd – August, 7th
Entrance fee: ¥200 ($2) / person
Note: Please wear a mask and practice social distancing while appreciating the sunflowers for the safety of yourself and those around you.
