Every year in March 'Japan Bokeh Exhibition' is held at 'Urara Kosudo' in the Kosudo area of Akiba Ward, Niigata City. Bokeh ・・・・ is not a comic 'bokeh'. It is a popular flower for bonsai and other uses.

In fact, the Kosudo area in Akiba-ku, Niigata City, is the largest bokeh production area in Japan. The secretariat of the Japan Bokeh Association is also located in Kosudo, and the Japan Bokeh Park is right next to Urara Kosudo.

The Kosudo area is full of "blur". This year will be the 37th time the Japan Bokeh Exhibition has been held in Kosudo. The 2014 exhibition was held from Friday 28 February to Sunday 9 March.

 会場にはところ狭しと、数多くの「ボケの花」が展示されています。なんだか見た目は梅に似ているのですが、ボケは薔薇の仲間になるそうです。

We also visited the Japan Bokeh Park, which is located right next to the venue. The park is a veritable concentration of bokeh, with 200 varieties of bokeh and thousands of bokeh plants.

... but at the beginning of March, when this 'Japanese Bokeh Exhibition' was being held, there were hardly any flowers blooming outdoors.

The Japanese Bokeh Park Festival is held every year from 20 April to 6 May. By that time, the park is surely full of bokeh flowers.

Bokeh not only flowers, but also produces berries. At the exhibition, visitors were treated to a tasting of . Bokeh jam" made from bokeh berries was also on offer. When I tried it ... it was sour! But it's delicious. Bokeh berries are also used as a raw material for fruit wine.

'Bokeh' is fun to grow and admire, and also tasty.

Kosudo is the number one producer of such 'bokeh' in Japan. This is one of Niigata's little boasts.

Spotlight.

back door

• Address: 893-1 Kosudo, Akiba-ku, Niigata City, Niigata
• Website:https://www.urarakosudo.jp/bokehome/