Sandai Shrine (三大神社) is a small shrine near Kusatsu in Shiga Prefecture, with a very impressive garden of trailing wisteria. If you want to see them for yourself then you had better go soon. They were pretty much peaking when we went a couple of days ago.
To get there, take a JR train from Kyoto Station to Kusatsu (410 yen for a 20 minute journey – see Jorudan for schedules) and then catch a bus from outside the west exit to Kitaogayacho (北大萱町). The fare is 270 yen and the bus only takes 11 minutes. From there it’s another 10 minute walk to the shrine.
Once there, join the throngs trying to get that perfect shot of wisteria glory.
Anyway,the flowers are beautiful and totally worth a trip out there. I actually overheard an old lady in a wheelchair saying that it was the first time in her life she had seen wisteria like this. She seemed rather moved, as was I after overhearing her…
Gorgeous. I often see photos of what may well be this place, on the web, but didn’t know where (other than “Japan”) it was.