Fukuyama: Rose History, Castle and Landscape

Fukuyama can be explored through several clearly distinct themes: rose history, castle culture and landscape. When planning your trip, it is worth distinguishing the Rose Festival, usually held in mid-May, from the castle’s historical connections and the natural landscapes within the municipality. This will help you decide whether roses, the history of the fief, or a protected natural area should be the main focus of your stay.

Roses and historical context

The name “Rose City Fukuyama” dates back to 1956, when local residents planted about 1,000 rose seedlings near the site of today’s Rose Park. This historical starting point gives the rose theme its own local context. Rose Park reopened on April 13, 2024; after reopening, it was reported to have 670 rose varieties and 7,000 rose plants. Plant numbers may change, so these figures should be understood as reported after that date. The Fukuyama Rose Festival is usually held in mid-May, and Rose Park is one of its main venues. Two different time references can help with trip planning: the 1956 planting explains the historical origins, while the annual event provides a recurring date. If you are planning your trip around the festival, check the current dates before you travel.

The castle and historical perspectives

The exhibitions at the Fukuyama Castle Museum cover Fukuyama Castle and the successive daimyō of Fukuyama Castle. This lets you consider the castle and the history of its rulers together, rather than viewing the castle only as a single structure. It was built by Mizuno Katsunari when he was lord of a fief assessed at 100,000 koku. This figure refers to the fief, not the dimensions of the castle. Fushimi Yagura at Fukuyama Castle is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. This brings different historical layers together: the exhibitions about the castle and its daimyō, and the cultural property designation of Fushimi Yagura. If you are interested in history, you can read these details as different points of entry—one concerns the succession of rulers, while the other concerns the national designation of a named site.

Landscape and another historical site

Tomonoura, within Fukuyama’s municipal area, offers another perspective: its picturesque landscape is part of Setonaikai National Park. This connection turns the focus to the landscape, while Rose Park and the Fukuyama Castle Museum represent roses and castle history, respectively. The three themes therefore differ in their focus: rose history with a recurring festival, exhibitions about the castle, and a landscape within a national park.

Futagotsuka Kofun is located in Ekiya-cho, within present-day Fukuyama. Visitors can walk around the kofun and look into the rear burial chamber. This specifically described way of visiting differs from the exhibitions at the Fukuyama Castle Museum: at the kofun, the focus is on walking around it and looking into the rear chamber; at the museum, it is on exhibitions about the castle and its daimyō. When comparing historical sites, both the subject and the specific way of visiting described may therefore be relevant.

Discover more destinations: Sera, Onomichi, Hiroshima, Hatsukaichi, Fuchū, Higashihiroshima, Kurogawa, Kure

For the overview of the wider region: Hiroshima Prefecture.