Direct flight from Osaka to Tohoku: Flower Hill at Funaoka Castle Ruins Park

From Osaka, you can choose domestic flights with shorter travel times to Sendai Airport or Fukushima Airport. The flight takes approximately 2 hours and costs around 30,000 yen. Visitors can take a 305-meter-long inclined railway from the parking lot to the park's summit. However, the railway was out of service on the day, so walking up to the summit was the only option. Before reaching the summit, there is a 1,000-square-meter garden built in 2010 as part of Shibata Town's initiative to create a "City of Flowers." The planting and design of the garden were entirely managed by Shibata Town residents. Here, you can admire over a hundred varieties of seasonal flowers and flowering trees, including tulips and roses, although there were fewer blooming varieties on the day of the visit. At the summit stands the 24-meter-tall Funaoka Peace Kannon statue, offering panoramic views of Shibata Town, the Zao mountain range, and the Pacific Ocean.