Rokko Alpine Botanical Garden

Kobe, Japan, Japan

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The Rokkō Alpine Botanical Garden (Rokkō Kōzan Shokubutsu-en) is Japan's oldest alpine botanical garden, established in 1933 on Mount Rokkō in Kobe at an altitude of 865 meters.

Its cool climate, similar to southern Hokkaido, supports approximately 1,500 to 1,600 species of alpine plants from Japan, the Himalayas, and other cold regions around the world, including dicentra, edelweiss, skunk cabbage, and native Mount Rokkō wild plants. The garden uses a "Rock Garden" style to artificially create natural alpine conditions on flat ground, offering seasonal displays from snow-breaking flowers in early spring to new greenery in summer and autumn foliage.

Visitors can enjoy winding paths through alpine flower zones, subarctic shrubs, and wetland ecosystems, plus a mountain lodge cafe, a log cabin-style gift shop with plant-related goods, and a small alpine museum. The garden is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (last entry 4:30 p.m.) but closes during winter, typically until mid-March.