Begonia Garden, Nabana no Sato (なばなの里 ベゴニアガーデン)

Nabana no Sato is a flower park that opened on 12 July 1998 at Nagashima, in the city of Kuwana in Mie Prefecture. It belongs to the Nagashima Resort leisure complex and is operated by the company Nagashima Kankō Kaihatsu. Japanese Wikipedia credits the landscape architect Nakajima Takeshi with the design of the park. The sources consulted do not give the year the Begonia Garden glasshouses were built, nor the architect who designed them.

The glasshouse has grown over the years. In November 2016 a water-lily pool was created in the third of the four houses. Nearby, an English-style rose garden of 5,500 m², with 800 cultivars and 4,000 bushes, opened on 15 May 2006. Since June 2025, entry to the Begonia Garden has been included in the park's standard admission ticket, whereas it previously carried a supplement; it is therefore part of every seasonal event in the park, including its winter illuminations.

The Begonia Garden consists of four large interconnected glasshouses with a total area of about 9,000 m², which the Mie tourism board ranks among the largest in Japan. Their interior design takes the Andes as its motif, which the Mie tourism board describes as recreating the Andean highlands of South America; the route ends at a café surrounded by flowers.

The climate inside is permanently adjusted for the begonias, which need steady humidity and plenty of light. The official site gives a temperature of about 26 °C, an ideal range of 15 to 25 °C, humidity of 60 to 80 per cent and more than 14 hours of light a day; other sources differ, Japanese Wikipedia quoting 28 °C and the tourism board about 25 °C. Controlled ventilation completes the system. The dimensions and structure of the glasshouses are not detailed in the sources consulted.

The collection is built around some 5,000 pots of large-flowered tuberous begonias, in about 600 cultivars, shown in flower all year round. Because each flower lasts only seven to ten days, plants are swapped continuously; the trailing varieties in hanging baskets are grown hydroponically, which lets them flower without a break for one to two years.

In all, about 12,000 plants of several hundred kinds, gathered from around the world, accompany the begonias. The water-lily pool in the third house adds an aquatic note, and a lily show of around a thousand stems is held from November to December.

The Begonia Garden lies at the centre of Nabana no Sato in Nagashima, close to the other attractions of Nagashima Resort. Entry is included in the park admission ticket. Allow about an hour to walk through the four houses, ending at the café.

The garden offers a professional photography service and guided tours by the horticultural staff. The glasshouse can be combined with the rose garden in spring and autumn, the hydrangea and iris gardens in season, or the park's winter illuminations, during which the glasshouse remains open.