The Kyushaku-fuji of Byakugo-ji

The longest flower chain recorded on this wisteria measured 180 centimetres. The name promises more. Kyushaku-fuji reads as nine-shaku wisteria, about 2.7 metres, and the temple's own head priest has gone on record correcting visitors who take it as a measurement: it is the cultivar name, Noda Naga-fuji, a plant bred for unusually long racemes. One plant, one root, trained along 120 metres of trellis in the grounds of Byakugo-ji, a Tendai temple in the hills of Tamba founded by tradition in 705. That date belongs to the temple and says nothing about the vine. Nothing else does either: no source checked, the temple's own site included, gives a planting date, an age or a trunk measurement. If you know when it went in, tell us. What is documented is the flowering. Early May brings the Kyushaku-fuji festival, and through late April and early May the trellis is lit after dark, with the grounds staying open until nine instead of five. Entry is 300 yen. Getting there is the awkward part. The last five kilometres from Ichijima station are a taxi ride of about eight minutes: no bus runs it, the temple operates no shuttle, and the road is not one to walk.