Rokka no Mori: Wasteland turned Garden and Art Gallery (Hokkaido, Japan)

Located just to the south of the city Obihiro, Rokka no Mori (or 六花の森, literally the forest of 6 flowers) is a garden and art gallery in Hokkaido, Japan.

Set up by the Rokkatei company, one of Hokkaido’s (and by extension, Japan’s) leading confectionary companies, the garden opened in 2017 on the site of a former wasteland. It name stems from 6 iconic native flowers to Hokkaido:

Ezo-gento (Gentiana triflora var. japonica)
Hamanashi (Rosa rugosa)
Oibana-enreiso (Trillium tschonoskii)
Katakuri (Erythronium japonicum)
Ezo-rukinka (Caltha palustris var. barthei)
Shirane-aoi (Japanese white mallow) (Glaucidium palmatum)

There are also other native flowers that grow here. The reclaimed land now features a garden, forest, grassland environment native to Japan’s northern island, art gallery, factory, cafe and gift shop. The project aims to create a place where people can experience the local nature and culture by designing a confectionery factory that blends seamlessly into the natural environment, a museum converted from an old Croatian house, and artwork by local artists.

Rokkatei is known for several variations of butter sandwich cookies; their flagship confectionary is the vanilla raisin version, which is pictured below (images from Rokkatei’s website):

Here is a video of my walk around the gardens:

Rokka no Mori (Rokka Forest) 六花の森

Watch this video on YouTube.

Rokka no mori is open to the public from late April to mid-October every year and costs ¥800 ($5.12 USD, £3.87 GBP, €4.42 EUR as of December 2025) for an adult ticket. You can also purchase a Hokkaido Garden Path Ticket for ¥2,000 ($12.80 USD, £9.67 GBP, €11.04) to visit: