Around the world, men give flowers to women to express their feelings and let them know they are loved. One sweet Japanese husband took this kind gesture to another level – by giving his blind wife a whole field of pink flowers to smell and enjoy.
In 1956, Mr. and Mrs. Kuroki got married. Shortly after, Mrs. Kuroki joined her husband on his dairy farm on the East Coast of Japan, in Shintomi. The happily married couple lived full lives and had two kids. After three decades of marriage, the Kuroki couple planned on retiring and taking a trip around Japan; however, those plans were soon uprooted.
When Mrs. Kuroki was 52, she lost her vision because of complications from diabetes. Her blindness took a toll on her well-being, she became depressed and began to stay inside her home all day. Mr. Kuroki was heartbroken to see his wife in this state and knew he wanted to do something to make her happy again.
One day, Mr. Kuroki noticed some visitors stopping to admire and smell his little garden of pink shibazakura flowers, and then an idea struck in his mind. If he couldn’t take his wife to see the world, he could bring the world to her.
Mr. Kuroki started to plant flowers in his garden, hoping if he had enough of them that they would attract more visitors, thus, more company to cheer up his wife. He knows she can’t see them, but she would be able to still talk to them, share stories with them, and their pleasant energy might bring her some joy. Mr. Kuroki spent two years working long and hard, planting thousands of flowers just so that he could see a smile on his wife’s face.
His plan worked, and the magnificent pink garden began attracting visitors. It has been ten years since Mr. Kuroki first planted his wife’s garden, and with the love story behind it, the dairy farm has turned into a significant tourist attraction in rural Japan. When the flowers are blooming in March and April, the garden brings in up to 7,000 people a day. The husband turned the cowshed, which once had 60 cows, into a display telling their love story.
The best part of it all is Mrs. Kuroki loves spending time with the visitors and can be seen strolling around the garden with a big smile on her face. This inspiring love story between a husband and wife deserves all the flowers that could ever grow in their garden.
