Clematis florida and cultivars. Also many hybrids of complex parentage that were bred in Japan. Joy Creek Nursery carries a fair number of Japanese clematis.

I just looked up florida sieboldii and doesn't look like a strong plant.. any other clematis thats native to Japan? Not cultivated or hybridized in Japan, I want a native one. And btw I don't want clematis terniflora. That things just too invasive

You don't have too many choices and you have already eliminated some :-)

Clematis florida 'Sieboldii' is a stunning vine and no more tricky to grow than any other clematis.....just a bit less cold hardy. Species clematis tend to be big vigorous vines so may not be what you are looking for. I doubt terniflora is invasive in your area - it blooms too late for the seed too ripen properly - but it is a big, fast growing vine as are most of the other Japanese native species (if you can even find any). I'm not sure I'd be quick to dismiss many of the Japanese hybrids, as they make excellent garden additions. Or consider this one.

Another alternative is chocolate vine, Akebia quinata, but again, a large, aggressive grower.

FWIW most perennial vining plants need a lot of pruning attention to keep them looking tidy and in bounds and to encourage heavy flowering

Gardengal, not that I disagree with what you said about most perennial vining plants, but I have a clematis growing over an arbour, to which I do not need to do ANYTHING - it stays perfectly grown over the arbour; the most I do is pull off some dried vines underneath it. It flowers profusely, but the real show are these amazing 'Dr. Seuss' seedheads which come thereafter and remain for the rest of the season. People are always amazed at it; I'm going to have to start lying to say how much work goes into making it as perfect as it is :-)

Yea I saw a different thread about sieboldii and saw your comments on it gardengal. That made me want to dismiss sieboldii as an option. If they aren't hardy to your zone 8/9, no way I'm even attempting to grow it in my zone 7. Weird because it says its hardy to zone 6. But the clematis patens looks nice! Too bad only joysnursery carries it though. I was maybe thinking of growing a Japanese grape vine called 'kyoho'. But just because they are grapes, do they need some sort of special attention compared to other vines? Or can I grow them like any other vine?

Well, a few attempts must be the charm as I do have a C. florida 'Sieboldii' growing successfully now (in its third year :-) ) And believe it or not, I got it as a bare root start from Costco and grew it on for a full year before planting in the ground.

And IMO, the most gorgeous flowers of any clematis.

LaLennoxa, I agree that most of the hybrid clematis varieties don't need much pruning except for an annual clean up. But many species clematis do, as well as most other hardy perennial vines (honeysuckle, wisteria, grapes, akebia, actinidia, etc), if nothing more than to keep size in check.

When I lived in Z6 I grew honeysuckle "Goldflame" on a lone piece of an old wrought iron fence (about 3' tall) that was in my garden for decoration. I trimmed the vine in spring and then again midsummer (so the fence piece could be seen). Goldflame was fragrant, drew hummers, and was very well behaved. Since you mentioned it, I will emphasize that this is NOT Japanese honeysuckle (I can certainly understand why you don't want that).

But to my understanding, Goldflame isn't of Japanese origin, and that is one of Heruga's requirements.

Hydrangea anomola subsp. petiolaris hails from Japan but it isn't what you'd call 'small'. Trachelospermum asiaticum is another one. But I doubt its hardiness in NJ.