In Kamakura, Ajisai, or hydrangeas are in full bloom. I rushed to Kamakura to see them with an old friend of mine who lives near Kamakura.
Meigetsu-in temple, which is called ajisai temple, is the best place to appreciate this flower. There are tons of hydrangea trees on both sides of a narrow path from the small gate of the temple to the main pavilion. The pale blue round- shaped flowers looked like heads of fairies and I felt being welcomed by the blue fairies. (A temple and fairies don’t go well together though…)
As I stepped up the stone stairs, another piece of scenery of hydrangeas appeared. As I looked back where I came from, a different scene of hydrangeas appeared. In here, there was nothing but hydrangeas and it seemed as if I wandered into an endless hydrangea lane. It’ was incredibly gorgeous.
Meigetsu-in, which was founded in 1160, is a Zen temple. In the main pavilion, there is a round window, called ensou. According to the Zen lesson, ensou expresses a harmonized world and the scenery that you’ll see through the ensou is said to be a utopia. As far as the scene that I saw goes, it surely was a utopia.
We also visited Toukeiji. It is well known as Enkiri-temple, or a safe haven for women seeking to flee from their husband. However, Tokeiji changed to a Zen temple after Meiji era when women started getting the equal rights. Hydrangeas and another flowers are also in full bloom here and many female tourists seemed enjoying their peaceful moment with flowers.
↓Thank you very much for your click.
The PH of the hydrangeas there seems to be very low. Where I grew up in the US, hydrangeas are always pink because the soil PH is high, so I thought ALL hydrangeas were always pink!
返信削除Thank you for your pictures. :)
You got a point! I’ve completely forgot about the scientific background of hydrangeas. Thank you for letting me remind of it. Pink hydrangeas in your place must have been very lovely. I like it. When I was a kid, I didn’t like this flower because there were always some snails on the leaves.
削除