Ajisai Matsuri (Hydrangea Festival)
In
Sanzen-in Temple perched in Ohara deep within the mountains, the
rainy season (when it continuously rains in Japan from around June to July) is the best time to see the more than 3,000 hydrangea every year.
The Ajisai Festival (Hydrangea Festival) held around this time is a noteworthy event that brilliantly showcases the ancient capital in June. The beauty of the hydrangea flower is even more impressive on rainy days.
If you pass Ojo-Gokurakuin Hall and set foot in the hydrangea garden next to the approach to Konjiki Fudodo Hall, you will see a beautiful scene of vivid and picturesque hydrangea in full bloom wherever you look.
You can also enjoy the wide variety of hydrangea including hydrangea hirta with its rich fragrance that blooms at the beginning of June as well as the rare shooting star hydrangea, mountain hydrangea, hydrangea macrophylla, and hydrangea petiolaris in this garden.
Strolling along the tranquil approach with its traditional Japanese atmosphere while viewing the moist hydrangea which reaches full bloom with praise of rain and dew will make you feel as if your soul has been purified.
Ohara is also known as a misty place. If you are lucky, you may experience the magic of the fantastic hydrangea garden within the rain and mist.
Ajisai Matsuri (Hydrangea Festival)
Location: Sanzen-in Temple
Date: June 13 to July 13 *Dates subject to change every year.
Time: 8:30 to 17:00
Admission: General 700 yen (Groups of 30 or more persons 600 yen)
Participation: Reservations not required.
