Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) Is Not The Only Flower To Enjoy In This Season!

Now it is the best time for “Hanami (Flower Viewings)”! The most popular and famous flower for “Hanami (Flower Viewings)” would be “Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)” in Japan, but there are more spring flowers to enjoy!

Imakuma Shrine is one of the Shinto shrines located in Hachioji City, and it is known for beautiful one kind of Azalea flowers called "Mitsuba-tsutsuji". The photo above was taken last week, on April 12^th and about 60-70% of the Azalea trees were blooming. So it would be more beautiful this week. What's more you can enjoy a casual hiking starting from this shrine. you can enjoy the view of Azalea flowers blooming beside the shrine on the way of the hiking trail.

In addition, this shrine keeps a ritual dance called “Shishimai (Lion Dance)”. Shishimai is a common traditional Japanese performance taking place at festivals and new year celebration time, but the style of the dance kept at this shrine is unique. It is said that the origin of the ritual dance goes back to 14^th century and it has been performed to pray for a good harvest and expel evils. If you are interested in the ritual dance you can see it at the last Sunday in August every year.

You can reach Imakuma Shrine by bus from Hachioji Station (JR Chuo-line and Keio-line), or Musashi-itsukaichi Station (JR Itsukaichi-line). Take Nishi-tokyo bus from either station and get off at Imakuma Tozan-guchi. From the bus stop to the shrine takes 20-25 minutes on foot. 

Fall Flowers' Season Started! How About Going To See Japanese Spider Lilies?

Japanese spider lily, “Higan-Bana” is one of the typical fall flowers in Japan. It has been growing all over Japan for long time, but it probably came from overseas because the genetics of this flowers all over Japan are identical. It is thought that one bulb was imported initially and was propagated by dividing the bulbs.

It seems that the climate in Japan well suited for this flower, so today people can enjoy seeing this flower growing abundantly in many places. Kinchakuda in Hidaka City, Saitama prefecture is one of the famous places shown in the photos above and about five million Higan-Bana flowers bloom every fall. Between September 17th to October 2nd will be the festival of Higan-bana, there.

Actually the name “Higan-Bana” means “Flower of The Other Shore”, in other word it is “Flower of Afterlife World”. Moreover it has many other names such as “Heaven’s flower”, “Dead people’s flower”, “Hell’s flower” and “Ghost’s flower”, so some people may not enjoy this flower just because of the ominous name.

Why do the names have unpleasant meaning? Probably one of the reasons came from a well-known fact that this flower is actually a dangerous plant. It is a poisonous plant with an alkaloid so that it can be deadly.

However, for just Hanami (seasonal flower viewing), it is harmless and provides us a fantastic view of fall. 

Hydrangea Flower Festival Is Being Held At Takahata-Fudo Temple In West Tokyo

Takahata-Fudo Temple is an old Buddhism temple located in Hino city, Tokyo. According to an old records it was originally build in the 8th century and some of the statues in the temple are designated as important cultural asset by Japanese government. However the temple is not only famous for the long history, it is one of the popular spots to enjoy hydrangea flowers (Ajisai in Japanese) in this season.

On this temple ground, there is a hill covered by hydrangeas besides the temple buildings as you can see in the map on the upper right hand side photo and the photos in the second row. There are trails in the hill, so people can enjoy walking on the hill as they enjoy the views of beautiful hydrangea flowers in June. Therefore every year the temple held "Annual Hydrangea Flower Festival", and this year it will be between June 1st and July 7th.

Apparently the hill have had wild type of hydrangeas called "Mountain Hydrangea" since old times. The "Mountain Hydrangea" may seem rather plain than the gardening types, but you would see the flowers are full of life in the hill and can feel they are really native to Japan. Also nowadays the temple planted various gardening types of hydrangeas in addition to it. Thus many people visit here for "Hanami (Seasonal Flower Viewing)" of hydrangeas!

There are more about this place on my "what's in West Tokyo" page and "Tours and Fees" page!
Also if you need any assistance to visit this temple, please feel free to contact me!