Ajisai(紫陽花) means hydrangea in Japanese and the best time you can see these colorful and amazing flowers is from late May to early August, depending on which area of Japan you are visiting. Even though during June, the rainy season starts in Japan, the hydrangea still blooms beautifully in the rain and the scenery they offer looks spectacularly.

The Hydrangea flowers can have blue, purple, white, and pink/reddish colors and usually, it changes depending on the soil and its acidity. For those that are not sure what they can do during the rainy season in Japan, ajisai viewing might be a good choice especially because June is the season when most of the flowers are in full bloom.

Here are some of our five recommended places to go for ajisai viewing during this season:

Tendaiji Temple in Ninohe City, Iwate Prefecture

The hydrangea in Iwate Prefecture usually blooms from the beginning of July to the middle of August and Tendaiji is one of the temples you can go to see it. The temple has a history of over 1200 years and when the ajisai blooms, it is surrounded by beautiful blue and purple hues.

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Usu Zenkoji Temple in Date City, Hokkaido Prefecture

As Hokkaido is in northern Japan, the flowers here bloom later and hydrangea is usually in full bloom around the Obon Holidays (late July-early August). Zenkoji is a large area and also very famous for cherry blossoms in spring.

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Satte Gongendo Tsutsumi in the Gongendo Park, Satte City, Saitama Prefecture

A popular spot for sakura during the spring season, Gongendo Tsutsumi also has around 16,000 flowers of hydrangea with approximately 100 species that bloom in June. Furthermore, the beautiful, pure white hydrangea offers a serene view from early June to early July which is something to look forward to.

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The “Hydrangea Temple” /Hondoji Temple in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture

The Temple in Matsudo City gets surrounded by 10 species of hydrangea that are over 50,000 in number. The place is known not only for hydrangea but also for the iris garden that can be enjoyed together with the ajisai from late June.

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Meigetsuin in Kamakura

Another “hydrangea temple”, but this time in the splendid city of Kamakura, in the Kanagawa Prefecture. Kamakura is a wonderful area, surrounded by history and temples and one of the most famous ones is Meigetsuin that gets surrounded by blue tones starting from early June and lasting until early July.

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