Friday, June 19--Meigetsu-in

After hearing rave reviews, I ventured out to Meigetsu-in this morning. Also known as the Ajisai Dera, or Hydrangea Temple, Meigetsu-in attracts thousands of visitors each June when the hydrangeas are in bloom. I was advised to go on a weekday, preferably early in the morning, to avoid the crowds. Apparently “early in the morning” did not mean one hour after the temple opened. I should have been there waiting when they unlocked the gates at 8:30. By the time I got there, the place was mobbed by school children and tour groups of old men (each group was identified by a different brightly colored bandana tied around the neck). So, as in other sightseeing endeavors, I found myself sucked into the crowd, and propelled along with no real say in my direction of travel.

Now, I don’t know a whole lot about hydrangeas, but from my travels around town in the past few weeks, I knew that they came in a variety of colors. That’s what I expected when I walked through the grounds of the temple. I was disappointed to see that about ninety percent of the blooms were blue. I was hoping for more purples, pinks, wines, and pale yellows. (Did you know that there is an old Japanese legend that says pink hydrangeas are colored by the blood of an old man or old woman buried in the ground below?) When I mentioned the temple’s limited palette to a friend, she told me she thought hydrangea colors depended on the pH of the soil. I looked it up on Google, and sure enough, the pH and amounts of certain elements such as aluminum affect the flowers’ color. Lends some credibility to that old Japanese legend!