Hydrangea Temple

Over the years we've been to many flower festivals and viewings in Japan. The japanese love flowers and their poetic seasonality. We've been to cherry blossom viewings, irises, roses, whisteria, poppy and most recently a hydrangea festival. The cherry blossom time is the most famous, and the Japanese are quite crazy about it. The evening news shows where the blossom front is moving from South to North, people go out in droves and and picnic and drink with friends and family under the blooms.

We are rarely in Japan this late in the summer so we headed off to a local little temple in amongst the rice fields to see their famous hydrangeas.

The Isoyama Shrine in Tochigi Prefecture is a typical local little village shrine, apart from the thousnads of hydrangeas.

 It's all a very jolly and peaceful affair with small groups of locals chatting and taking pictures and an old farming woman selling drinks and grilled octopus dumplings.

Then up into the nearby mountains for a drive and a lunch at a little local restaurant.