Let's Appreciate Buddhist Art! (The Lotus)

"Water surrounds the lotus flower, but does not wet its petals."

-Gautama Siddharta, founder of Buddhism   

One of the Eight Auspicious Signs of Buddhism, the Lotus is probably the most familiar to Western eyes.  From packs of incense to West Elm's latest "ethnic" catalog, the lotus-enthroned Buddha shows up everywhere in the States.  In Japan, the Buddha is often seen at temples, seated on a blooming lotus, or holding a lotus stem.  Temple sanctuaries are decorated with gilt, lotus sculptures.  Lotus are painted on the charms available for purchase, and are stamped in shrine books.  Why is the flower so important to Buddhism?

The Buddha, seated on a massive lotus.  Todaiji temple, Nara, Japan.

A smaller, lotus-seated Buddha outside Sensoji temple in Asakusa, Tokyo.

A tranquil, lotus-filled pond is often a key element of Buddhist temple gardens.  There are many blooming, aquatic plants in nature; however, the lotus is unique in the height that its blooms attain, as they rise above the rippling waters.  Displaying perfect and pristine blossoms, the lotus encompasses the most key of Buddhist teachings.

A stone pillar illustrates the stages of the lotus' growth (Sensoji, Asakusa, Tokyo).

The lotus takes root in dirty pond water.  Just as human beings languish in a state of materialism, so is the lotus rooted in ugliness.  As the lotus grows up through muddy water and reaches for sun, so should followers of the Buddha cast off their earthly urges and reach for enlightenment.

The pillar's other side illustrates the final stage of the lotus.

The pure, perfect  lotus flower, open in full bloom, is as a person who has finally attained enlightenment.

"As a lotus flower is born in the water, grows in water and rises out of water to stand unsoiled, so I, born in the world, raised in the world having overcome the world, live unsoiled by the world,"

- Gautama Siddharta

Lotus about to bloom at Hasedera temple in Kamakura, Japan.

Interested in admiring some lotus?  Sankeien Gardens, located in Yokohama, has an enormous pond that is chock-full of lotus!  The Gardens' official Lotus Blooming Season will take place from July 14- August 5.  Admission to the Gardens is 500 yen for adults and 200 yen for elementary-aged children.  It is usually open from 9:00-17:00, but will have a special Lotus Season opening time of 6 am.  More information on Sankeien Gardens can be found here.  Hopefully, the link to the Google-translated page works properly!


Ueno's lotus pond is the largest in Tokyo.  Visit this one on a weekday, as Ueno gets super crowded on weekends!


Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!

Go Away, Deployment Stress!

Deployment hasn't been so bad, this time around. Yes, I just majorly jinxed myself with that sentence. But since the car already overheated and had to be taken to the shop yesterday, I must be safe for a day or two. Right?  

Maybe deployment seems easier because it's Mr. TF's third and I've finally got my survival system figured out.  Without a doubt, an important lesson I've learned since moving to Japan is this: decide, in advance, what to do when a bad day hits.  Planning in advance mean I will be less likely to drink an entire bottle of wine, put Little TF up for sale on eBay, eat a whole tub of ice cream, or blow the budget on online shopping (JCrew, why is everything you make so awesome?).

Living in Japan doesn't mean deployment strategies are harder to create.  The sheer novelty of everything means that almost any idea can work!  One of my strategies for clearing a Bad Deployment Day out of my head, for example, is a classic: taking a nice, relaxing bath once Little TF is in bed. What makes this idea new and fresh? All the fun, Japanese bath products!

Muji is one of my favorite, Japanese stores.  Aficionados of interior design magazines might recognize the name; the store has a cult following among Americans who crave the Muji aesthetic- clean, modern lines and no labels of any sort. This is the place to go if you want to banish tacky Pantene and Old Spice bottles from your shower. Pour your shampoo and soap into Muji's sleek, clear pump bottles, instead!  Muji also sells adorable kids clothes, sleek kitchenware, makeup, and small household goods.  Best of all, Muji sells my favorite bath salts.  These bath salts are the perfect, inexpensive deployment pick-me-up!  I keep the salts in a clear, Muji bottle next to my bathtub; whenever I need to soak away the stress of the day, a scented bath is ready in minutes.  At only 399 yen for the large packet, this pampering purchase also won't blow any port call budgets!

Also found in Muji's bath aisle are these cute, single-use bath salt packets.  Why not grab a couple of these and toss them in a care package or Christmas box? At only 58 yen per packet, you really almost have to!  My favorite scent is Milk, although Lemon and Lavender are also fantastic.  During cherry blossom season, Muji also offers a Sakura scent!

I have to take the newly repaired car to the airport this evening to pick up my mom and brother.  Let's hope all goes smoothly and that I don't need to employ any stress-relieving strategies when we get back!



Muji has many locations in the Kanagawa/Tokyo area: Yokohama Station's Joinus, the Aeon in Shin-yurigaoka, Lalaport Mall in Yokohama, Tama Plaza in Yokohama, Terrace Mall at Tsujido Station, Aeon Mall in Yamato, and Yokosuka's More-S City.  American shoppers can also visit Muji's website to place an order.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find bath salts at the online store.  So take advantage of your time in Japan.  I'll be stuffing a box full of Milk salts when Pack Out rolls around!


Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!

A Public Bathroom Emergency!

One of the nice things about Japan is the abundance of public restrooms.  Located in train stations, convenience stores, and parks, the public restrooms are (usually) clean and well-maintained.  I can't count the number of times I have been taking the train with Little TF and heard the dreaded words, "I have to go POTTY."  In Japan, it's usually a minor inconvenience instead of an impending disaster. We simply get off at the next station, swing through the public restroom, and hop back on the next train.  Easy! In many of these bathrooms, the cleaning person has even decorated the sink area with a small vase of fresh flowers.  So civilized.

Sometimes, there is a problem.  This is a problem usually found at more remote public restrooms- those at shrines and temples, or in public parks. These kinds of bathrooms don't have any posted, stick figure man or stick figure woman to clue me in- which is the girls' bathroom?!

My local park's public restroom.  This sign is not helping me.

The above photo shows the gender indicator for one half of this public restroom.  You see the difficulty.  The label on the other half of the restroom was no help, either.  In places with old bathrooms or with a low foreigner presence, these kinds of bathroom signs tend to pop up.  Normally, I just wait until someone of obvious gender walks into one of the entrances.  But what about when there is no one...ummm...patronizing the potty, and I have a Little TF who very much needs to go?

The other half of my local park's public restroom. Equally mystifying.

It's time for a kanji lesson!  Stay with me. The kanji that indicate gender are very easy to remember.  We just need a little bit of visual aid!  Please excuse my drawing skills.  I have a degree in Studio Art; but, when it comes to magic markers, I am a total lost cause.

The first, red line shows how I remember the kanji for "woman."  Kanji, at its most basic (I am criminally simplifying the Japanese writing system, here), is picture writing.  So when trying to learn new kanji, I sometimes find it helpful to create a little picture, to help it stick in my mind.  This one is fairly self-explanatory.  I just made a stick-figure woman even more stick-figured!  

Top line: Woman.  Bottom line: Man.  See?  This is not too hard! 

The second, green line shows how I remember the kanji for "man."  It is composed of two parts.  The first part of the full kanji character, on the top right of the green line, is also the complete kanji for "rice field."  It requires little explanation, right? It's simply a rice field sectioned into four grids.  The second element, on the bottom right, is the kanji for "power."  I make it stick in my mind by imagining it as a powerful, punching fist.  So, in my mind, the complete kanji for "man" is composed of the difficult labor in the rice fields and a powerful, striking fist, all of which come more easily to a man (Disclaimer:  this is gross gender stereotyping, but one must appropriate memory aides wherever one can find them. And make sure they exist only as memory aides.)

There you go!  You now know two kanji!  A bit of memorization and you will be able to confidently make a beeline for the correct, kanji-labeled bathroom!

Note: The full kanji sequence for Man or Woman is actually composed of two characters.  For our purposes here, learning only the first character of the sequence will suffice and keep you out of incorrect bathrooms. Whew!

A Japanese toilet's high-tech control panel. The flush button is one of these!

The second, equally tricky bathroom situation is found in many department store, museum, or restaurant bathrooms.  The flush function, if not automatic, is usually located on this complicated, button-filled control panel.  A quick scan, almost always after Little TF has emptied her bowels, reveals zero English.  Panic sets in.  Leave a giant poop in the potty, only to be discovered by the next person in line? That will only confirm all Foreigners Are Disgusting stereotypes!  How do I get this %&*# toilet to flush?

Kanji Lesson #2:  The kanji for "great" and the kanji for "small."

The kanji for great (large, big) is one of the most important kanji in the Japanese language. It's one of the first kanji studied by schoolchildren; and, since it shows up everywhere, you'll soon become adept at recognizing it.  I remember it by simply drawing a big stick figure with outstretched arms.  Ta da!  You now know another kanji!

The kanji for small is equally easy.  I just draw a stick figure, with its legs pressed together, trying to make itself smaller. See?  Also easy!

The kanji for great and small are relevant here, because many Japanese toilets have two flushes- one large, one small.  The small one is a water-saving flush, and is to be used when...ahem...there isn't much to flush.  When to use the large flush should be self-explanatory.

Let's take another look at the Control Panel.  See where the kanji for great and small are?

There they are, right on the top!  You can now flush that fancy, Japanese toilet with confidence and efficiency! Leave the stall with the smug knowledge that the chic woman (or man, depending on which bathroom you're in) waiting her turn won't be horrified by any gauche, foreigner bathroom etiquette.  Good thing you read this blog!

Ganbatte!

-The Tofu Fox

Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!

I've Got A Baby Problem! (Gross Level...None.)

"Moving to foreign country with a baby is tough!"  If only I had a dollar for every time I heard that sentence. Or for every time I said it.  I would be so rich!

But really, the more accurate (and less socially acceptable) sentence is, "Moving to a foreign country with a baby is like being dropped on my head from the top of a 7-story building, during a raging, Cat-5 hurricane, and not being able to call emergency services because I DON'T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE AND MY BABY WON'T STOP SCREAMING AND I JUST NEED TO CALL MY MOM BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE IT'S TWO AM ON THE EAST COAST AND I FORGOT TO GO THE COMMISSARY TO GET DIAPERS AND NOW IT'S CLOSED AND THE MINI MART IS OUT OF MY BABY'S DIAPER SIZE AND I WOULD SELL MY SOUL FOR A 24-HOUR WALMART RIGHT NOW AND NOW MY BABY IS RUNNING A FEVER AND THERE WAS A BABY TYLENOL RECALL AND THE MINI MART DOESN'T CARRY ANY INFANT ALTERNATIVES AND I CAN'T RUN TO TARGET AND BUY THE TARGET BRAND OF INFANT FEVER REDUCER AND I GUESS I COULD GO TO THE MEDICAL CLINIC BUT THEN I WILL SIT IN EMERGENCY FOR TWO HOURS FOR A LOW-GRADE FEVER AND BY THE TIME WE GET SEEN MY BABY'S FEVER WILL PROBABLY BE OVER AND THEN I WILL LOOK LIKE ONE OF THOSE OVERLY PARANOID MOTHERS...WHICH BY THIS POINT I KIND OF AM."  Since I'm a military spouse, I can usually add "WHILE MY SPOUSE IS DEPLOYED" to that sentence...I mean, paragraph.

I can't help you with the deployed spouse part.  Or with calling your mom at 2 am. But I can remind you that anything you need for your baby or toddler, whether it's formula, clothing, bottles, diapers, training potties, baby gates, baby locks, etc, can all be found in Japanese stores.  Often, all we need is a little less panic and a little more information (Note to self...less panic!).

All major, Japanese department stores have well-stocked baby sections with car seats, strollers, sippy cups, socks, shoes, hats, pants, etc.  A lot of these items are more reasonably priced than one would think (except for the strollers and car seats.  Shockingly expensive.).  If you are lucky, you might even live within driving distance of a Babies R Us!  

Baby jinbei for boys!  Adorable!

I love the Japanese version of Babies R Us.  The store sells a unique mix of the familiar, the unusual, and the pure genius.

A lot of the jinbei for girls come with little, ruffled diaper covers. Gah, so cute!

I bought a potty on Amazon when Little TF started potty training.  It took up a lot of valuable floor space in our teeny-tiny toilet room.  Many Japanese training potties are actually a small seat that fits onto the top of a regular, grown-up potty (although you can buy stand-alone versions, also).  I ended up buying the detachable seat, instead, which came with the added bonus of getting Little TF used to using a grown-up potty much more quickly.  Public restrooms were soon a breeze!

A potty training seat that attaches to the grown-up toilet seat is pictured on the boxes to the far left.

I know I previously touted the genius of the Ergo baby carrier.  For very young babies, a carrier with more support might be desired.  Babies R Us sells a convertible carrier that lays the infant on its back.  I know there has been concern in mommy circles with young infants and certain baby carriers and the need to keep the infant's airways clear...this baby carrier takes care of that problem!

Baby is flat on its back in the far right photo.  I live across the street from a
women's hospital, and see this one used for brand-new infants fairly often.

Here are the strollers.

Pro: They fit through train turnstiles.
Con: Cheaper models cost around $500-$600.

Everyone living in Japan with a baby needs a couple sets of stroller blanket clips! Choose your favorite, cartoon character (We are partial to Hello Kitty).  There are also shopping bag hooks.  Simply velcro to your stroller's push handle and hang your groceries or shopping bags!

Blanket clips on the left, shopping bag hooks on the top right.

Looking to avoid the hair wash wars?  Snag one of these clever, soap guards!

Japanese bathtubs are kind of scary when it comes to babies and toddlers.  They are super deep (I can fill my tub up to my chin.)  The shower room is usually nice and big and can easily fit a plastic, baby bath.  But do you really want to waste valuable, storage space on a baby bathtub?  Grab one of these cushy, squishy foam mats, instead!

So! Cute!

I hated Little TF's plastic high chair.  What an monstrous, plastic, eyesore.  We had to use it for the first few months of solid-food-eating, because she wasn't quite capable of sitting up on her own.  The second she was?  I marched right over to Babies R Us and picked up a beautiful, wooden high chair.  Expensive, but not prohibitively so.  The model I purchased actually converts to a toddler chair.  The tray flips over the back of the seat and rests against the back legs. The chair can now push right up to the dining table!  Plus, the color matches my regular, grown-up chairs.  White plastic eyesore, be gone!

I bought the second model from the left, bottom row, in an espresso stain.  It's got a
 nice strap that clips the tray to the chair...no babies sliding out or flipping the tray!

Bringing relief to forgetful foreign mommies everywhere...a giant diaper section!  Just remember, you'll have to do the kilograms-pounds conversion.

Hey, that brand looks familiar!

Binkies. A whole wall of binkies.  Japanese mommies don't want to hear crying babies, either.

Living off base?  Say goodbye to automatic dishwashers.  Pick up some of these bottle-cleaning tools, instead!

If you've got a pregnant, Stateside friend, these Japanese, baby items would make a beautiful and unique gift.

Of course, we can't forget about Mommy! Babies R Us has a large maternity/diaper bag/stretch mark cream section.  They also stock the Japanese Mommy's little post-partum secret...a stomach girdle.  Mommy may have a newborn, but no one (least of all Mommy herself) wants to see her deflated, saggy stomach.  She straps one of these on after giving birth, almost immediately!

Yes, I will be getting one of these before we move.  If we decide to have a Little TF #2, I will be ready!

And last, but absolutely not least, I took a video of the car seat promotional video. Of course, my battery died halfway through and I didn't realize it.  I was able to find the same commercial on Youtube. It's going to blow your mind (and make you want to steal a Japanese baby). 

Ganbatte, American Mommies In Japan!

-The Tofu Fox

Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!

What Is It And How Do I Cook It: Dashi!

On bright, sunny days, a blue basket bobs from my local restaurant's door frame.  I was with a good friend the first time that I saw this.  

Me: "Hey, what is that?  What is in that basket!?"

Friend: "Those are the fish used in dashi.  This restaurant is drying the fish in order to make their own!"  

Dashi is to Japanese cuisine as chicken stock is to Western cooking.  Every supermarket has a huge section of aisle devoted to pre-made dashi, which can be purchased in many different bottle sizes and flavors. Customers can even purchase packets of dried dashi powder. Just add water to achieve the desired level of intensity!  I always keep a bottle in my fridge, as even non-soupy Japanese recipes often call for a splash of dashi, for flavor.

The restaurant around the corner from our apartment.

Here, my local restaurant is preparing a stronger soup stock called niboshi dashi.  This dashi is made with the tiny sardines that are drying in the bright, blue basket.    This particular dashi is used for thick miso soups and noodle broth.  Yum!

Interested in making your own dashi?  Food Of Japan features a very simple recipe!  Not so interested in drying your own fish?  The recipe featured here is for the most basic kind of dashi, which uses dried bonito flakes.  You can buy them in any local grocery store!

Ingredients:

1 piece of dried kombu (kelp), about 10 cm/3-4 inches long

1 litre or 13/4 pints cold water

Handful of katsuo (dried bonito flakes), about 25 g/1 oz.

Gently wipe the kombu with a damp cloth to remove any white salt deposits.  Do not wash, as you will remove the flavor.  Place the kombu, together with the water, in a large, cooking pot.  Heat for about 10 minutes, until it reaches boiling point.  The fleshiest part of the kombu should be slightly soft.  Remove kombu.  Add four tablespoons of cold water and the katsuo flakes.  Bring back to a boil and then remove from heat.  

When the flakes have settled at the bottom of the pan, remove them by straining with a piece of white muslin to obtain a clear and delicate stock for use in clear soups.  -Food of Japan, page 49-50.

Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!

Today's Photo! (Restaurant Shoe Storage)

Eating at a more traditional, Japanese restaurant?  Be prepared to remove your shoes!  Your cue will be a wall of small cubbies just inside the restaurant's door.  Simply open a cubby that still has its wooden tag or metal key, and slide your shoes inside.  Some restaurants offer guest slippers inside each cubby...please wear them! 

Make sure you store the key or tag in an easy-to-remember spot...I occasionally have trouble finding the key in my rather large handbag.  Nothing causes panic like losing the key to your shoe cubby!

The shoe cubbies of a yummy little restaurant in Kamakura.

Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!

Sitting On My Bookshelf: Ryokan

"Travelers lodging at a ryokan- a Japanese inn- can experience at first hand and in depth Japan's handed-down customs and traditions.  They are privy to the perfection of a way of life that combines buildings and nature harmoniously...the Westerner crosses the threshold of the genuine ryokan, which is almost ascetic in its simplicity, and is swallowed up in a past, almost overrefined culture, uniquely luxurious, with exquisite rooms, gardens, baths, and a sophisticated cuisine.  The utmost attention is paid to every detail, no matter how minute."

An excellent resource- as well as stunning coffee table eye candy- Ryokan is a book worthy of any Japanophile's library.  Reflecting the nation's love affair with nature, Ryokan categorizes its Japanese inns according to the Japanese seasonal calendar. Which lodging is the most perfect for Cherry Blossom Viewing?  Which inn is surrounded by the most vibrant autumn leaves?  Of course, an exquisitely designed ryokan and its surroundings are always beautiful, no matter what the season.  Ryokan tempts the reader to book a room, immediately!

"You will be greeted, at the porch of a Japanese inn, by a number of maids, who, sitting in the Japanese way, on the floor, either of matting or of wood, bow so politely with their hands nicely put side by side on the floor.  Your shoes have to be taken off, for the Japanese wear no shoes inside a dwelling house, and a pair of slippers will be given you, instead...a Japanese kimono is soon brought in, because a Japanese feels more comfortable and at home in it than in foreign clothing."

In addition to beautiful photographs, Ryokan is chock-full of useful information: what might be on the menu, how to take a bath, what kind of bedding to expect, what each element of a ryokan actually is.  Ryokan etiquette is something completely foreign to most visitors to Japan, and this book takes the time to explain everything in detail.

"Visiting a ryokan is often an excursion into Japanese history.  Many ryokan are either located at historical sites or themselves have an illustrious past, rich in history."

"Thus, a ryokan is a combination of Japanese art and culture of bygone centuries.  Here we find: architecture, painting, color woodblock printing, ceramics, lacquerwork, ike-bana, sho and, furthermore, everyday utensils, the traditional clothing and the exquisite cuisine. Morever, the reader will learn about the traditional rituals, ceremonies and pleasures such as the The Way Of Tea, no theater, the martial arts, seasonal festivities, The Way of the Samurai, as well as legends and customs."

The only thing not well explained is how exactly one might make a reservation at one of the featured ryokan.  Each ryokan is named and its general location is given.  Perhaps, actually staying at one of these ryokan might require some legwork (and a Japanese-speaking friend), but the reward will be well worth it.  A ryokan's purpose is not merely lodging.  A ryokan's purpose is also to bring peace to a traveler's soul.


Ryokan: A Japanese Tradition.  Photographs by Narimi Hatano and Klaus Frahm.  Copyright 2005. Available on Amazon.

Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!

How Does A Japanese Mommy Do It?

(This post is for my friends who have orders to Japan!)

American mommies love their strollers and all the attendant accessories.  Going for a walk?  Grab the stroller.  Going to the store? Grab the stroller.  Going to lunch with a friend?  Grab the stroller!  I love my stroller and couldn't live without it when we first arrived in Japan with a six month old Little TF.  However, in Japan, strollers also cause certain hassles.  Store aisles are very narrow.  Restaurants often don't have space to store a stroller.  Train stations aren't always very stroller-friendly.  And no one with a modicum of sanity would bring their stroller onto a train during rush hour (I do have a friend that does. She is one tough cookie!).  Japanese mommies do purchase smaller strollers in the first place (No BOBs here!). But what about when space issues and difficulty of use are just too great?

Wearing wedges while wearing a baby.  Fierce.

Enter the Baby Carrier!  Of course, we have these in the States.  But how many of us American mommies actually keep using one after our kids reach six months of age?  Unless we're out hiking or trying to sooth a whiny child while cooking dinner, many of us let our baby carriers gather dust.  Not so the Japanese mommies (and Japanese daddies).  They are shopping, eating out with friends, taking older children to the park, visiting Disneyland, standing on trains, and even riding their bicycles, all while wearing their baby or toddler.

After struggling through a rush hour train with my stroller, I promptly gave up the insanity and ordered an Ergo, the most popular baby carrier in Japan (as observed by me).  Best. Decision. Ever. The design of my Ergo shifted all of Little TF's weight to my hips, which meant I could run errands for hours while wearing her.  In fact, if she weren't so tall now, I probably could still carry her almost three-year-old weight.  No more wasting time looking for a train station's elevator, no more apologizing for my stroller taking up space in a department store, no more getting stuck in huge festival crowds!  Plus, when I was wearing Little TF, I often scored a seat in the "priority seating" sections of the train.  (Everyone was probably just grateful I'd left the stroller at home).  Hooray for convenience and ease of transportation!



If you have a baby and haven't moved to Japan yet, I highly recommend snagging an Ergo.  You can buy them here or order them on Amazon, but they are on the expensive side.  It'd be great if you could find a good deal!  Ergo also makes infant inserts for young babies, and small clip-on attachments that can hold some diapers and wipes, or a snack.  Those might also be helpful!




Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!

A Temple For Hydrangeas.

Ever since moving to Japan, I've heard whispers of a hydrangea-filled temple in Kamakura.  A place so beautiful and chock-full of hydrangeas that tourists will wait in line for two hours. Hydrangeas are some of the last flowers to bloom in Japan's long, spring season. Since this is our last year in Japan, now was my final chance.  Ok, trying not to get misty-eyed here... I knew it was a sight I couldn't miss!

An ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) creation greeted us just inside the turnstile.

My friend and I set off, in much anticipation, for a morning of Hydrangea Viewing!  We connected in Fujisawa in order to catch the Enoden line's famous train.  The station was festively decorated for the season.  Hydrangeas, everywhere!

So vibrant they look fake.

There are other ways to get to our final destination, but I like to take the Enoden line whenever possible.  It curves around Sagami Bay, with only a street separating the track from the ocean.  On a clear day, lucky passengers will get an unparalleled view of Mt. Fuji.

Enoden's cars are famous for their cute, vintage look. Station shops sell models and other train paraphernalia. 

When we switched trains at Kamakura Station, that station was festive, too!  Wagashi posters featured special, hydrangea treats.  

Each "flower" is decorated with a small, green "hydrangea leaf."

In general, my sightseeing Plan Of Attack is to save season-specific outings for weekdays.  The concept of seasons and microseasons (see the above Wagashi link) is intrinsic to much of Japanese culture.  When there is a specific, seasonal event,  prepare for it to be packed.  Packed. We went on a Monday, which I figured was pretty safe.  I didn't count on the approaching typhoon (meh...tropical storm) that is blustering about the windows as I type this.  It seemed like everyone in Kamakura wanted to view the hydrangeas before the storm!

Crowds of floraphiles (is that a word?) filled the streets between the station and the temple.  We had to queue
outside the  temple in two lines.  Make sure you don't accidentally join the official tour groups (like us). Whoops!

The walk from the station was picturesque.  We passed an imposing, mountainside temple that needs to be visited another time. Rickshaw drivers waited patiently while their passengers angled get the perfect photo.  Mysterious restaurants were tucked behind stone lantern-dotted gardens.  And the closer we got to the Hydrangea Temple, the more the lush hydrangea bushes began to fill in the landscape.

A rickshaw waits for its next customer amongst the hydrangeas.

Not even at the temple and already overwhelmed. So many!

The real name of the Hydrangea Temple is Meigetsuin, which means "bright moon."  The temple has a very famous, moon-viewing window (which we didn't see, because we were busy swooning over hydrangeas) and images of bunnies, everywhere (Instead of the Old Man In The Moon, the Japanese see a bunny).  Meigetsuin is also affectionately known as Ajisai-dera..."Hydrangea Temple."  Bunnies and hydrangeas, all in the same place?  This might be my new, favorite temple!

The temple has about 2000 of the vivid, blue bushes, which were planted at the temple after World War II.  Hydrangea color can be affected by both soil pH and the amount of sunlight a plant receives.  Both elements must be fairly consistent throughout the temple precinct, as almost every single bloom at Ajisai-dera was a clean, incredibly vivid blue.  The sight of so many blooming hydrangeas rambling up the mountainside was breathtaking.

A look back at the gated entrance and the hydrangeas that cover the mountainside. 

A purple-tinged bush.

Even the Buddha embraces the season!

A couple admires the hydrangeas from underneath a tea umbrella.

Sometimes, words are not sufficient to describe such indescribable beauty.  All I can say is that Meigetsuin's hydrangeas were one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.  It was like we had stepped into heaven.  I have a new love for these blue blooms...they will always remind me of Japan and my visit to the Hydrangea Temple.

I hope the hydrangeas make it through this storm unscathed.  There were still many blooms waiting to make their appearance.  If you get a chance to go this week, take it!  If not, put it on your calendar for next mid-June.

Meigetsuin Temple is accessed via Kitakamakura Station and the Yokosuka and Shonan-Shinjuku Lines.  If you would like to take the scenic Enoden Line, switch at Kamakura and catch a local train. Exit at Kitakamakura Station, and follow the posted signs.  The temple is labeled, in English, as Meigetsuin.

During Hydrangea Season, the temple is open from 9 am until 5 pm.  There is an entrance fee of 500 yen. 


Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!