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Visit the Ajisai Festival this season

By on May 23, 2018

Short and t-shirt weather is on the way but it isn’t entirely the end of the spring until you’ve experienced the joyous explosion of life.

 

What better way to briefly escape from your stressful Tokyo life than to enjoy Japan’s flowering season at Odawara Castle’s Festival of Hydrangaes (Ajisai Matsuri) ?

 

More than 2,500 white, purple and pink Hydrangaes (Ajisais) planted over the sprawling gardens of the Odawara Castle create a perfect dazzling spectacle for families. Although the star of the show is Ajisai, the Ajisai Matsuri also shares the spotlight with 7,000 beautiful Iris blossoms. Every year at this time of year, many visitors flock to Odawara where celebratory events are held to put people in the flower-viewing mood. No major festival in Japan starts without a Taiko drum performance so expect to be entertained on the first day (June 2). A saxophone concert follows the next weekend (June 9) from 6:30 – 8 pm. High school students provide Japanese music on the weekend of June 16 from 2 pm. Another taiko drum performance wraps up the 2-week long matsuri on the last day, June 17 from 3 pm.

The Ajisai festival runs from June 2 (Saturday) until June 17 (Sunday) at the Odawara Castle Honmaru Higashi Hori Iris Garden. The peak flowering period starts early in June and, weather permitting, the beautiful flowers may still be viewable up until early July.

The Odawara Castle, a famous landmark in Kanagawa, Japan which sits on top of a hill, is just a 90-minute train ride from central Tokyo.

 

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