The ten thousand hydrangeas are shaped like the jewel that the statue of Jizō holds in its hand.
From June to early July, visitors walk among about 60 varieties and ten thousand hydrangeas, planted from the 1960s onwards because their round shape recalls hōju, the jewel held by Jizō, a Buddhist deity that is very common in Japan.
The temple was founded in 675 by the future Emperor Tenmu, who prayed there for victory in the Jinshin Rebellion. It became a place of Jizō worship only later, in the Kōnin era (810–824), through the work of the monk Manmai.
🚉 Yata · 10 min walk
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