Meigetsuin Temple

What to know

Meigetsuin Temple (明月院) is a Rinzai Zen temple founded in 1160 in Kamakura. It is popularly called Ajisaidera ("Hydrangea Temple") because of the profusion of hydrangeas that bloom on its grounds during the rainy season around June. About 95% of the hydrangeas are the Hime Ajisai ("Princess Hydrangea") variety, which are blue in color.

The temple was originally built as a memorial by a son for his father, who died during the power struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans in the late Heian Period (794–1185). Later it became part of a larger temple complex called Zenkoji, which was dissolved during the anti-Buddhist movements after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, leaving Meigetsuin as a standalone temple.

At the back of Meigetsuin's lush grounds stands the main hall (Hojo). It features a beautiful circular window that frames the view of the inner garden behind it. The inner garden is known for its irises and is open to visitors only for about two weeks each in June (when the irises bloom) and late November/early December (when autumn colors peak). An extra admission fee is charged.

Another highlight is the founder's hall (Soyudo), a thatched-roof building that enshrines the temple's founder and holds mortuary tablets of successive head priests. Next to it is a cave (yagura) dug into the hillside centuries ago. This cave served as a tomb and is among the largest of many such caves found in the hills around Kamakura.

Because of the temple's connection to the moon (Meigetsu means "bright moon" and can also phonetically mean "harvest moon"), rabbits are associated with it, referencing the Japanese folktale of a rabbit pounding mochi on the moon. Rabbit motifs appear on some temple decorations, and a few real rabbits are kept in cages.

Meigetsuin is a ten-minute walk from Kita-Kamakura Station.