The Kanto-Koshin region entered the rainy season yesterday. That is seven days later than average and three days later than last year. No sooner said than a rainy-season break spread today. Under summer-strong sun I ran an errand as far as the government office complex at Kudanshita.
At Sumitomo Corporation Takebashi Building, just north of the Palaceside Building, pure white hydrangeas were in beautiful bloom. The characters for hydrangea, ajisai, are 紫陽花. Color is said to be set by soil pH; much of Japan’s soil is slightly acidic, so blue and blue-purple come easily.
Alkaline soil, they say, turns them pink. The color comes from a pigment called anthocyanin. White hydrangeas lack it. That, at least, is what the internet says.
Just before the office complex, blue-purple hydrangeas were in full bloom. Both are beautiful. I thought I would go back with an umbrella when a gentle rain is falling.