Hamayu (Lily of the valley) at Nijinohama is in bloom.

The day is almost over!

On July 1 (Thu.), the flowering of the hama-yu (Japanese spindle tree) began at the " Niinohama hama-yu community " in the Hioki district of Nagato City.

Usually the best time to see the flowers is during the swimming season in July and August, but this year the flowers have started blooming early and are expected to be seen earlier than usual.

Hamayu at Nijinohama

On the sandy beach of Niinohama, large evergreen perennial grasses called hama-yu (also known as hamaomoto) grow in clusters and usually come into full bloom during the swimming season in July and August, when their pretty white flowers are in full bloom. The name "hama-yu" (meaning "white cotton") is derived from the fact that the flowers hang down in white like cotton (yu). The flowers begin to open in the evening and fully bloom at midnight. The thick stems bear more than a dozen fragrant white flowers. The hama-yu is a plant that grows naturally along the coast of warm countries, and the northern limit of its habitat on the Sea of Japan side is Niinohama in Nagato City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, so it is not easy to see it further north. In 1956, this hamayu was designated as a prefectural natural monument.

Niinohama Beach

Niinohama Beach (* under adjustment for opening in 2021) is a beach on the Sea of Japan coast located in the Kita-Nagato Kaigan National Park in Nagato City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in the San'in region. It is a small sandy beach with a length of approximately 400 m that is influenced by the warm Tsushima Current. Niinohama Beach was selected as one of the eight beaches in Japan with particularly good water quality in the "2012 Bathing Beach Water Quality Survey Results" published by the Ministry of the Environment in July 2012. The gradation of the white fine sandy beach and the emerald green to cobalt blue ocean is very beautiful. After the bathing season ends, surfing is popular and marine sports can be enjoyed. Legend has it that Nijino-no-hama, a Heike woman who was defeated in the battle of Dannoura between the Heike and Taira clans, threw herself into the sea with the young Emperor Antoku in her arms, and her corpse was washed up on this beach by the Kuroshio Current. The corpse was carried by the Kuroshio Current and washed up on this beach.

Related Links

• Niinohama Hamayu Hamayu colony