Chinese Cucumber (Trichosanthes Kirilowii) キカラスウリ（黄烏瓜）

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Chinese cucumbers (Trichosanthes kirilowii) are native to China and Japan. They're dioecious, producing white "hairy" flowers from June to September and fruits from August to October. The fruits are green at first and then turn yellow. They're edible but not tasty. Someone says on the internet that he would never eat it unless famine comes😆. It's not so difficult to find Chinese cucumber flowers in Tokyo but not so when it comes to the fruits. It seems Chinese cucumbers are removed when the flower season is over.     

When you see the flowers, you would likely see pumpkin beetles (Aulacophora nigripennis), too. Pumpkin beetles are harmful but their tininess, agility and color contrast between orange and black never fails to bring me a smile.  

2022/6/28

2024/6/12

Bamboo-Leaf Oak (Quercus Myrsinifolia) シラカシ（白樫）

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The bamboo-leaf oak (Quercus myrsinifolia) is native to eastern Asia and can be found across Japan. The tree produces flowers from April to May and then fruits, i.e., acorns. What I find most fun is to observe their growth. They're tiny and pale green at first, then getting chubbier while turning matcha green then brown toward autumn. The baby acorns still have styles, which are part of the pistils.  

2026/8/11

2026/6/19

Sawtooth Oak (Quercus Acutissima) クヌギ（櫟）

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The sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima) is native to North East Asia and can be found across Japan. The tree is known for its acorns but its calybia and cupules are beautiful and so are its flowers, produced from April to May (scroll down), which always remind me of a "noren" or bead curtain hung at the entrance of many izakaya restaurants in Japan😆.     

By the way, the term "noren" has another meaning in Japan, that is, goodwill for accounting and tax purposes because noren, which often has a trade name on it, is believed to represent customers' trust and brand value. Noren or goodwill is generally amortized over 20 years or less under Japanese GAAP and 5 years for Japanese tax purposes but not amortized but impaired when devalued for IFRS purposes. Why so different?  

As a relatively conservative country, Japan has preferred to take a conservative approach that goodwill, i.e., value in excess of market value, should decline as time goes by. Japan also doesn't like an impairment test, which could be manipulated by the management. Which approach would you choose?   

2026/8/9

Common Straight Swift (Parnara Guttata) イチモンジセセリ（一文字挵）

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The common straight swift (Parnara guttata) can be found across, and is loved in, Japan. Moths open wings when resting while most butterflies rest with their wings closed but common straight swift butterflies sometimes rest with open wings to absorb the warmth of the sun, thanks to which I've learned that their back is green (scroll down). Also scroll down to see an ant carrying a dead common straight swift.  

The common straight swift's Japanese name is "ichimonji seseri," which translates into "straight line skipper" after its white spots in a straight line while small branded swift (Pelopidas mathias), which has white spots in a circle, has a Japanese name "chabane seseri," which translates into "brown wing skipper."   

I really love common straight swift butterflies for their squirrel-like cute eyes. 

2026/8/7

Giant Crinum Lily (Crinum Asiaticum) ハマユウ（浜木綿）

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Giant crinum lilies (Crinum asiaticum) are native to tropical and eastern Asia and can be found in mainly the southern half of Japan, producing white flowers in summer. As you can see from the flower shape, the lilies are in the Amaryllidaceae family, the same as red spider lilies and so are toxic in their entirety. The thin orangish things on the flower are stamens.

Giant crinum lilies have been loved by Japanese people for so long that the Man'yōshū, i.e., the oldest extant collection of Japanese waka (poetry in Classical Japanese) compiled during the Nara period (710 to 794), includes a waka about the lilies. More than ten municipalities in Japan have designated the lilies as their flower. 

2024/9/3

Hamilton's Spindletree (Euonymus Hamiltonianus) マユミ（檀）

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Some plants bring you happiness through the year and Hamilton's spindletree (Euonymus hamiltonianus) is one of them. The plant is native to East Asia and can be found across Japan. It produces tiny cream flowers from May to June and fruits in autumn. The fruits are four-lobed and green at the beginning, then turn pale pink, and crack to show seeds with red arils in autumn.

A good thing about photographing plants is to make people more talkative. When I was photographing the fruits in September, two women approached me asking what they were. I said they were the fruits of Hamilton's spindletree but the women insisted they couldn't be fruits but buds to flower soon. It was fun talking with strangers about little things.

2026/4/24

2025/5/9

Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia Indica) サルスベリ（百日紅）

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Crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) is native to China, coming to Japan before the Edo period (1603 - 1867) and can now be found across Japan. The tree produces flowers in various colors, white, pink, and red. Its leaves turn orange and red beautifully in autumn and the dark brown fruits are also beautiful.   

The crepe myrtle has two names in Japan, "saru suberi," which translates to "monkeys slip" because of its slippery bark, on which even monkeys (are said to) slip, and "hyaku jitsu ko," which translates to "red for one hundred days," after that the crepe myrtle flowers bloom for a long period of time.

According to Flower Meanings, the crepe myrtle flower means;
- Prosperity;
- Good luck;
- Chastity;
- Good luck in love and marriage; and
- Marital fidelity.

But here in Japan, it means:

- Eloquence;
- Charm and;
- Carelessness.

2026/8/5

2022/8/1

Persian Silk Tree (Albizia Julibrissin) ネムノキ（合歓木）

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Persian silk trees or pink silk trees (Albizia julibrissin) are native to southwestern and eastern Asia and can be found across Japan, producing "silk-like" pink flowers from June to July in Japan. They fold their leaves during the night, which makes them look asleep, so their Japanese name is "nemu no ki," which translates to "sleeping tree."  

A Persian silk tree is popular in Japan as suggested by it being a kigo* for summer. It's also often used as a theme for paintings, such as the one in the last photo "Sparrow in a silk tree" by Keibun Matsumura at Tokyo National Museum.

* Kigo are words or phrases that are associated with a particular season in haiku or Japanese poetry.

Persian silk trees are in the Fabaceae family, so produce seed pods which resemble flattened bean pods (scroll down). 

2023/9/9

White-Banded Hunter Hawkmoth (Theretra Oldenlandiae) セスジスズメ（背筋雀）

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Impatiens hawkmoths or white-banded hunter hawkmoths (Theretra oldenlandia) can be found across Japan. Their caterpillars are beautifully black with a stark contrast with orange spots while the adults are cool, looking like fighter aircrafts. The adults can be found from May to October in Japan.   

2026/8/5

2026/8/5

Purple Heart (Tradescantia Pallida) ムラサキゴテン（紫御殿）

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Purple heart (Tradescantia pallida) is native to Mexico, came to Japan in around 1955, and can now be found across the country. The plant produces purple flowers from June to September, which creates a beautiful contrast with its deep purple leaves and yellow stamens.  

Speaking of purple, Japan has several types of purple, e.g., Kyo murasaki or Kyoto purple and Edo murasaki or Tokyo purple. Both are made from purple gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon), but Kyoto purple is older and more reddish than Tokyo purple.

I compared the two purple colors, wondering which purple the Tradescantia pallida leaves are, but couldn't decide. To me, these leaves look just between Kyoto and Tokyo purple. So, I have decided to call it "Nagoya" purple, i.e., the purple of a city between Kyoto and Tokyo!😆

2026/8/4

2020/10/6

Apple Mint (Mentha Suaveolens) アップルミント

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A weevil was resting on, and a bee was gathering pollen from, flowers of apple mints in my neighborhood. They're growing on the sidewalk. I have no idea about how they got there. 

2026/6/13

2026/6/13