Plants and Flowers in Tokyo & Japanese Culture by Kei Narujima　東京の草花＆つぶやき

List of Cherry Blossoms　桜いろいろ

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Below are the cherry blossoms I've ever seen. Hope you'll enjoy them!

Blue Toadflax (Nuttallanthus Canadensis)　松葉雲蘭（マツバウンラン）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Blue toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis) is native to North America but can now be found across Japan, producing flowers from April to June. The environment has a lot to do with the growth of plants. Blue toadflax growing in full sun are much taller with "chubbier" flowers than those in less sun. My perception of blue toadflax has completely changed from "fragile" to "(unexpectedly) tough" since I saw the chubby ones.

2026/3/28

2025/4/11

Edohigan Cherry (Prunus Itosakura)　エドヒガン（江戸彼岸）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Edohigan cherry (Prunus itosakura) is one of the ten or eleven wild species of cherry trees native to Japan. "Edohigan" translates into "Tokyo higan," named after having being seen in many places around Tokyo, which had been called Edo before 1868 when renamed as Tokyo, and its characteristic of starting to flower in around the spring higan period, i.e., three days before and after the spring equinox (shunbun). Despite such a name, however, the cherry can now be found across Japan. Edohigan cherry trees can live for hundreds or even a thousand years, much longer than other cherry trees, whose lifespan is usually 60 to 100 years. Edohigan is a parent of Somei Yoshino but not only that. It's a parent of weeping cherry, too.

2026/3/29

Japanese Maple Flower Buds　カエデ（楓）の蕾

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

There are more than 130 types of maple trees, most of which are native to East Asia. Maple trees are known for their beautiful autumn leaves but they produce flowers from April to May, which are tiny and lovely, creating such a beautiful red and green contrast. After the flower season, they then produce samaras, which look like two bladed propellers. Maple always reminds me of maple syrup candies made by Laura in Little House in the Big Woods. Her way of making them, i.e., dribbling the syrup onto the snow, intrigued me.

2026/3/29

Somei Yoshino Cherry Blossoms (Prunus x Yedoensis)　染井吉野（ソメイヨシノ）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms (Prunus x yedoensis or Cerasus x yedoensis). There are a variety of cherry trees but Somei Yoshino is so special in Japan that the term "cherry blossoms" often means Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms are all gorgeous but differently from other flowers, i.e., always associated with death or ephemerality because of their short life span of one to two weeks.

The beauty reminds me of "The Makioka Sisters" by Junichiro Tanizaki, which ends with cherry blossoms viewing in Kyoto. The novel has no plot but is so intriguingly beautiful, based on the real life of the sisters of Tanizaki's wife, with a writing style which currently may not be necessarily popular due to long sentences. Its original title "sasame yuki" translates to "light snow," a metaphor of the Makioka family, which is declining and therefore showing the ephemeral beauty as cherry blossoms. The novel was translated into English by Edward G. Seidensticker. It's pretty long but worthwhile reading if you're interested in Japanese culture.

Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms are pinkish white as opposed to Oshima cherry blossoms, which at first are whitish pink, then turn to baby pink. If you're interested in other types of cherry blossoms, read the posts below!!

2023/3/29

2025/4/6

2026/3/28

Weeping Cherry Blossoms　枝垂桜（シダレザクラ）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

There're a variety of cherry blossoms and every type is beautiful, but weeping cherry blossoms are a bit different with flexible strength, don't you think? Below are the cherry blossoms I've seen so far. If you're interested, read these posts!

Somei Yoshino cherry (Prunus x yedoensis or Cerasus x yedoensis)

2026/3/28

Japanese Andromeda (Pieris Japonica)　アセビ（馬酔木）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Japanese andromeda is native to, and can be found across, Japan. The plant usually produces white flowers but another type Japanese andromeda 'Rosea' (Pieris japonica f. Rosea), produces pink flowers. The plant's Japanese name is "asebi (馬酔木)," which translates into "a tree which makes horses drunk" because horses that eat this plant look drunk due to a toxin contained in it. Deer in the Nara Koen park in the Nara prefecture don't eat this plant (how clever they are!), resulting in many Japanese andromeda trees left growing in the park. Japanese andromeda is known for its pretty flowers but its fruits (scroll down!) are also beautiful.

2026/3/25

Oshima and Yoshino Cherry Blossoms - Which is Which?　大島桜と染井吉野の見分け方

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

It's very difficult to distinguish Oshima cherry (Prunus speciosa) from Somei Yoshino cherry (Prunus x yedoensis). Both are whitish pink, resembling each other. But there are a couple of clear differences.

First, Oshima cherry trees start to produce white flowers and green leaves at almost the same time while Somei Yoshino produces whitish pink blossoms first and then green leaves after flowers fall. You can see this by comparing the first two photos. Secondly, Oshima cherry blossoms turn whitish pink just before falling while Somei Yoshino blossoms don't. They're just whitish pink from the beginning to the end. Thirdly, although both are pink, the pink is slightly different because Oshima cherry blossoms change color, resulting in them having a gradient from pure white to pale (slightly reddish) pink toward the end of the blossom season whereas Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms' pink is a little smoky.

If you want to compare these two in more detail, read the posts below.

If you're interested in brighter pink cherry blossoms, such as Yoko, Okame, Kawazu, and Taiwan cherry blossoms, click the link(s)!

2026/3/24 Somei Yoshino

2026/3/24 Oshima

Common Vetch (Vicia Sativa)　ヤハズエンドウ（矢筈豌豆）/ カラスノエンドウ（烏野豌豆）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Common vetch (Vicia sativa) is native to the Orient and the Mediterranean regions but now can be found across Japan. The vetch produces pink purple flowers from March to June in Japan. They're edible and used to be eaten but no longer (so often) although some say vetch tempura is tasty on the internet.

The vetch has two Japanese names, "yahazu endo" and "karasuno endo." The former "yahazu endo" means the "nock of an arrow pea" due to the resemblance of nock shape and the vetch's leaf shape while "karasuno endo" means "crow pea" due to the color of vetch fruits when ripe, which is black like crow feather. It's confusing but interesting that its leaves and fruits both draw attention, resulting in such a small plant having two names, which should suggest its popularity in Japan.

2026/3/22

In Japan, Choose Your Words to AVOID Clarity...　言葉を選ばないとそうなりますね。。。

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

"Choose your words for the right purpose." That is what I would like to say to Japanese people because of what happened several weeks ago.

Pale Speedwell (Veronica Cymbalaria)　コゴメイヌノフグリ（小米犬の陰嚢）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Pale speedwells (Veronica cymbalaria) are native to Europe. Speedwells can be found across Japan, but this type isn't so prevalent as other speedwells and can be found in and around Tokyo. (I took these pictures in Tokyo.)

Pale speedwell's Japanese name is "kogome inu no fuguri," translating into "small rice dog balls." The name contains "small rice" because of its size and color and "dog balls" for a terrible reason, which you can read here. If you're interested in other speedwells, read the following posts!

Grey field-speedwell (Veronica polita) ➡ イヌノフグリ or "dog balls"
Persian speedwell (Veronica persica) ➡ オオイヌノフグリ or "large dog balls"
Corn speedwell (Veronica arvensis) ➡ タチイヌノフグリ or "standing dog balls"
Ivy-leaved speedwell (Veronica hederifolia) ➡ ツタバイヌノフグリ（フラサバソウ） or "ivy-leaved dog balls"

2026/3/16