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

薄ピンクのツバキ

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I've seen Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica) blooms many times but it's my first time to see such beautiful pale pink blooms with no spots. While I was photographing them, a horsefly came, starting to have breakfast (2nd and 3rd photos).

2026/2/23

Red Deadnettle (Lamium Purpureum)　ヒメオドリコソウ（姫踊子草）

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Red deadnettle (Lamium purpureum) is native to Europe and came to Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1912) and now can be found across Japan. The plant resembles henbit deadnettle very much but their leaf colors differ. Red deadnettle's leaves are (as the name suggests) reddish while henbit deadnettle's leaves are green. I often mistook red deadnettle for henbit but not anymore. The 6th photo shows myrmecochory, i.e., the dispersal of seeds by ants.

2026/2/23

2024/3/20

Japanese Andromeda 'Rosea' (Pieris Japonica F. Rosea)　アケボノアセビ（曙馬酔木）

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Japanese andromeda usually produces white flowers but this type, i.e., 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.

2026/2/22

2025/3/4

Winter Daphne (Daphne Odora)　沈丁花

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Winter daphne (Daphne odora) is native to China but can be found across Japan. From February to April daphne flowers are so fragrant that even I, who have a stuffy nose due to hay fever, can enjoy their citrus like fragrance through a mask. Winter daphne produces red berries in spring, but don't even think of eating. They're very toxic. Most of them in Japan are male, though.

2026/2/22

Kawazu Cherry (Cerasus x Kanzakura 'Kawazu-Zakura')　カワヅサクラ（河津桜）

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Kawazu cherry is a crossbreed of Oshima cherry (Prunus speciosa) and Taiwan cherry (Prunus campanulata) and named in 1972 after the Kawazu town, Shizuoka prefecture (Source: Kawazu town tourist association). Kawazu cherry trees bloom from early February to March, a little earlier than other cherry trees. A Kawazu cherry blossoms festival is held in the town every February.

Below is a list I've enjoyed viewing for the last couple of years. Hope you'll enjoy them, too!

2025/3/9

It's Okay for Women to be Assertive in Japan

In Japan, people often say it's important to read the air, that is, understand the unspoken wishes, and satisfy such wishes not to be marginalized. And this is truer of women. Below is a case I experienced many years ago when working for a large Japanese bank where I understood the intention of my supervisor but did not satisfy it.

Weeping Plum Blossoms　しだれ梅

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You can find many Chinese plum trees in Tokyo but not so many when it comes to weeping ones. Usual plum blossoms are beautiful but weeping plum blossoms are more gorgeous and spectacular when in full bloom!

Plants make people more talkative. A Hamilton's spindletre tree did so and plum trees did so, too. And thanks to that, I learned about the only weeping Japanese plum tree in my neighborhood (as far as I know) and was able to take these pictures.

The last three photos were taken three years ago in Ueno, Tokyo on a late afternoon when the Moon started rising in the sky.

2025/2/22

2026/2/8

2026/2/12

White Japanese Camellia　白椿

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In winter, you would see sasanqua camellias in many places in Tokyo. You would also find red Japanese camellias quite often, but not white Japanese camellias. The flowering season of Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica) is from December to April, the end of which overlaps with the beginning of the cherry blossom season. White Japanese camellias mean "perfection," "admiration," and "lovely."

2025/2/9

Plants in the Snow　雪の日の花たち

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It's snowing in Central Tokyo, which is unusual and fun!

2026/2/8 Weeping Japanese apricot 枝垂れ梅

2026/2/8

2026/2/8 Sasanqua camellia 山茶花

2026/2/8 Wintersweet 蝋梅

Japanese Camellia 'Bokuhan-Nishiki' (Camellia Japonica 'Bokuhan-Nishiki')　（ボクハンツバキ）卜伴椿

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I've seen red, white, and pink Japanese camellias. I've seen single, double, and thousand-flowered Japanese camellias. I've seen variegated Japanese camellias, too. But never these ones. They're Japanese camellia 'Bokuhan-nishiki' (Camellia japonica 'Bokuhan-nishiki'). Their mophead-like flower center is very unique, isn't it? The flower center consists of petals, which have been transformed from stamens, a different type of transformation gone through by thousand-flowered Japanese camellias, whose stamens (and pistils) have changed into petals and disappeared.

The camellia is named after Bokuhan, a Japanese tea master in the Edo period, who loved the camellia.

2026/1/24

Persian Buttercup (Ranunculus Asiaticus)　ラナンキュラス

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Persian buttercups (Ranunculus asiaticus) are native to Europe and West Asia but can be found in many places in Japan. The buttercup symbolizes "radiant charm," "attractiveness," and "dazzling beauty" and this is understandable given their layered petal details, which makes the bloom so gorgeous.

Ranunculus was originally yellow and single-flowered, but another variety of ranunculi was developed to meet people's demand for flowers which look like roses but bloom before roses. So, this multi-layered cultivar of ranunculus is a substitute for roses, but now the substitute is equal to or even more beautiful than the original.

2026/1/18