Yellow in Winter! - Wintersweet in Ueno Park 上野ぼたん苑の蝋梅

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Wintersweet or Japanese allspice

Chimonanthus praecox

"The brightness and warmth of yellow attracts people's eyes."

This is a description of yellow by Sachio Yoshioka, a late Japanese master dyer and textile historian who reproduced colors of Japan's natural surroundings and seasonal changes without using synthetic dyes. He wrote a book, "Dictionary of colors in Japan (Nihon [or Nippon] no iro jiten)," listing shades of colors according to Japanese color classification.

Yoshioka lists more than 20 varieties of yellow, and although it may sound strange, to me, the yellow of the wintersweet in the above photos seems closest to mimosa yellow.

I found the wintersweet (or chimonanthus praecox or Japanese allspice botanically and "robai" in Japanese) in the "peony" garden within the Ueno Park" in Tokyo, but the garden has many other beautiful plants and flowers, including the wintersweet and the miniature daffodils in the pictures below whose yellow seems lemon yellow according to Yoshioka's classification.

Miniature daffodils

Miniature daffodils

The cream yellow peony below is "Okan (meaning yellow crown)" or "High noon," one of the "27 Types of Winter Peonies" I enjoyed in the garden. This smelled so good, sweet and lemon scented, making this flower, combined with its yellow color, which, according to The Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists, attracts bugs for pollination, invincible in the world of survival of the fittest.  

Peony named "Okan" or "High noon"

Last but not least, the flower in the picture below was in full bloom in my neighborhood, but I could not find its name....

Flower whose name I don't know

Sachio Yoshioka passed away late last year. I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his family. His daughter, Sarasa, has taken over the dyeing workshop, which has lasted for more than 200 years in Kyoto.

(If you wish to post your comment but don't have a Google account, select "anonymous" from the drop down menu titled "comment as.")

先日、上野のぼたん苑について書いたのですが（"27 Types of Winter Peonies in Tokyo 冬の上野ぼたん苑"）、実は牡丹以外にもたくさんかわいいお花がありました。というわけで、今日はぼたん苑や家の近くで最近目にした「黄色」の花についてです。

上から、上野ぼたん苑の「蝋梅」と「ミニ水仙」と「黄冠（ぼたん）」、そして近所の名前の分からないお花です。染色家の吉岡幸男先生によると、黄色は「明るくあたたかい光を放って人間の目が強く引きつけられる色」とのこと。私の目も引きつけられました。園芸王子こと三上真史氏によると、冬に黄色の花が多いのは虫を引きつけて受粉させるためとのこと。植物も適者生存です｡｡｡

ちなみに吉岡先生の書かれた「日本の色辞典」によると、蝋梅は「ミモザイエロー」、ミニ水仙は「レモンイエロー」、黄冠（牡丹）は「クリームイエロー」に見えます。同じ黄色でもいろいろあるということがこの辞典を見るとよくわかります。

先日、吉岡先生が去年なくなられていたことを知りました。ご冥福を心よりお祈り申し上げます。

(Google アカウントを持ってない方がコメントする場合は、コメント記入後に「Google アカウント」をクリックし、「匿名」か「名前/URL」を選択してからご記入ください！)