What do you think they are? Bugs? I first thought so and that's why I stopped to look at these strange looking plant...
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| Big Quaking Grass 小判草 |
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| Its Japanese name is "gold coin grass" 英語名は「揺れている大きい草」 |
At home, I was relieved to find that they are not bugs, but spikelets of a big quaking grass!
Big quaking grass is called "koban grass" in Japan named after "koban" or Japanese oval gold coins used in the Edo period. I like this very cute Japanese name, and it reminds of something unrelated to any plant or flower.
Japan has a unique police system called "koban" or "police box" and has 6,260 kobans or police boxes across the nation as of 2018 according to the National Police Agency.
Both are "koban," but their pronunciations are different. The big quaking grass "koban" is pronounced as "koban" while the police box "koban" as "kohban" or "kouban".... So, if you come to Japan, get lost and want to go to a police box to ask for directions, say "ko-----ban," not "koban"!
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最初は虫かな｡｡｡と思いました。でもなんか忘れらなくて家に帰って調べたら「小判草」という植物だと分かりました。
小判の形だから「小判草」。英語だと「big quaking grass（大きくて揺れている草）」。和名のほうが風情があるのではないでしょうか☺
「小判」で思い出したのが「交番」。前を通るたび、いつも心の中で「コバン♬コバン♬」と歌っているのは私だけでしょうか｡｡｡｡🙇
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