Oxalis Crassipes Alba (White Wood Sorrel) 白い酢漿草（カタバミ）

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

They're oxalis crassipes alba or more commonly known as white wood sorrel blooming at the garden of the Kujokan teahouse in Tokyo National Museum. The white color against the green leaves is so beautiful. 

I visit the museum several times a year, but these days I go there to see netsuke on show indoors and plants and bugs in the garden rather than paintings and artefacts. Sadly for the museum, but luckily for visitors, the museum is quiet and relaxing with few people. If you have a chance to come to Tokyo after the pandemic, you should definitely go there. After enjoying art, you can also enjoy nice Japanese food and sake in Yanaka Ginza district!    

Oxalis crassipes alba 白い酢漿草

Kujokan teachouse in Tokyo National Museum 東京国立博物館の九条館

Netsuke "Humpty Dumpty" 根付「ハンプティ・ダンプティ」

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This 3 cm long porcelain is netsuke, titled "Humpty Dumpty" on display at the Tokyo National Museum. It was crafted by Lynn Richardson.

I didn't understand why this Humpty Dumpty netsuke was broken into three parts until I read the nursery rhyme below. I knew about Humpty Dumpty, but I thought Lewis Carroll created the character for Through the Looking-Glass.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

We don’t truly understand the real meaning of something without its background information. That’s why I enjoy writing for this blog—it pushes me to research everything from Humpty Dumpty to flowers and bugs, deepening my understanding of the world around me.

 

A netsuke is a small carved ornament, especially of ivory or wood, worn as part of Japanese traditional dress as a toggle by which an article may be attached to the sash of a kimono (Source: Lexico). If you love netsuke, check out this list to see dozens of items!

Netsuke "Humpty Dumpty" 根付「ハンプティ・ダンプティ」

Lespedeza Japonica Bailey cv. Versicolor (Variegated Bush Clover) 染め分け萩（ソメワケハギ）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is lespedeza japonica Bailey cv. Versicolor or variegated bush clover at Tokyo National Museum. I've seen bush clovers with pink flowers, and I knew bush clovers have white flowers. I also knew that a peach and a Japanese apricot tree have red and white flowers on the same tree. But I didn't know that bush clovers can also have pink and white flowers on the same tree!!

It was my first visit to the museum for the last six months. I hadn't gone out for nearly half a year except for an early morning walk until yesterday, hoping that the Covid-19 situation would be better this autumn, but obviously it's not. Covid-19 positive cases in Japan/Tokyo "officially" have decreased, but severe cases are still more than the peak of the fourth wave. The reason is that the number of "known" cases may have decreased, but total cases including hidden ones must've increased, resulting in the increased severe cases and the collapse of the medical system in Tokyo and other areas. 

Japan is planning to lift the state of emergency on October 1 because of the "apparent" decrease in positive cases, but this means people, whether vaccinated or not, will start going out to enjoy eating and drinking. That's why I went to the museum before that happens. And sadly, I won't likely be able to go out for a while or don't know when I'll be able to visit the museum next time.      

Lespedeza japonica Bailey cv. Versicolor 染め分け萩

   

Variegated bush clover ソメワケハギ

A Baby Conifer Cone 赤ちゃん松かさ

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

I wrote about green female conifer cones in August, and I thought at that time I learned everything about the cones, but I was wrong. Now I've learned that the pine tree produces male and female flowers (or strobili) and that the female flowers turn cones like the green ones I saw in August (or in the 3rd photo). In other words, all pine cones are female!   

So, you're looking at the growing process of pine cones from a newborn baby girl cone (1st photo), to cones like toddlers (2nd photo), then green young cones (3rd photo)!      

A newborn baby girl flower (or strobilus) 生まれたての雌花

Kudzu (Japanese Arrowroot) 葛（クズ）

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

The plant had many large vibrant green leaves, which made me wonder what it was. Then, it suddenly produced pink flowers, which surprised me, but what surprised me more was that it was kudzu or more commonly known as Japanese arrowroot.

I was surprised😲 because I didn't expect kudzu to be growing in my neighborhood in Tokyo. Kudzu is an ingredient of kudzu powder, the main ingredient of "kudzu mochi dumplings," a jelly-like local sweet in Yoshino, a southern part of the Nara prefecture! Kudzu mochi are so yummy and my favorite sweet😋

There is, however, a sad surprise, too. Kudzu is called "the vine that ate the South," designated as an invasive species in the US😂

By the way, in Japan, "kudzu" or "葛" in Chinese character* is pronounced the same as the following terms:

• くず (hiragana character), meaning waste, trash and bastard
• クズ (katakana character), meaning waste, trash and bastard
• 屑 (Chinese character*), meaning waste, trash and bastard

As a great fan of "kudzu mochi" dumplings, I feel sad that "kudzu" can mean "waste and trash, bastard"!😂

* The Japanese language uses three characters: hiragana character, katakana character and Chinese character.

Kudzu 葛

Netsuke in Shape of Clustered Masks 面寄牙彫根付

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This 3 cm long sculpture is a netsuke in the shape of clustered masks on display at the Tokyo National Museum this March. It was carved by Jugyoku from ivory, and it is so colorful and cute!

The green mask represents an oni (an ogre or demon) in Japanese folklore, and the white one represents Okame (or Otafuku), an always-smiling woman who brings happiness. I am pretty sure about these two, but I have no idea—and couldn't find any information—about the orange one.

A netsuke is a small carved ornament, especially of ivory or wood, worn as part of Japanese traditional dress as a toggle by which an article may be attached to the sash of a kimono (Source: Lexico). If you love netsuke, check out this list to see more than 40 items!

Netsuke in shape of clustered masks by Jugyoku from ivory 面寄牙彫根付 寿玉作 象牙

Fruit of Cornus Kousa (Kousa Dogwood) 山法師（ヤマボウシ）の実

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

This tiny red bumpy ball of 1 or 2 cm in diameter is the fruit of cornus kousa or more commonly kousa dogwood. I'd watched it for nearly a month, looking forward to seeing other green fruits turn red. But before that, I found this only red fruit gone the day after taking the first photo. And that reminded me of a funny tragedy😆 a long time ago. 

My mom grew a cactus in the garden of our house. She took good care of it, looking forward to seeing it have small red flowers. One day she found a bud. She was excited, but a few days later she found it gone. She was sad but on the following day, she found another bud. Again she was excited, but finding it gone again on the following day. Such mysterious disappearances happened several times. We talked about it but didn't find any reasonable answers. 

One day, we saw our neighbors, a little sister Hana, who was 3 or 4 years old, and her baby brother Taro, who was still in a diaper, playing together in their garden next to ours. Then, we were astonished to see Taro toddling across the garden and coming straight to the cactus, carefully observing it and picking the buds!! We exchanged glances, bursting into laughter😄 The mystery solved. We put the cactus pod on a high shelf.  

Cornus kousa fruit 山法師の実

Netsuke "Daoist Immortal and Child" 根付「仙人と唐子」

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This 4 cm boxwood sculpture is a netsuke titled "Sennin and Karako" (meaning "Daoist immortal and child"), carved by Seiho Azuma. It was on show this March at the Tokyo National Museum. A netsuke is a small, carved ornament—typically made of ivory or wood—worn as a toggle in traditional Japanese dress to attach items to a kimono sash (Source: Lexico).

Daoist immortals attained their status through spiritual practice, and I have always been fascinated by them. In particular, I am a great fan of Fukurokuju—one of these immortals and the Japanese god of wisdom, luck, longevity, wealth, and happiness. He is famous for having a head that is almost as large as his entire body. I like him so much that I’ve written about several Fukurokuju netsuke. If you are interested in them, take a look at this post.

Secondly, I like sweet autumn clematis—known as the 'Daoist immortal plant' in Japanese—because its fluffy achenes look like the beard of a Daoist immortal. I also wrote about this flower a few days ago.

Thirdly, I'm also a great fan of the Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892 - 1927), who must have liked Daoist immortals deeply, as he wrote two short stories both titled 'Daoist Immortal.' Ryunosuke Akutagawa took his own life at the age of 35 but is regarded as the 'father of the Japanese short story.' The Akutagawa Prize, Japan's premier literary award, is named after him. It's so sad and ironic that someone so interested in immortals ended his own life at such a young age.

If you love netsuke, check out this list of over 40 stunning pieces!

"Daoist immortal and child" by Seiho Azuma, boxwood「仙人と唐子」東声方作 黄楊

Clematis Terniflora (Sweet Autumn Clematis) 仙人草（センニンソウ）

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

These are the flowers of clematis terniflora or more commonly known as sweet autumn clematis. The thin white petals with long stamens and a cricket are so beautiful and cute! I first mistook the flowers for white gaura because white gaura flowers were shaking in the wind nearby, and both are white and have long stamens, but the petal shapes are different. 

Sweet autumn clematis has several Japanese names, including "hermit plant" and "plant that horses don't eat." The name "hermit plant" was given because its achene is fluffy, looking like a hermit's beard while the name "plant that horses don't eat" because of its toxicity. 

Clematis terniflora with a cricket 仙人草と興梠

A Spider🕷 on a Web 蜘蛛🕷と巣

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

Can you see what this is? If not in the first photo, try the second and the third (taken from the left and right sides) to closely see something on this white fluffy thing among green leaves. 

Taking photos of bugs (spiders aren't bugs though) is different from taking plant pictures. Capturing the moment is more difficult when taking bug pictures. So when I found the spider, being afraid that it'd be gone soon, I (not a photographer though😁) kept pressing the shutter button no matter how many mosquito bites I got😂!! But it was worthwhile. Next day, the spider was gone. 

From above 上から

From the left side - can you see its legs? 左から