Aucuba Japonica (Japanese Laurel) 青木（アオキ）

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

These are the berries of aucuba japonica or more commonly known as Japanese laurel at the Hama Rikyu Garden in Tokyo. Round red fruits are often seen but oval ones are unusual. 

The name "aucuba" is derived from one of its Japanese names "aokiba," meaning "blue leaf" because the leaves and stems are "blue" through the year. Blue? You think I mistook "green" for "blue"?

I didn't! In Japan, people use "blue" for "green." For example, they say "blue" traffic lights and "blue" apples, instead of "green" lights and "green" apples. This is because Japan used to have only four colors, white, black, red and blue, and the then "blue" included green. In "The Man'yoshu," the oldest existing collection of waka or Japanese poetry, compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period (710-784), green leaves were described as "blue" leaves. The color green was differentiated from blue in the 10th century.

The Hama Rikyu Garden, about 62 acres, was built by Tsunashige Tokugawa in 1654 on reclaimed land from Tokyo Bay. The garden was transferred to the Imperial Household Agency in 1870, then to Tokyo in 1945 and opened as a public garden in the following year. You can always enjoy some flowers/plants from cherry blossoms to autumn foliage in the garden.

 Aucuba japonica 青木

 Japanese laurel アオキ

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浜離宮庭園で見かけた青木（アオキ）です。丸い赤い実はよく見かけますが、楕円の実は珍しいです。アオキの名は、四季を通じて常緑で葉も枝も常に緑（青）だから。学名の「Aucuba」は和名のアオキバ（青木葉）に由来します。

ちなみになぜ「緑」を「青」というかご存じですか。日本にはもともと「白、黒、赤、青」の４つしかなく、緑は青に含まれていたからだそうです。（万葉集では緑の木々を「あを（青）」と呼んでいたそうです。）

１０世紀になると「緑」が出てきて、平安時代末期から鎌倉時代には青と緑がはっきり区別されたらしいのですが、その後も日本人は緑のものを青と呼ぶそうです。チコちゃんに教えてもらいました。

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