Vinca Major (Greater Periwinkle) 蔓日々草（ツルニチニチソウ）

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

These are Vinca major or more commonly known as greater periwinkle. I love the flower for the color contrast between the violet purple petals and deep green leaves.   

They're on the roadside, growing like weeds, but they aren't weeds. According to Wikipedia, Vinca major is grown mainly for ornamental purposes. They're beautiful and energetic, which I always admire!

Vinca Major 蔓日々草

Pink and White Plum Blossoms on A Tree 源平咲きの梅

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

This is a Prunus mume tree with pink and white flowers both on it. It started to bloom ten days ago, but at that time, it had only white flowers. Because I know how hard it is for Japanese apricot trees to have pink flowers, I almost gave up on seeing pink plum blossoms on this tree this year. So finding a pink and a white flowers back to back yesterday made me feel relieved. If you're interested in how the color of Japanese apricot flowers is determined, read the passage below. If you want to see a half-pink-half-white plum flower, click HERE! 

Scientifically, there's no white Prunus mume tree, but red Prunus mume trees have white flowers when the trees cannot produce enough anthocyanins to make flowers red (or pink). It means that this tree tries to produce red flowers, but it doesn't have enough anthocyanins to make all the flowers red (or pink). 

P.S. My mom is from Hiroshima and her relatives were killed by the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima. I'm against nuclear weapons and very angry with not only Russia's invasion of Ukraine but also Putin's remark on the potential use of nuclear weapons. I'm also ashamed that Japan hasn't signed yet the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 

 

Pink and white Japanese apricot flowers back-to-back 背中合わせの源平咲き

Oxalis Purpurea Can Be White😆 白の芙蓉酢漿草

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

This is Oxalis purpurea or more commonly known as purple woodsorrel. The name says it's purple, but the flower can be white or pink. Because I took these pictures right after the sunrise, they still seem sleepy...😪

Spring is a time of rebirth, which always makes me feel excited but at the same time nervous because to be reborn, I need to leave my comfort zone...

Purple woodsorrel フヨウカタバミ

Kobuku Cherry Has Many Children! 子福桜は子沢山！

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

I first thought they were winter cherry blossoms but they're double flowered. I googled and concluded they were Cerasus 'Kobuku-zakura' Ohwi or more commonly known as in Japanese "cherry blessed with many children😊." 

October cherry and "cherry-blessed-with-many-children" are both winter cherry trees, flowering in winter, and not that gorgeous like other usual cherry trees blooming in spring, but I like their delicate beauty. 

"Cherry-blessed-with-many-children" is named as such because a single flower produces several fruits. 

Cerasus 'Kobuku-zakura' Ohwi 子福桜

Forget-Me-Not is Easy to Translate! 勿忘草の訳は簡単！

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

They're the flowers of myosotis or more commonly known as forget-me-nots or scorpion grasses in my neighborhood. It's a little early for the plant to flower. In Japan, forget-me-nots usually flower from March to May.

The name "forget-me-not" is a word-for-word translation of the German "vergissmeinnicht," and its Japanese name "wasurena gusa" is also a word-for-word translation of these German/English terms. As a translator who compares words in the source language with their Japanese translations almost everyday, I found that the translation of "vergissmeinnicht/forget-me-nots" into Japanese was pretty easy because German, English and Japanese speakers should all understand the feelings of someone saying "Don't forget me." But what would you do if you want to describe a thing to those whose language has no word describing that thing? 

One way would be to make an analogy using something similar, and one such example is the translation of "Danse de la Fée Dragée (i.e., Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy)" to "Dance of the Konpeito Fairy (Konpeito no Sei no Odori)" in Japanese.

Konpeito, the Japanese way of pronouncing the Portuguese word "confeito," is a round sugar candy usually less than 0.4 inch in diameter with horn-like prongs on the surface. It's not dragée but the analogy between konpeito and dragée is so good that the Japanese, most of whom have never seen or eaten dragée, can easily imagine what the dancing of dragée fairies would be like! 

Konpeito was introduced from Portugal to Japan in the 16th century and since then has evolved in Japan to have dozens of flavors, such as strawberry, ginger, vanilla, green tea and chocolate! If you have a chance to come to Japan, konpeito is one of the beautiful Japanese sweets you should try!!  

Myosotis 勿忘草

Forget-me-nots ワスレナグサ

Wintersweet (Chimonanthus Praecox ‘Luteus') 和蝋梅

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Wintersweet has several cultivars and this is Chimonanthus praecox ‘Luteus' I saw at Hibiya Park in Tokyo. This cultivar has thinner petals and reddish purple tepals, while the wintersweet you would mostly see in Tokyo is Chimonanthus praecox (L.) Link f. concolor (Makino) Makino, which produces bowl-shaped brighter yellow flowers.  

2022/2/7

2022/2/7

Chinaberry Tree Was Used to Hang Heads😱 栴檀（センダン）は晒し首の木😱

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

These are the fruits of Melia azedarach or more commonly known as the chinaberry tree. I've been wanting to take photos of these fruits since they were still green, but they were too high up. (My camera's telephoto zoom lens isn't so good.) Today, however, I found the light yellow fruits hanging low and scattered on the street. I didn't miss that opportunity!!

In Japan, however, chinaberry trees were hated until the Edo period (1603-1867) because of people's terrible perception of the trees deriving from the fact that the trees at the entrances of two prisons in Kyoto were used to hang the heads of criminals during the Heian period (794-1185). The chinaberry tree grows 20 to 40 feet tall. The heads on the trees must have been horrifying😱.

The chinaberry flower means "differences in opinion," i.e., another bad perception of the plant because different opinions are unwelcome in Japan. People in Japan value harmony more than anything, i.e., little tolerance for differences. I have no idea why the tree has come to be perceived like that and can't help but have deep sympathy for it😂.

Fruits of Melia azedarach 栴檀の実