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| 2026/5/28 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
There are about 20 types of meadowhawk (Sympetrum) in Japan and they're all called "red dragonflies." And I believe that these photos are of two of them; noshime dragonfly (Sympetrum infuscatum) and crimson dropwing (Trithemis aurora).
Red dragonflies are so popular in Japan that they have a song for children titled "Red dragonfly," which is very famous.
If you're interested in blue dragonflies, read the following posts: Blue-tailed forest hawks and White-tailed skimmers. |
2026/7/30 Noshime dragonfly (Sympetrum infuscatum) ノシメトンボ（熨斗目蜻蛉） |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
The Chinese parasol tree (Firmiana simplex) is native to southern China and southeast Asia and can be found across Japan, producing flowers from May to July and seedpods in autumn.
I've walked around the tree many times but it wasn't until I saw the seedpods and their pea-like seeds scattered on the ground that I noticed the tree's presence. The seeds are edible when roasted.
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| 2026/7/29 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
The moth looks like a small purplish gray (Iridopsis humaria) but it can't. A small purplish gray exists in only North America according to information on the internet.
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| 2026/7/26 |
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| 2025/11/2 |
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| 2026/7/29 |
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| 2026/7/29 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Magical Revolution' is really magical from two perspectives. Firstly, its spectacular, color-shifting transformation. The hydrangea changes from pale pink, blue, and green in early summer to red toward autumn. (Scroll down!) Secondly, its long life! The hydrangea's sepals (not petals!) are so sturdy that they can bloom for two to three months while changing color.
It changes color to red in autumn due to increasing anthocyanin resulting from a change in the temperature and/or the amount of ultraviolet radiation. For whatever the reason, the hydrangea is just magically amazing.
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| 2026/5/29 |
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| 2026/6/2 |
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| 2026/7/28 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Eggs of yellow spotted stink bugs (Erthesina fullo) hatch into nymphs as below.
On 12 June 2025 (scroll down), I found a circle the size of a quarter dollar coin on a leaf of Chinese tallow (3rd photo). Then, five days later (i.e., on 17 June), they'd become like in the 2nd photo and for the last day since then, they have changed like in the 1st photo! Every bug is small but you can clearly see each is a yellow spotted stink bug. They've changed not only their appearance but also have started to move. The one in the upper right of the 1st photo was running toward the backside of the leaf. They may not be there tomorrow, which makes me feel a bit sad and relieved a lot.
P.S. |
| 2026/7/28 After hatching |
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| 2026/7/16 |
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| 2026/7/26 |
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| 2021/9/6 |
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| 2026/7/26 Female |
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| 2022/8/13 Male |
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| 2026/7/26 |
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| 2026/7/14 |
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| 2026/7/15 |
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| 2026/7/10 |
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| 2026/7/14 |
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| 2026/7/15 |
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| 2023/11/6 |
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| 2026/7/14 |
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| 2025/11/28 |
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| 2026/7/12 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Philadelphia fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus) is native to North America, came to Japan in around 1920, and can now be found across the country. Actually, the plant is so prevalent as a weed that they're called "binbo gusa" and "binbo giku" in Japanese, which translates into "poor plant" and "poor chrysanthemum" respectively in some areas in Japan. On a Philadelphia fleabane is a tiny hoverfly. It's so tiny but very beautiful.
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| 2026/7/12 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
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| 2026/7/12 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
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| 2026/7/12 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
The small copper (Lycaena phlaeas) flies from March to November in Japan, so it's not unusual to see them but it was my first time to see them, not one but two! Their orange forewings caught my eye. The butterfly's coloration changes slightly across seasons; spring broods are typically brighter while summer ones become darker and more muted. I can't say for sure but one of them seems like a spring brood and the other a summer one. Scroll down to see the two together in a photo.
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| 2026/7/12 |
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| 2026/7/12 |
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| 2026/7/9 |
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| 2026/7/9 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
The aromaticus (Plectranthus amboinicus) is primarily native to Southern and Eastern Africa and has been seen in Japan since the 2000s. I've taken an early morning walk for more than five years and this is my second time to find herbs growing wild on the sidewalk.
The one I found for the first time was apple mints. I took several stems home and have planted them in a pot. The incredible resilience of herbs always makes me feel motivated and energized.
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| 2026/7/10 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
The Asian Jumpseed (Persicaria filiformis) is native to East, South, and Southeast Asia and can be found across Japan, producing tiny flowers from August to October. The plant has no petals instead has four sepals, of which three are red and the other is white. Its Japanese name is "mizuhiki," i.e., an ancient Japanese artform of knot-tying, most commonly used to decorate Japanese ceremonial envelopes.
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| 2026/7/5 |
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| 2026/7/9 |
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| 2026/7/5 With a marmalade hoverfly |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Fragrant evening-primrose (Oenothera stricta) is native to South America, was imported to Japan in the late 19th century, and can now be found across Japan. This evening-primrose resembles common evening-primrose (Oenothera biennis) very much with one easy-to-tell difference, i.e., fragrant evening primroses turn orange as they wither. The other flower in the pictures, which has turned orange, told me these were not common but fragrant evening primroses. |
| 2026/7/9 |
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| 2026/7/9 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
The goji berry (Lycium chinense) is native to east Asia and can be found across Japan, producing small pale purple flowers from summer to autumn. In Japan, the goji berry is known to be good for eye health, boost the immune system, reduce cellular inflammation, and help regulate blood sugar levels. I didn't know however (and was surprised) that such a plant can grow on the sidewalk in Central Tokyo. I'll definitely come back in autumn to photograph the berries. (I've never seen them before being dried.)
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| 2026/7/6 |
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| 2026/7/6 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
The onidokoro (Dioscorea tokoro) is native to east Asia and can be found across Japan, producing tiny (about 5mm in diameter) cream green flowers from July to August. It's in the yam family but unlike other yams, the onidokoro's thick rhizome is extremely bitter and contains toxic compounds like dioscorine, making it generally inedible.
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| 2026/7/5 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。The common nettle (Urtica dioica) is native to Europe, temperate Asia, and western North Africa and now found worldwide but I didn't know it can grow in a sidewalk gutter like those in these photos in Central Tokyo. I have rhinitis, so I was considering buying a nettle seedling to grow it at home but not anymore!
P.S.
A few days later, I found flowers among the leaves, which made me realize they're not nettles but lantanas. Sorry for the confusion.
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| 2026/7/5 |
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| 2026/7/1 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Johnson grass or Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe and Africa, parts of Western Asia, and the Middle East, came to Japan as an invasive plant in around 1945, and can now can be found across the country but Hokkaido (i.e., the northernmost part of Japan). I looked up the origin of the name, finding that the plant is named after an Alabama plantation owner, Colonel William Johnson, who introduced the plant to his farm in around 1840 as a prospective forage. Johnsongrass, however, has been found to become poisonous under stress (e.g., frost) and be toxic to livestock.
Despite such hardiness and toxicity, however, Johnsongrass produces tiny and cute flowers.
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| 2025/6/29 |
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| 2026/7/1 |
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| 2026/6/30 |
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| 2026/7/1 |
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| 2023/5/28 |
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| 2023/5/28 |
英語の後に日本語が続きます。 I thought that they were gigantic rosy evening-primroses (Oenothera rosea) at first and found at home they are not but showy ...
