Plants and Flowers in Tokyo & Japanese Culture by Kei Narujima　東京の草花＆つぶやき

Small Skullcaps (Scutellaria Indica L. Var. Parvifolia (Makino) Makino)　コバノタツナミ（小葉の立浪）

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Small skullcaps (Scutellaria indica L. var. parvifolia (Makino) Makino) are native to Japan, Korea, China, and the Indochina Peninsula and can be found across Japan. Small skullcaps produce pale purple translucent flowers from May to June.

Small skullcaps may require various conditions to grow. I've found the plant in only two places so far. Because of their unique shape, small skullcaps always remind me of Hattifatteners and I prefer their side view to the front!

2026/4/5

Takasago Cherry Blossoms　タカサゴザクラ（高砂桜）

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Takasago cherry is said to be a crossbreed of Choji cherry and Sato cherry. The cherry produces beautiful pale pink double flowered blossoms. If you're interested in other types of cherry blossoms, read this post!

2025/4

2026/4/1

Ajuga　キランソウ（金瘡小草）

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Ajuga is native to Europe and western and central Asia but can now be found across Japan. You would see mainly two types of Ajuga in Japan, Ajuga reptans or bugleweed, which is native to Europe and grows taller, and Ajuga decumbens, which is native to Japan and low growing. Ajuga are so hardy that you can find both in many places even on sidewalks in Central Tokyo. Although their height differs, the flowers resemble each other very much.

Ajuga decumbens has various names in Japanese, such as "Lid of cauldron of hell" by comparing the plant, which covers the ground, to the lid of the cauldron of hell or "(Plant) keeping doctors away" because of its pain relief effects.

Both are tiny and beautiful and always bring me happiness with their funny shape, which looks to me like a person floating with open arms!

2026/4/1 Japanese ajuga

2025/4/11 European ajuga

Baby Blue Eye (Nemophila Menziesii)　ネモフィラ（瑠璃唐草）

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Baby blue eyes (Nemophila menziesii) are native to North America but now grown across Japan. Their Japanese name is "ruri karakusa," which translates to "lapis lazuli arabesque."

More than a dozen gardens in Japan have grown baby blue eyes, attracting many tourists. One of them is the Hitachi Sunrise Park in Ibaraki prefecture, which has grown the plant since 2002 and its more than 5 million baby blue eyes went viral from 2015 to 2018. The park attracted 800,000 people in April and May, the baby blue eyes season, in 2025 with an admission fee of about 3 dollars per person! You can't underestimate social media's power, can you?

The baby blue eye in the first and second photos is growing wild. Maybe some baby blue eyes are exhausted from too much attention, wanting to be alone.

2026/3/31

Malus Halliana (Hall Crabapple)　花海棠（ハナカイドウ）

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Hall crabapple (Malus halliana) is native to China and came to Japan in the 14th century, but can now be found across the country. The tree produces flowers in April and then fruits of 1 cm in diameter, which look like small apples. The fruits ripen in October. As hall crabapples flower in April, at almost the same time as cherry trees do, they're often disregarded but their color change is worthwhile observing. The buds are deeper pink like Taiwan cherry blossoms but when open become paler pink but brighter than Somei Yoshino or Oshima cherry blossoms.

2026/4/3

Chinese Violet Cress (Orychophragmus Violaceus)　オオアラセイトウ（大紫羅欄花）

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Chinese violet cress (Orychophragmus violaceus), which is native to China, was imported to Japan during the Edo period (1603-1867) and has been growing in the wild across the country since then. Those in the photos taken in 2026 are wildflowers in my neighborhood. The plant flowers from March to May, showing a beautiful contrast between the purple petals and the yellow anthers.

2026/3/31

Common Blue Violet (Viola Sororia)　アメリカスミレサイシン（亜米利加菫細辛）

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Common blue violet (Viola sororia) is native to eastern North America. It was imported to Japan in or after the Meiji period (1868-1912) and can now be found across the country. Despite such beauty (especially purple veins!), the violet is often treated as weeds in Japan. Those in these photos should be, too. They're just growing on sidewalks, seeming to enjoy themselves unattended.

2026/3/28

List of Cherry Blossoms　桜いろいろ

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Below are the cherry blossoms I've ever seen. Hope you'll enjoy them!

Japanese Mazus (Mazus Pumilus)　トキワハゼ（常磐爆）

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So cute and so hardy! Japanese mazus (Mazus pumilus) is native to east and south east Asia and can be found across Japan, producing flowers from early spring to late autumn. Despite such cute appearance and tininess, the plant's seed pods burst🤯 open, which is why the plant is called tokiwa haze in Japanese, translating to "evergreen burst." I want to see the bursts someday.

2026/3/28

Winter Cherry (Cerasus x Parvifolia/Cerasus Subhirtella)　フユザクラ（冬桜）

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The winter cherry (Cerasus x parvifolia 'Fuyu-zakura') is a crossbreed of Cerasus incisa and Cerasus speciosa. The cherry differs from other cherry trees in its time of blossoming. The winter cherry blossoms twice a year, in early April and in winter (from October to December), because of which the cherry tree is called "winter cherry" in Japan.

It has another name "koba zakura," which translates into "small leaf cherry" for its relatively smaller leaves. The winter cherry blossoms are less gorgeous but stay longer than other cherry blossoms, which generally fall in two weeks.

Some say when passing by a winter cherry tree that it's silly, blooming out of season but at such times I always say in my mind "It's you who are silly😝."

2021/11/25

2026/3/31

2022/12/9

Japanese Red Maple (Acer Pycnanthum)　ハナノキ（花之木）

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Japanese red maple trees are native to Japan. Their Japanese name is "hananoki," translating to "flower tree," which is too general, isn't it? The tree is named as such, however, after its deep red flowers standing out because they're produced before green leaves in early spring when no other flowers are seen. This makes sense. I first found the flowers because the red color stood out in early March.

2026/3/29

Blue Toadflax (Nuttallanthus Canadensis)　松葉雲蘭（マツバウンラン）

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Blue toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis) is native to North America but can now be found across Japan, producing flowers from April to June. The environment has a lot to do with the growth of plants. Blue toadflax growing in full sun are much taller with "chubbier" flowers than those in less sun. My perception of blue toadflax has completely changed from "fragile" to "(unexpectedly) tough" since I saw the chubby ones.

2026/3/28

2025/4/11

Edohigan Cherry (Prunus Itosakura)　エドヒガン（江戸彼岸）

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Edohigan cherry (Prunus itosakura) is one of the ten or eleven wild species of cherry trees native to Japan. "Edohigan" translates into "Tokyo higan," named after having being seen in many places around Tokyo, which had been called Edo before 1868 when renamed as Tokyo, and its characteristic of starting to flower in around the spring higan period, i.e., three days before and after the spring equinox (shunbun). Despite such a name, however, the cherry can now be found across Japan. Edohigan cherry trees can live for hundreds or even a thousand years, much longer than other cherry trees, whose lifespan is usually 60 to 100 years. Edohigan is a parent of Somei Yoshino but not only that. It's a parent of weeping cherry, too.

2026/3/29

Japanese Maple Flower Buds　カエデ（楓）の蕾

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There are more than 130 types of maple trees, most of which are native to East Asia. Maple trees are known for their beautiful autumn leaves but they produce flowers from April to May, which are tiny and lovely, creating such a beautiful red and green contrast. After the flower season, they then produce samaras, which look like two bladed propellers. Maple always reminds me of maple syrup candies made by Laura in Little House in the Big Woods. Her way of making them, i.e., dribbling the syrup onto the snow, intrigued me.

2026/3/29

Somei Yoshino Cherry Blossoms (Prunus x Yedoensis)　染井吉野（ソメイヨシノ）

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These are Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms (Prunus x yedoensis or Cerasus x yedoensis). There are a variety of cherry trees but Somei Yoshino is so special in Japan that the term "cherry blossoms" often means Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms are all gorgeous but differently from other flowers, i.e., always associated with death or ephemerality because of their short life span of one to two weeks.

The beauty reminds me of "The Makioka Sisters" by Junichiro Tanizaki, which ends with cherry blossoms viewing in Kyoto. The novel has no plot but is so intriguingly beautiful, based on the real life of the sisters of Tanizaki's wife, with a writing style which currently may not be necessarily popular due to long sentences. Its original title "sasame yuki" translates to "light snow," a metaphor of the Makioka family, which is declining and therefore showing the ephemeral beauty as cherry blossoms. The novel was translated into English by Edward G. Seidensticker. It's pretty long but worthwhile reading if you're interested in Japanese culture.

Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms are pinkish white as opposed to Oshima cherry blossoms, which at first are whitish pink, then turn to baby pink. If you're interested in other types of cherry blossoms, read the posts below!!

2023/3/29

2025/4/6

2026/3/28

Weeping Cherry Blossoms　枝垂桜（シダレザクラ）

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There're a variety of cherry blossoms and every type is beautiful, but weeping cherry blossoms are a bit different with flexible strength, don't you think? Below are the cherry blossoms I've seen so far. If you're interested, read these posts!

Somei Yoshino cherry (Prunus x yedoensis or Cerasus x yedoensis)

2026/3/28

Japanese Andromeda (Pieris Japonica)　アセビ（馬酔木）

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Japanese andromeda is native to, and can be found across, Japan. The plant usually produces white flowers but another type Japanese andromeda 'Rosea' (Pieris japonica f. Rosea), produces pink flowers. The plant's Japanese name is "asebi (馬酔木)," which translates into "a tree which makes horses drunk" because horses that eat this plant look drunk due to a toxin contained in it. Deer in the Nara Koen park in the Nara prefecture don't eat this plant (how clever they are!), resulting in many Japanese andromeda trees left growing in the park. Japanese andromeda is known for its pretty flowers but its fruits (scroll down!) are also beautiful.

2026/3/25

Oshima and Yoshino Cherry Blossoms - Which is Which?　大島桜と染井吉野の見分け方

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It's very difficult to distinguish Oshima cherry (Prunus speciosa) from Somei Yoshino cherry (Prunus x yedoensis). Both are whitish pink, resembling each other. But there are a couple of clear differences.

First, Oshima cherry trees start to produce white flowers and green leaves at almost the same time while Somei Yoshino produces whitish pink blossoms first and then green leaves after flowers fall. You can see this by comparing the first two photos. Secondly, Oshima cherry blossoms turn whitish pink just before falling while Somei Yoshino blossoms don't. They're just whitish pink from the beginning to the end. Thirdly, although both are pink, the pink is slightly different because Oshima cherry blossoms change color, resulting in them having a gradient from pure white to pale (slightly reddish) pink toward the end of the blossom season whereas Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms' pink is a little smoky.

If you want to compare these two in more detail, read the posts below.

If you're interested in brighter pink cherry blossoms, such as Yoko, Okame, Kawazu, and Taiwan cherry blossoms, click the link(s)!

2026/3/24 Somei Yoshino

2026/3/24 Oshima

Common Vetch (Vicia Sativa)　ヤハズエンドウ（矢筈豌豆）/ カラスノエンドウ（烏野豌豆）

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Common vetch (Vicia sativa) is native to the Orient and the Mediterranean regions but now can be found across Japan. The vetch produces pink purple flowers from March to June in Japan. They're edible and used to be eaten but no longer (so often) although some say vetch tempura is tasty on the internet.

The vetch has two Japanese names, "yahazu endo" and "karasuno endo." The former "yahazu endo" means the "nock of an arrow pea" due to the resemblance of nock shape and the vetch's leaf shape while "karasuno endo" means "crow pea" due to the color of vetch fruits when ripe, which is black like crow feather. It's confusing but interesting that its leaves and fruits both draw attention, resulting in such a small plant having two names, which should suggest its popularity in Japan.

2026/3/22

In Japan, Choose Your Words to AVOID Clarity...　言葉を選ばないとそうなりますね。。。

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"Choose your words for the right purpose." That is what I would like to say to Japanese people because of what happened several weeks ago.

Pale Speedwell (Veronica Cymbalaria)　コゴメイヌノフグリ（小米犬の陰嚢）

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Pale speedwells (Veronica cymbalaria) are native to Europe. Speedwells can be found across Japan, but this type isn't so prevalent as other speedwells and can be found in and around Tokyo. (I took these pictures in Tokyo.)

Pale speedwell's Japanese name is "kogome inu no fuguri," translating into "small rice dog balls." The name contains "small rice" because of its size and color and "dog balls" for a terrible reason, which you can read here. If you're interested in other speedwells, read the following posts!

Grey field-speedwell (Veronica polita) ➡ イヌノフグリ or "dog balls"
Persian speedwell (Veronica persica) ➡ オオイヌノフグリ or "large dog balls"
Corn speedwell (Veronica arvensis) ➡ タチイヌノフグリ or "standing dog balls"
Ivy-leaved speedwell (Veronica hederifolia) ➡ ツタバイヌノフグリ（フラサバソウ） or "ivy-leaved dog balls"

2026/3/16

Variegated Japanese Camellia (Camellia Japonica)　斑入り椿

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There are more than 250 types of Japanese camellias and more than a thousand for camellias, i.e., Japanese camellias and sasanqua camellias. This variegated one is one of them. Variegated camellias are caused by viral infections, genetic mutations, or other reasons and have been appreciated and improved in Japan as an "oddity" since the Edo period (1603-1867).

2026/3/21