Pinwheel Daisy フウウシャギク（風車菊）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Not the bright pink color but the spoon shaped petals caught my eye. This is a pinwheel daisy growing at a bus stop (2nd photo). It's called "fusha giku" in Japanese, meaning "windmill mum." I want to see it spinning like a windmill/pinwheel although it would die if it really spun😵.

2025/3/10

2025/3/10

Colorful Winter Leaves ポップな葉っぱ

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Ninety nine percent of people wouldn't notice them but their color gradients from green to orange, red and purple caught my eye. I believe they're chrysanthemum leaves but don't know for sure. The natural color gradients created by plants always fascinates me. 

Chrysanthemum キク（菊）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I found these chrysanthemums at a bus stop. There were only two but their bright contrast between the red ray florets and the yellow disk florets caught my eye. 

   

Chrysanthemums are special in Japan. The Imperial Seal of Japan is called the Chrysanthemum Seal and used by the Emperor of Japan and members of the Imperial Family. But for me, the flowers are special in a different way, i.e., always reminding me of "The Inugami Clan," a murder mystery book by Seishi Yokomizo (1902-1981), one of the most famous crime authors in Japan who created the private detective character Kosuke Kindaichi.

You may wonder how chrysanthemums, such beautiful flowers, are related to a crime novel. That's because they play a key role in "The Inugami Clan" as one of the three sacred treasures for the clan, i.e., a golden chrysanthemum, a golden axe, and a golden koto or Japanese harp made by Sahee Inugami, the super-rich head of the family. These golden treasures were proof of heirship, and you can easily guess, the family members are killed one after another over this heirship and the head of a victim is replaced with the head of a chrysanthemum doll... AHHH😱

I read almost all the books by Seishi Yokomizo when I was a kid. (I was a bit different from other kids.) Yokomizo respected Ellery Queen and Agatha Christie, but liked John Dickson Carr the most. If you like reading crime books, you can guess what Yokomizo's stories are like.

Chrysanthemums are pretty, colorful flowers, having nothing to do with bloody murders. Maybe it's time for me to change this terrible perception of chrysanthemums.

Creeping Daisy (Leucanthemum Paludosum) カンシロギク（寒白菊）

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

There are a variety of chrysanthemums and they flower through the year and creeping daisies (Leucanthemum paludosum) in these photos are one of them. The daisies must have flowered there every year, but maybe because they're too familiar, I noticed their presence yesterday for the first time. 

Creeping daisy　カンシロギク

Leucanthemum paludosum　寒白菊

Small Chrysanthemums 小さい菊

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

I thought they were gold and silver chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum pacificum) at first, but the leaf shape looks different, so I just call them small chrysanthemums. The yellow of the leopard plants I saw yesterday is so bright while the yellow of these chrysanthemums is deeper and a bit orangish. 

Small chrysanthemums　小さい菊

Teeny Weeny Green and Purple Bugs on Yellow Spray Mums 黄色のスプレー菊とちっちゃい虫たち

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

Almost all flowers in my neighborhood are gone but these yellow spray chrysanthemums (or spray mums) and teeny weeny green and purple bugs!  

A green bug a spray mum スプレー菊とちっちゃい虫

Spray chrysanthemums (spray mums) スプレーマム（スプレー菊）

Spray Chrysanthemums (Spray Mums) & Imperial System スプレーマム（スプレー菊）と皇室制度

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

Almost all flowers are gone but these bright yellow ones. They're spray chrysanthemums or more commonly known as spray mums. 

Chrysanthemums are the symbol of Japanese imperial family, and as some of you may know, the former Princess Mako married her college sweetheart Kei Komuro last week despite challenges, such as her parents' (i.e., Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko)'s opposition and the criticism about Komuro's handling of his mother's financial problem. I found their marriage interesting because it's exposed a couple of issues for the family; can or do the members of the imperial family have human rights; and should Japan keep maintaining the imperial system? 

The first question is relatively easy to answer. The imperial family members can and do have such rights. They're human beings and the fact that Mako was born into the imperial family should have nothing to do with her right to marry someone she loves and any other human rights. The thing is, however, that some Japanese are unaware that obstructing their marriage is a human right violation. Even some say that Mako has no right to marry freely because she's a member of the imperial family, and her dependence on taxpayers' money obligates her to seek some kind of approval or support from the public for her marriage.  

And that's what makes the second question far more important. If Japanese people (not all but many) believe that way, what is Japan going to do? Is the country going to maintain the imperial system, which deprives the family members of the right to live the lives they choose?

Japan has started discussing again how the imperial system should be, e.g., whether to allow women to succeed to the throne or expand the family to include the former imperial branches, but that's not the point. Japan now should discuss whether to keep this inhumane system. And my proposal is to abolish the imperial system not now, but after the members have disappeared through attrition.

Chrysanthemums are native to East Asia, but have been cultivated in the U.S. to produce multiple flowers on a stem, then coming back to Japan as spray mums. Things change, and the imperial system is just one such thing.       

Spray chrysanthemums スプレーマム

Chrysanthemums Are Cursed😱? 菊の呪い😱

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

Chrysanthemums are special in Japan. The Imperial Seal of Japan is called the Chrysanthemum Seal and used by the Emperor of Japan and members of the Imperial Family. But for me, chrysanthemums are special in a different way, i.e., they always remind me of "The Inugami Clan" by Seishi Yokomizo (1902-1981), one of the most famous crime authors in Japan who created the private detective character Kosuke Kindaichi. 

 

Chrysanthemum 菊