Hibiscus ハイビスカス

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

A variety of hibiscuses have been blooming across Japan, and I love these bright red ones because they remind me of my childhood in the Kagoshima prefecture where the beautiful nature, i.e., not only many flowers and trees but also bugs and even snakes, laid out the foundation for my later interest in writing about flowers and bugs on this blog.

Kagoshima is the most southern prefecture in mainland Japan. When I first arrived there, such bright red hibiscuses and sashimi of kibinago or silver-stripe round herring welcomed me. I was seven or eight years old, worrying about what would happen to me. That was the first school transfer for me, and I didn't know that was just the first of six transfers of elementary and junior high schools succeeding after that...   

I haven't been there since then, but red hibiscuses always remind me of Kagoshima, making me smile...  

Hibiscus ハイビスカス