Camellia Fruits (Camellia Japonica and Camellia Sasanqua) 椿と山茶花の実

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Camellia trees in my neighborhood have started fruit and one of the differences between the Camellia japonica and the Camellia sasanqua is the fruit. 

Japanese people love Camellia so much that they talk a lot about how to distinguish between "japonica" and "sasanqua." One way to tell is to look at the size and skin of their fruits. Also, a Camellia japonica fruit is bigger (i.e., about 5 cm in diameter) with a glossy skin while a Camellia sasanqua one is about 3 cm and hairy.

The seeds of both Camellia fruits can produce oil (i.e., tea seed oil), which has been used for skin and hair in Japan for a long time. How long? The Shoku Nihongi, i.e., an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text, says that Japan gave the oil to an ambassador sent from Balhae, a multi-ethnic kingdom in Manchuria, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East, in 777. Wow!

Camellia japonica and sasanqua are both the prefectural/city/town flower of many prefectures and municipalities in Japan, and the Camellia japonica is surprisingly the Alabama state flower.

If you're interested in another (easy!) way to tell the Camellia japonica from the Camellia sasanqua, read THIS post, too!!  

2025/7/10 Camellia japonica

2021/8/5 Camellia JAPONICA, no hair, 5 cm in diameter
椿の実はツルツルで直径5センチ

Camellia Sasanqua and Omikuji

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This is not a post about a white double flowered camellia sasanqua but pieces of paper tied to the tree. They're omikuji or Japanese fortune telling paper slips. You can buy one (2nd photo) in almost every shrine and temple to learn if you have good or bad luck in the year, for example, as follows:

1. Very lucky (大吉; dai kichi)
2. Lucky (吉; kichi)
3. A little lucky (小吉; shō kichi)
4. Good luck in future (末吉; sue kichi)
5. Bad luck (凶; kyō)

Each omikuji also tells you about the fortune about specific matters including the following:  

• Wish
• Person waited for
• Lost item
• Travel
• Business
• Study
• Investment
• Dispute
• (Romantic) relationship
• Move
• Childbirth
• Illness
• Marriage

The slip I drew says that I will have good luck in future, i.e., sue kichi, which is not so good but that's okay because the "wish" section says that although taking a bit of time, my wish will come true.

Even if you draw an omikuji saying bad luck, don't worry because you can keep the bad luck within the premises of the shrine or temple by tying the slip to a designated area (e.g., a tree). If the slip says you're (very/a little) lucky, however, you can keep it in your purse or bag to keep the luck with you or tie it to the designated area so that the fortune has a greater effect. 

By the way, I'm atheist. 

Omikuji or Japanese fortune telling paper for 2025

White Camellia Sasanqua (Sasanqua Camellia) 白いサザンカ（山茶花）

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Camellia sasanquas can be seen in many places in Tokyo, but I rarely see trees with so many, so pure white, double flowered sasanquas. I feel I see more sasanqua blooms (whether white or red) this year than usual. This year may be a good year for camellia sasanquas.  

2024/12/26

2024/12/26

Pink Camellia Sasanqua (Sasanqua Camellia) ピンクの山茶花（サザンカ）

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Camellia, camellia, camellia! It’s my first time to see such big camellia sasanqua trees (4th photo) and my second time to see a camellia sasanqua tree having so many flowers! As you may know, the flowers of the sasanqua camellia and those of the Japanese camellia resemble each other but they're different in several ways, one of which is how a flower dies. A sasanqua flower dies with petals falling off one by one while a Japanese camellia flower falls off in its entirety. 

2024/12/20

2024/12/20

2024/12/20

2024/12/20

White Sasanqua Camellia 白い山茶花

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Double flowered camellia sasanqua are gorgeous while single flowered ones are fragilely elegant. And the deep green leaves, which are also beautiful, make the camellia blooms' beauty stand out even more. 

Pink-Edged White Sasanqua Camellia 紅ぼかしの山茶花

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These are pink-edged white sasanqua camellias grown by a friend of mine. I saw pink and white ones but pink-edged white ones for the first time this year. Pink wood sorrels I wrote about yesterday were under these sasanquas. 

Pink-edged white sasanqua camellia　紅ぼかしの山茶

Too Many Camellias? 山茶花多過ぎ？

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Are these too many? They're Camellia sasanqua or more commonly known as Japanese camellias. The Camellia trees in my neighborhood are now in full bloom and this tree has too many flowers!  

Camellia sasanqua 山茶花

From below 下から

White Camellia Sasanqua (Japanese Camellia) 白い山茶花

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These are Camellia sasanqua or more commonly known as Japanese camellia at Atago Jinja shrine. Japanese camellias are in bloom in many places in Tokyo, including these white ones, and the bright pink and white and pink marble ones in my neighborhood.

Red Camellia sasanqua flowers mean "modesty" and "you're the most beautiful." The pink ones represent "eternal love" and the white ones are a symbol of "charming" and "you reject my love."

White Camellia sasanqua 白い山茶花

White Japanese camellia 白いサザンカ

Pale Pink Camellia Sasanqua (Sasanqua Camellia) 薄ピンクの山茶花（サザンカ）

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These are Camellia sasanqua or more commonly sasanqua camellia in my neighborhood. A week ago, I wrote about white and pink marble sasanqua. The camellia season has come.

Sasanqua camellia flowers resemble those of Japanese camellia, but their blooming season and fruits are completely different. Sasanqua camellia starts to flower earlier, i.e., from October, and the fruits are hairy while Japanese camellia starting to flower from December and the fruits being bigger with no hair. Read this post to see the different fruits! 

Camellia sasanqua 山茶花

Camellia Sasanqua (Sasanqua Camellia) 山茶花（サザンカ）

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These are Camellia sasanqua or more commonly sasanqua camellia at the South Garden of the Diet Front Park in the Chiyoda ward, Tokyo. Sasanqua camellia's petals are soft, so turn brown quickly, but these are still pure white with pink edges, creating a beautiful contrast with yellow stamens.

Camellia sasanqua 山茶花 

Sasanqua camellia サザンカ

Pink Camellia Sasanqua ピンクの山茶花

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Scattered bright pink camellia sasanqua flowers on the ground first caught my eye. Then, a horsefly so absorbed in having breakfast on a flower made me smile. It's the blooming season of camellia sasanqua (not camellia japonica!), but a sasanqua tree with so many flowers on not only the tree but the ground is rare.   

Camellia sasanqua and a horsefly 山茶花とアブ

Pink & White Marble Colored Camellia Sasanqua 源平咲きの山茶花

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This is camellia sasanqua at the Parliamentary Museum in Tokyo. I've seen red/pink and white marble colored Japanese apricot/plum, flowering peach and variegated bush clover, and now camellia sasanqua has been added to my collection of marble colored flowers. 

I once googled why a Japanese apricot tree had marble colored flowers on the same tree and learned that scientifically, there's no white flower Japanese apricot trees, but the red flower trees have white flowers when the trees cannot produce enough anthocyanins to make flowers red. This may be true of this camellia sasanqua.

If you're interested in other marble colored flowers, read the following posts!

• Pink and white marble colored Japanese apricot
• Red and white marble colored flowering peach 
• Pink and white variegated bush clover

Pink and white marble colored camellia sasanqua 源平咲きの山茶花

Hasty Camellia Sasanqua せっかちな山茶花

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The camellia season has begun! This is the first camellia sasanqua flower I saw this morning and was the only flower in bloom surrounded by many buds and seeds. If it were late November, I'd write about its beautiful pale pink color, but because now it's still October, I couldn't help but smile about its hastiness, which is also a characteristic of mine😆 

10/29 Camellia sasanqua 山茶花

Camellia Japonica/Sasanqua Seeds Look Like Chocolates😋 椿と山茶花の種はチョコみたい😋

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These are camellia japonica and camellia sasanqua seeds. In August, I enjoyed glossy red camellia japonica fruits and hairy camellia sasanqua fruits, and at that time I didn't expect these fruits to crack, showing such beautiful seeds like dark chocolate (i.e., camellia JAPONICA) and macadamia nut chocolate (camellia SASANQUA)😋!  

Camellia seeds can produce oil (i.e., tea seed oil) used for skin and hair in Japan. The oil has been used for so long that The Shoku Nihongi, i.e., an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text, says that Japan gave the oil to an ambassador from Balhae, a multi-ethnic kingdom in Manchuria, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East, in 777. Wow!

Camellia japonica and sasanqua are both the prefectural/city/town flower of many prefectures and municipalities in Japan, and camellia japonica is surprisingly the Alabama state flower😲

Camellia JAPONICA seed looks like dark chocolate 椿の種はダークチョコ

Camellia SASANQUA seed is like macadamia nut chocolate 山茶花の種はマカダミアチョコ？

Claustrophobia and Claustrophilia - Camellia Sasanqua 閉所恐怖と閉所愛好 - 山茶花

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A colleague of mine has claustrophobia. He avoids crowded elevators and trains, which is pretty difficult in Tokyo, but this ant seems to be trapped voluntarily in the center of this pink camellia sasanqua....

White and Pink Camellia Sasanqua 白とピンクの山茶花

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Flowers tell us a change in season, and these white and pink Camellia sasanqua told me that autumn would soon be over...

   

White Camellia sasanqua 白い山茶花