Primula Juliae - Do You Want "Love From Sympathy"? 花簪の花言葉は「同情からの愛」

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

Primula juliae

"Hana kanzashi" meaning flower ornamental hairpin

I have been writing about flowers recently and each time I have to look up their English names. These pink flowers I found at the peony garden within the Ueno Park, Tokyo are primula juliae or in Japanese "hana kanzashi (meaning 'flower ornamental hairpin')" because its bud looks like a Japanese hairpin or kanzashi.

Primula juliae's language of flowers in Japan are; compassion, meekness, cheerful heart, radiance, everlasting love and love from sympathy...???? I don't want "love from sympathy.".... Do you?

The language of flowers of peonies (see below) is bravery.

上野のぼたん苑で見つけた花簪。ころっとしたつぼみが簪に見えるのでこの名が付いたそうです。最近花についてよく書いており、そのたびに英語名を調べるのですが、花簪は primula juliae。英語だと分かりやすい一方、風情がなくなるように思うのは気のせいでしょうか。花簪の花言葉は、思いやり、温順、明るい性格、光輝、変わらぬ思い、同情からの愛｡｡｡？ 同情からの愛ってどうでしょう？？

ちなみに牡丹の花言葉は「勇気」だそうです。

Peony
Language of flowers is "bravery"

Chakrasamvara in Union With Consort or Yab-Yum 💛 チャクラサンヴァラ父母仏立像

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Chakrasamvara with consort
Nepal or Tibet
チャクラサンヴァラ父母仏立像

Yab-Yum with full of love

Nepal or Tibetan gods are more open to love and less ascetic, aren't they? They are Chakrasamvara, a wrathful deity, and his consort, showing their love in a surprisingly straightforward manner. But that's not the case only for Nepal or Tibet.

Japan used to be quite open to love and sex as shown in shunga or erotic ukiyo-e. This changed in the Meiji period as a result of the import of the idea of Christian purity and chastity.  

Japan also used to be less discriminatory against women. Their social status dropped during the Edo period (1603-1868) because of the discriminatory attitudes of Ieyasu Tokugawa toward women according to Michiko Nagai, a Japanese female author of historical fiction. Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, began the Edo period spanning over 260 years. The decline in women's social status in Japan is one legacy from that period and still remains unresolved.

You can see this couple at Tokyo National Museum.

東京国立博物館で見かけました。「大らかだな」としばし見入ってしまいました。日本も昔はこんな感じだったのに、明治維新で随分変わったようです。ちなみに女性の地位がぐんと下がったのは江戸時代、徳川家康のせいだとのこと。永井路子氏の「にっぽん亭主五十人史」にありました。「昔」の日本ってよく聞きますが、平安時代まで、戦国時代、江戸時代、明治時代～戦前では、「昔」の実態は全く異なるようです。

ちなみに実態、実質（substance）という言葉は会計税務でもよく使われます。「substance over form（形式より実態が優先する）」という用語があり、「取引がたとえ形式的には法令順守していても、実態、実質が満たしていなければ順守しているとはみなされない」という意味です。覚えておくと便利です。

"Don't-Wanna-Go-Home" Syndrome おひとリーマン妻の特徴

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About one year ago I wrote about the so-called "harassing husband syndrome." This is a common illness in Japan with a wide range of physical symptoms, such as depression and high blood pressure, suffered, as suggested by the name, by wives due to their husbands' behaviors. If you want to know whether or not you (or your wife) have the syndrome, read this checklist. If more than seven apply, you definitely have the syndrome. If five to seven, you are likely and if four or less, thank God, you are okay!

Happy Colors Red & Pink! 冬のアゲアゲ色！

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Look at these pink and red plants! Such bright and lively colors in winter makes me happy! 

Ornamental cabbage or "leaf peony" in Japanese in Ueno peony garden

Pagoda Surviving Anti-Buddhist Persecution - Ueno Toshogu Shrine 廃仏毀釈を生き延びた上野東照宮の五重塔

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is Ueno Toshogu Shrine, Tokyo. The gate is a karamon gate, i.e., a Chinese style gate, and the lanterns are made of bronze. 

Karamon gate of Ueno Toshogu shrine

Karamon - Chinese style gate

Bronze lanterns

Near the gate is a five-story pagoda (in the picture below). However, that's not shrine's but is owned by the Tokyo local government. The shrine, which was established as part of Kaneiji temple in the 17th century, gave this pagoda to that temple under the government's order issued in 1868 to separate Shinto from Buddhism to make Japan more united under Shinto.

Five story pagoda surviving anti-Buddhist movement
Owner changed from Ueno Toshogu shrine → Kaneiji temple → Tokyo

The order triggered anti-Buddhist persecution across Japan, resulting in the destruction of many Buddhist temples and statues. Kofukuji temple in Nara prefecture even auctioned its five-story pagoda (in the picture below) for then 25 yen or currently 100,000 yen (or 930 US dollars) to survive the anti-Buddhism movement.

If You Wanna Be Rich.... 十両、百両、千両、万両ほしい？

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

What do you think this red thing is?

This brings you wealth!

This is a red fruit of Christmas berry (ardisia crenata or "manryo" in Japanese) I saw in the peony garden within the Ueno Park. "Man" of manryo means 10,000 and "ryo" a unit of weight or currency which was used by Japan and several other Asian countries. According to Bank of Japan, based on the value of rice, one ryo valued 900 dollars in the 17th century, 450 dollars in 18th and early 19th century, and 60 dollars in late 19th century.

Manryo (10,000 ryo; 万両) or Christmas berry

The thing is that Japan has not only 10,000 ryo, but also 1,000 ryo (senryo), 100 ryo (hyakuryo) and 10 ryo (juryo).

Senryo (1,000 ryo; 千両) or sarcandra glabra or nine-knotted flower

Hyakuryo (100 ryo; 百両) or ardisia crispa

Juryo (10 ryo; 十両) or ardisia japonica or marlberry

Honestly, I can't tell the differences.... Can you? These trees are all said to bring wealth.

上野ぼたん苑で見つけた、万両、千両、百両、十両です。牡丹の陰にひっそりと寄せ植えされていました。

万両と千両は知っていましたが、百両と十両もあったんですね。知りませんでした。しかも万両って Christmas berry て言うんですね。万両とクリスマスベリー、イメージが全然違います。でも確かに緑と赤、クリスマスの色です！

Yellow in Winter! - Wintersweet in Ueno Park 上野ぼたん苑の蝋梅

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Wintersweet or Japanese allspice

Chimonanthus praecox

"The brightness and warmth of yellow attracts people's eyes."

This is a description of yellow by Sachio Yoshioka, a late Japanese master dyer and textile historian who reproduced colors of Japan's natural surroundings and seasonal changes without using synthetic dyes. He wrote a book, "Dictionary of colors in Japan (Nihon [or Nippon] no iro jiten)," listing shades of colors according to Japanese color classification.

Yoshioka lists more than 20 varieties of yellow, and although it may sound strange, to me, the yellow of the wintersweet in the above photos seems closest to mimosa yellow.

I found the wintersweet (or chimonanthus praecox or Japanese allspice botanically and "robai" in Japanese) in the "peony" garden within the Ueno Park" in Tokyo, but the garden has many other beautiful plants and flowers, including the wintersweet and the miniature daffodils in the pictures below whose yellow seems lemon yellow according to Yoshioka's classification.

Miniature daffodils

Miniature daffodils

The cream yellow peony below is "Okan (meaning yellow crown)" or "High noon," one of the "27 Types of Winter Peonies" I enjoyed in the garden. This smelled so good, sweet and lemon scented, making this flower, combined with its yellow color, which, according to The Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists, attracts bugs for pollination, invincible in the world of survival of the fittest.  

Peony named "Okan" or "High noon"

Last but not least, the flower in the picture below was in full bloom in my neighborhood, but I could not find its name....

Flower whose name I don't know

Sachio Yoshioka passed away late last year. I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his family. His daughter, Sarasa, has taken over the dyeing workshop, which has lasted for more than 200 years in Kyoto.

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先日、上野のぼたん苑について書いたのですが（"27 Types of Winter Peonies in Tokyo 冬の上野ぼたん苑"）、実は牡丹以外にもたくさんかわいいお花がありました。というわけで、今日はぼたん苑や家の近くで最近目にした「黄色」の花についてです。

上から、上野ぼたん苑の「蝋梅」と「ミニ水仙」と「黄冠（ぼたん）」、そして近所の名前の分からないお花です。染色家の吉岡幸男先生によると、黄色は「明るくあたたかい光を放って人間の目が強く引きつけられる色」とのこと。私の目も引きつけられました。園芸王子こと三上真史氏によると、冬に黄色の花が多いのは虫を引きつけて受粉させるためとのこと。植物も適者生存です｡｡｡

ちなみに吉岡先生の書かれた「日本の色辞典」によると、蝋梅は「ミモザイエロー」、ミニ水仙は「レモンイエロー」、黄冠（牡丹）は「クリームイエロー」に見えます。同じ黄色でもいろいろあるということがこの辞典を見るとよくわかります。

先日、吉岡先生が去年なくなられていたことを知りました。ご冥福を心よりお祈り申し上げます。

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27 Types of Winter Peonies in Tokyo 冬の上野ぼたん苑

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At the peony garden within the Ueno Park in Ueno Tokyo, I found the 27 types of peonies listed in the table below.

Seidai 聖代	Kao 花王	Gyoku tenshu 玉天集
Renkaku 連鶴	Shimadaijin 島大臣	Shimanishiki 島錦
Jitsugetsu nishiki 日月錦	Renown	Shima no fuji 島の藤
Yachiyo tsubaki 八千代椿	Kamata fuji 鎌田藤	Fuji no kaori 藤の香
Okan (黄冠) or High noon	Higurashi 日暮	Daikikou 大喜紅
Yukigasane 雪重	Taiyo 太陽	Muramatsu no yuki 村松の雪
Muramatsu zakura 村松桜	Kinkaku 金閣	Mikuni no akebono 御国の曙
Mikuni no hata 御国の旗	Shikoden 柴紅殿	Hoki 芳紀
Kokuryu nishiki 黒龍錦	Kinkaden 金華殿	Gekkeikan 月桂冠

Seidai 聖代

Kao 花王

Japan is Diverse! - An Analysis from Seven Lucky Gods Perspective 七福神からの考察 - 日本は単一民族ではありません｡｡｡

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A signature board of stamps of seven lucky Japanese gods

This is a signature board (daigofu) with the name of seven lucky gods (shichifukujin) stamped in red and with these names and also the name of each temple where the seven gods are enshrined written in calligraphy on it.

These seven temples are all in Kyoto and I visited there to collect their stamps and calligraphy while on a "seven lucky gods pilgrimage." The characteristics of these gods (actually one is a goddess!) are outlined below.

God/goddess	Home country	Temple	Description
1. Benzaiten 弁財天 (only goddess)	India	Rokuhara Mitsuji temple	Benzaiten (弁才天 or 弁財天) has her origin in Hinduism. She is the only goddess, representing financial fortune, talent, beauty and music, and the patron of artists, writers, dancers, and geisha.
2. Daikokuten 大黒天	India	Matsugasaki Daikokuten temple	Daikokuten (大黒天) is the god of commerce and prosperity and the patron of cooks, farmers, bankers, and the protector of crops. He is also considered a demon hunter.
3. Ebisu ゑびす	Japan	Ebisu jinja shrine	Ebisu (恵比寿), the only god who originates in Japan, is the god of prosperity and wealth in business, and of plenitude and abundance in crops, cereals and food.
4. Bishamonten 毘沙門天	India	Toji temple	Bishamonten (毘沙門天) whose origin is traced back to Hinduism, is the god of fortune in war and battles and the protector of those who follow the rules and behave appropriately.
5. Hotei 布袋	China	Manpukuji temple	Hotei (布袋) is the god of fortune, the guardian of children, and the patron of diviners and barmen. He is also the god of popularity and often depicted as a fat, smiling, bald man with a curly mustache.
6. Jurojin 寿老神	China	Kodo temple	Jurojin (寿老人) is the god of the elderly and longevity in Japanese Buddhist mythology, based on a real person who lived in ancient times and was about six feet tall with a very long head and a long white beard.
7. Fukurokuju 福禄寿	China	Sekizan Zenin temple	Fukurokuju (福禄寿) has his origin in China. He is the god of wisdom, luck, longevity, wealth and happiness and characterized by the size of his head almost as large as the size of his whole body.

Source: Wikipedia

Kawaii Daruma Held by Kawaii Kyoto Doll 京人形とちっちゃいものクラブ

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What do you think this is?

Kawaii Japanese doll

It's a Daruma doll. A Daruma doll is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism. The eyes of Daruma are generally blank when sold so that the recipient of the doll fills in one eye upon setting a goal, then the other upon fulfilling it. Japanese politicians often get such dolls during the election time. However, this doll is not such a usual Daruma doll. It is held by a Kyoto doll like in the photo below!

Kyoto doll holding Daruma dolls

Kawaii Kyoto doll trio 

Kyoto doll holding chimaki amulet

Kyoto doll holding fortune cat

I am not usually interested in any type of dolls, but finding them at Kogatanaya, a traditional doll store in Kyoto, I just could not leave the shop without taking one of them home, and that has happened three times so far...

Of the three, the left one holds a Daruma doll in each hand, while the center one chimaki or an evil-warding charm made of bamboo leaves and the right one holding a "fortune cat (maneki neko)." A Daruma doll, a chimaki, and a fortune cat are all amulets which are said to bring good luck and loved by Japanese people.

They were so tiny and cute, aren't they?! The Kyoto doll store has hundreds of such and a little bigger kawaii Japanese dolls.

By the way, chimaki, which is held by the doll in the center, is an amulet and is not edible, but Japan has edible chimaki, too, or zongzi. Zongzi is a traditional Chinese rice dish made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. It is cooked by steaming or boiling and also known as a rice dumpling or sticky rice dumpling. For more, see this Wikipedia page!

Kogatanaya (which has no English website) is in front of Meijiya Store Kyoto Sanjo across the street and very close to Starbucks Kyoto Sanjo.

私の京人形コレクションです。人形にはほとんど興味ないのですが、京都の小刀屋忠兵衛で見つけてあまりの可愛さについ手が伸びて｡｡｡ 以来、京都に行くたびに一つずつ買っています。

人形そのものもかわいいのですが、ダルマと粽と招き猫が可愛いでしょ！おじゃる丸のちっちゃいものクラブを思い出しました。

小刀屋忠兵衛は、京都三条のスタバのすぐ近く、明治屋京都三条店の向かいです。

Qing Dynasty Glasses 清朝の乾隆ガラス

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These are glass products all made in China during the Qing dynasty period currently on show at Tokyo National Museum.

Jar
Opaque red glass on yellow glass

Candlesticks
Colored glass

Lobed bowl
Opaque blue glass

Vase with long neck
Transparent blue glass

Vase with long neck
Blue green glass

Vase with long neck
Milky white glass

  

Vase
Opaque yellow glass

I first thought that they were made in the Middle East as they are so colorful, so I was surprised that China had produced glasses of such bright colors in the 18th and 19th centuries. They are called Qianlong glasses, named after the Qianlong Emperor, the 6th emperor of the Qing dynasty.

Japan's traditional colors are more subtle or sober (like kimono) and I preferred them to lively ones. Sachio Yoshioka, a Japanese master dyer and textile historian, reproduced a variety of colors that reflect the natural surroundings and seasonal changes in Japan without using synthetic dyes and wrote several books about these colors. I often read one such book when I want to see inside of me in solitude.

But I have realized recently that bright colors, like those of Qianlong glasses, also make me happy in a different way, helping me look outward and setting me free. Now I appreciate both sober and bright colors.

If you are interested in sculptures produced under the Qing dynasty, read this.

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東京国立博物館に展示されていた清朝のガラスです。上から

黄地赤色ガラス壺
色ガラス燭台
青色ガラス木瓜型鉢
青色透明ガラス長頸瓶
青緑色ガラス長頸瓶
乳白色ガラス長頸瓶
黄色ガラス瓶

です。

こういう鮮やかな色って昔は苦手でした。日本の古代色の方が好きでした。自分と向き合えるからです。染色家の吉岡幸雄氏の書いた本を読んでいると心が洗われます。

でも最近、鮮やかな色やその力にも惹かれるようになりました。地味だけど奥深い日本の古代色は内面と向き合いたい時、清朝のガラスのような明るい色は意識を外に広げたい時、私を助けてくれます！

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