Ivy-Leaved Speedwell (Veronica Hederifolia) フラサバソウ/ツタバイヌノフグリ（蔦葉犬の陰嚢）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are ivy-leaved speedwell (Veronica hederifolia). They're native to Europe and resemble corn speedwell (Veronica arvensis), which is also native to Europe, but ivy-leaved speedwell's stems and leaves are hairy unlike corn speedwell's. Ivy-leaved speedwell's Japanese name is "tsutaba inu no fuguri," which translates to "ivy-leaved dog's balls (terrible!)." Other four speedwells also have terrible Japanese names as follows:

• Grey field-speedwell (Veronica polita) named "inu no fuguri," which translates into "dog's balls," after the resemblance of its fruit shape to dog's balls.
• Persian speedwell (Veronica persica) named "ooinu no fuguri," which translates into "large dog's balls" after its larger flowers than those of grey field-speedwell.
• Corn speedwell (Veronica arvensis) named "tachi inu no fuguri," which translates into "standing dog's balls" after its stems standing upright.
• Pale speedwell (Veronica cymbalaria) named "kogome inu no fuguri," which translates into "small rice dog's balls."　

All were named as such by Tomitaro Makino (1862 - 1957) after the fruits of grey field speedwell, whose shape resembles the balls of a dog (scroll down to see them). Tomitaro Makino is a Japanese botanist. He dropped out of elementary school after two years, but studied botany on his own and eventually received a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Tokyo.

2022/3/8

Black Bee or Longhorn Beetle (Cerambycidae) 黒いハチ？カミキリムシ？

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Many of the hydrangeas in my neighborhood have started to dry, so I was passing by them when finding something resting or hanging in on a sepal of a hydrangea. I can't tell if this is a black bee or a longhorn beetle but can tell it had a strong will not to fall off, which made me chuckle. 

2025/6/13

Water Droplet 水滴

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I used to think that you shouldn't/couldn't take a walk in the rain but when I said that to someone, he told me I could still enjoy a walk even in the rain with an umbrella. This didn't make sense to me at that time but it does now. Rain allows you to see something that can't be seen otherwise, like this. It's not a Swarovski diamond but it is as beautiful, isn't it?  

The rainy season hasn't started yet in Tokyo officially, but will soon as in most areas in Japan.   

2025/6/10

Spider-Man Leaf スパイダーマンみたいな葉

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This leaf looks like Spider-Man's face. 

A few days ago, a picture of a fruit of Lonicera gracilipes var. glabra made me burst out laughing because as suggested by @comy_0165, who posted the picture, the fruit looked like Dokurobei, one of the characters of Yatterman, i.e., a Japanese anime television series broadcast from 1977 to 1979. Dokurobei calls himself God of Thieves. He doesn't look like Hermes or Mercury at all though. 

2025/6/8

Turmeric (Curcuma Longa) ウコン（鬱金）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I know turmeric and have used it for cooking but have never seen the flowers. This is a turmeric flower (Curcuma longa). The pink part, which looks like petals, is actually bracts and the cream yellow part at the bottom of the flower is petals. 

2025/6/5

2025/6/10

Eastern Spot-Billed Duck カルガモ（軽鴨）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Eastern spot-billed ducks are often seen in Central Tokyo and those living in the Imperial Palace are particularly famous but this one attracted my attention because it was standing on one leg. Birds do so to conserve body heat when even asleep. Wow, I often struggle to maintain balance when standing on one leg when doing yoga.

 

2025/6/4

Slug, Caterpillar, Beetle, and Snail & Anpanman and Einstein 小さな生き物たちとアインシュタイン

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

It's not rainy season yet in Tokyo, but I often see slugs and snails these days and today two slugs in Half Lord of the Fishes pose (1st and 2nd photos)!!

The other photos are of caterpillars, beetles, and snails at Mukojima Hyakkaen Garden. Looking at these small things reminded me of a very famous Japanese song titled "Tenohira wo taiyo ni (Holding up your hand to the sunlight)" because the song is about every living thing, i.e., mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and insects.

The lyrics were written by Takashi Yanase, best known as the creator of the anime series "Anpanman." I didn't see why "Anpanman" was so popular among children and the song "Holding up...." was still sung by many people, but knowing his background as a veteran of WW2 and his experience in overcoming a series of diseases, I see why he could create such great manga and lyrics.

Those with experience of war including Yanase and my grandfathers and grandmothers, are mostly dead while those with no such experience trying to amend Japanese constitution to be able to use military force for purposes other than self-defense, but Japanese need to do something before amending the constitution, i.e., improving IT and English literacy. Albert Einstein said, "A clever person solves a problem while a wise person avoids it." I couldn't agree more.

2025/5/28

2025/5/28

Solutions Vary - Definition of Happiness 米価格高騰の解決策？！

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Rice prices are soaring in Japan. The average price for 5 kilograms of rice is nearly or even higher than JPY5,000, more than double the price at the same time last year. 

Pink Hydrangea ピンクの紫陽花

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Two types of pink hydrangea blooms.

2025/5/20

2025/5/20

2021/5/29

GREEN Fish Mint (Houttuynia Cordata Var. Plenus) 緑の八重咲きドクダミ

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I saw double-flowered fish mint (Houttuynia cordata var. Plenus) for the first time last year and a green one for the first time yesterday! Can you believe that? Fish mints can be double-flowered and also GREEN. Single flowered fish mints are everywhere at this time of year, but not double-flowered ones. I've found only two places where double-flowered ones are growing and only one green fish mint in my neighborhood. 

2025/5/23

2025/5/18

2025/5/18

Rescue Grass (Bromus catharticus) イヌムギ（犬麦）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I've been writing about plants in Tokyo for several years, so I rarely find a new plant these days. Therefore, finding something tiny hanging from spikelets made me say WOW. They're flowers of rescue grass (Bromus catharticus). Rescue grass is native to America and came to Japan at the beginning of the Meiji era (1868 - 1912). 

The plant is called "inu mugi," which translates to "dog wheat," because the plant resembles wheat but is not edible, i.e., useless. In Japan, the term "inu (dog)" is often used derogatorily, i.e., for something which resembles a useful thing but is different or inferior to it or something useless, like the following:

• Inu jini, translating to a dog death, meaning a useless death
• Inu houzuki, translating to dog ground cherry, meaning black nightshade, whose flowers resemble ground cherry but which is useless 
• Inu, translating to an informant, a snitch, a rat

I did research on why but couldn't find any good explanation. 

2025/5/16

2025/5/15