Plum Blossoms 観梅

         I was watching the above family from a bench in the park. The father is just off screen. There was something special about the way the parents shared the flowers with their daughter.

As you can see, there are two main colors for the plum blossoms: pink and white. The combination of these two colors brings fortune or luck, and is thought to be especially beautiful. The combination of these two -- either a bi-colored flower or a tree with grafted branches -- has its own name: o-mai-no-mama, "red and white thinking tree."

This is a view of part of the gardens from the second floor of the manor house. Within the gardens there are over 3,000 trees and 100 different species. 

Each species of flower has its own name, as well. The white trees below are called "pure water reflects the spirit" and "balding old man". What is amazing to me about the plum blossoms is that they lack luster. Each individual flower has a crisp beauty, but as a whole the trees are non-assertive. You have to be still to admire them. Perhaps that is one reason that they are not popular in America (that and the fact that raw plums from these trees are toxic).

Since you have to be still to admire the blossoms, you notice much more than the blooms.I believe the most beautiful part of my blossom viewing were the trees themselves, not their temporary adornment. Each branch is so unique, and seems to grow without any plan. Sometimes the angles they grow at seem impossible, or at least impractical.

 

I particularly admired the old trees. 

Look closer at this old tree.

Where is the tree?

The plum trees are highly susceptible to mold and fungus, which eats away at the inner parts of the tree. It is said that a tree without damage to the wood must be young, because an old tree would necessarily have damage. This tree is one of the worst damaged, but every tree in the garden was missing some degree of wood.

This tree seems to be nothing but an empty shell of twisted bark, and yet it blooms.

 苦の娑婆や桜が咲けば咲いたとて 

which is read ku no shaba ya sakura ga sakeba saita tote.

"A world of grief and pain, flowers bloom, even then" 

or

"Even though the heart is slowly dying, the flowers still bloom"

 Below is one of the six trees in the garden which were chosen (by whom, I don't know) 

to be the most beautiful.  These special six trees were separated from the rest of the trees with this kind of bamboo fence. 

This tree is named "Tiger's Tail." 

Everything came in different colors: the bark, the buds, the flowers. 

There number and size of the petals varied. 

And each tree - trunk, flower, and bud - had something to be admired.

 

Samurai House

       In my city there is a hill covered in plum blossoms. Amidst the plums, the fiery azaleas, and bush clovers there is a manor house where the lord studied art and poetry and greeted samurai who came to pay homage.

The bottom is comprised of rooms decorated by theme and painted beautifully.

       Then there is the upstairs. The stairs are steep like the closet stairs in "My Neighbor Totoro," and halfway up there is a waiting room for a samurai guest. The top floor is the seat of the lord, and it is a throne worthy of him. His chamber looks out over the hill and the valley. Even on a cloudy day you can see for miles. On a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji.

What a scene for a lord or king to view: 

To look out over all he owns 

and realize that he is nothing in comparison.

Plum Festival

        During the first few weeks of the plum festival I visited and there was a huge to-do in the Kairakuen (the famous gardens in my city). There was even a performing monkey. You know it's a big deal if there is a performing monkey...

Here is a map of the gardens. I love pictures, because I know what they are trying to tell me. I am still not great at reading signs in Japanese (unless its in katakana).

Below is a food I really wish I tried. I told myself that I would get one on my way out, but the shopkeeper left before I passed back by him. I think it's sea-meat.

Because it was a festival weekend, there were a lot of people coming to admire the blossoms. There were also a lot of people sitting on benches and admiring the flowers. They all looked just as awed and amazed as I felt. 

After I walked through the entire park and admired it alone, this kind old Japanese man (who spoke no English) offered to give me a tour of the park. It was a lot of fun and gestures. When you want to communicate, you can (without a dictionary) even with a language gap. It was a wonderful good time for both of us. 

What's funny, is that I think those moments are my favorite: the unplanned, accidental collisions with unplanned moments in time. 

I also think there was a wedding in the park that day, because a woman in a kimono (pictured below) and man in black, traditional garb were walking together through the trees. What a beautiful backdrop. 

Within the park there was also a natural spring (I think it is like the springs in Florida, renowned for "healing power".)

As I left the park, I talked with some ladies in Japanese and one of them convinced me to buy this food because, as she said, it is good for my colon. But between the taste and texture there was no way it would get to my colon. Instead I licked the mustard off of them and  used them as hand-warmers on my walk home. It was a cold day and I spent unplanned hours in the park. 

The picture below does no justice to the scene, but I wanted to share a glimpse of the beauty I can see from the park. The park is on the top of a hill so that the whole valley and city are visible from the top. 

The perfect place for a castle or palace. 

Truly beautiful. 

Be Still 静まって

The peace and wonder of Japan in the gardens is astounding. So much of my city is comprised of cultivated (and impeccably cared for) gardens in yards and parks. 

       Even getting lost wandering through neighborhoods was filled with wonderment because it was all so new and beautiful to me. I can’t decide whether I am in wonder because it is foreign, or whether I am in wonder because it is frankly wonderful.

       For example, walking beside the river here in Mito there are so many spots that have been intentionally selected or cultivated to be beautiful with a certain “quietness.” They are places that make me want to be still and know that God is creator. And although the people of Japan do not know whom they should worship, I think they (as a cultural whole) recognize that there is something beautiful and worth worshiping in those quite places (thus all the shrines at the best quiet places).

       The layout of my city here in Japan forces me to pause and say, “Wow, God. 

すごい! The wonderful works of your hands,” in a way that no North American city ever has. 

 

        Part of the peace of these places is the harmony of water, plant, and stone. The water maintains a peaceful movement, the stones are cool and still, the plants are vivacious and (will be) green.
       The layout of garden spaces is also completely unlike western styles. There is no attempt to make nature uniform. instead, the oddities and uniqueness are highlighted and admired. When walking through the plum blossom orchard the flowers were beautiful but they were not the most beautiful. The tree trunks were because of their peculiarity - a peculiarity which the garden layout made notable.
        There is garden "decoration" in Japan made from bamboo called shishio-doshi (or deer frighten-er) which periodically tips over and makes a hollow sound. It is meant to keep wildlife out of gardens but I love the sound of it. The image to the left is not one. (here is an video of one on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvwHph4bFN0)