In the afternoon, when walking along the promenade along the river, a group of purple orchids are shining brightly. The appearance in repelling the shining light makes me feel not only the beautiful but also the strength that can not be thought of as an orchid. I’ve been chasing the plums, chasing the cherry blossoms, and the spring flowers that bloom one after another, but April is about to be over. I am grateful to the flowers for having given me the joy of regeneration and for giving me the courage against the scorching hot of summer ahead.

昼下がり、川沿いの遊歩道を歩いていると、一群れの紫蘭がキラキラと輝いています。強くなった陽の光を撥ね返すその姿に、美しさと同時に蘭とは思えない力強さを感じます。梅を追いかけ、桜を追いかけ、次から次へと咲き出す春の花々を巡ってきましたが、もう四月もお終いです。再生の喜びと、この先に待ち構えている猛暑に備える勇気を与えてくれる花々に感謝です。因みに、「あすなき春」とは「翌なき春」とも書き、四月の終わりを言います。

Shindachi in Sennan city in the southern part of Osaka was once a post town on the Kumano-highway. The old house Kajimoto House is located on the highway that still retains the old streetscape. Inside the mansion, there is the famous Noda Wisteria, which is is over 40 years old and has 40,000 flower clusters on only one tree. In April when the wisteria is in full bloom, it will be open to the public and the “Wisteria Festival” will be held. During the festival, an observatory stand is set up next to the wisteria trellis, and the wisteria flowers that spread under the eyes are like a purple sea of clouds. Unfortunately the “WisteriaFestival” was canceled this year, but Noda Wisteria is even better than usual.

大阪の南にある泉南市信達はその昔、熊野街道の宿場町でした。今も古い街並みが残るその街道筋に旧家の梶本邸があって、屋敷内には毎年４万房もの花房を付ける樹齢４０年を超える1本の野田藤があります。藤が満開になる４月には一般に公開され、「ふじ祭り」が開催されます。祭りの期間中は、藤棚のそばに観賞台が設置され、そこから見る藤はまるで紫の雲海のようで圧巻です。今年は生憎「ふじ祭り」は中止されましたが、野田藤は例年にも増して見事です。

♪♪♪ あざみの歌 ♪♪♪

“Azami no Uta” was first broadcast in 1949 as NHK’s “Radio Kayo (the Song for Raido).” In 1951, Hisao Ito made a record and became a huge hit, and became “Kokumin Kayo (the Song for Public).” The lyrics were written by Hiroshi Yokoi, who was 18 years old when he returned to Japan in 1945, at the Yashima Plateau in Shimosuwa, where he was living. The music was composed by Hideaki Yasu, also known as “Sakuragai-no-uta”. A monument to this song is built on the Yashima Plateau in Kirigamine. Nini Rosso being famous as trumpet player liked this song very much and played it immediately.

『あざみの歌』は最初、1949年にNHKの「ラジオ歌謡」として放送されました。２年後の1951年に伊東久雄がレコード化して大ヒット、「国民歌謡」になりました。作詞は、昭和20年(1945)に復員してきた当時18歳の横井弘が、疎開先の下諏訪の八島高原で、野に咲くアザミの花にみずから思い抱く理想の女性の姿をだぶらせて綴ったそうです。その詞に『さくら貝の歌』でも知られる八洲秀章が作曲しました。霧ヶ峰の八島高原には、この歌の歌碑が建っています。トランペット演奏は言わずと知れたニニ・ロッソ。この曲がいたく気に入り、即座に演奏したそうです。

I received a message from a foreign friend on Facebook while sleeping in the morning. It is a music video with a message of “Good morning” when I open it. I woke up at once. A Facebook friend from Brazil sent me a video message of Kena music. “Good morning” when you open it with a drowsy eye. It was a beautiful music and my drowsiness was blown away at once. Now it has changed into such an era. Everything is globalized, and voices, photos, and videos arrive instantly. Half of my Facebook friends are also foreigners. On the other hand, the infectious disease of coronavirus spreads to the world in an instant too. Such as this, there are many aspects in which human consciousness does not keep up with the changes of the times.

ブラジルのFacebook の友達からケーナの動画メッセージが送られてきました。寝ぼけ眼でそれを開くと「Good morning」。美しい曲で、眠気がいっぺんに吹き飛んでしまいました。今はこう言う時代なんですね。何もかもがグローバル化して、しかも瞬時にして声も写真も動画も届く。Facebook のお友達も半分は外国人です。反面、コロナウィルスの感染症も瞬く内に世界に広まる。どうも人間の意識が時代の変化に対応し切れていない面も多々ありますね。

Koyasan, a sacred place opened by Kobo Daishi Kukai, has been gathering the faith of many people for about 1200 years. The highway for visiting Koyasan has been gradually improved since the Heian era, and several highways in Osaka Prefecture merged near Kawachinagano, and eventually became known as the “Koya Highway.” During the Edo period, the Koyasan pilgrimage became a big boom, and a post town was formed along the way, and it became the standard practice to give the various kinds of rice balls, steamed buns and rice cakes to the pilgrims.

弘法大師空海が開いた霊場高野山は、現在に至るまで約1200年間、多くの人達の信仰を集め続けています。高野山参りの街道は平安時代以来徐々に整備され、大阪府下にいくつもあった街道が河内長野付近でひとつに合流し、いつしか「高野街道」と呼ばれるようになりました。江戸時代には高野山詣りは一大ブームになり、道中には宿場町が形成され、村々でおにぎりやお饅頭、お餅などさまざまな施しをいただきながら参詣することが定番になりました。

Tsubaki is a flower that has been popular among Japanese people as it is sung in Manyoshu. The single flower vase of the Toko-no-ma and of the tea room are symbols of Japanese culture. Red flowers are common, but there are also white camellias, white camellia with red spots, pink, and even black camellias. However, in 1965, a yellow camellia was found deep in the mountains of Yunnan, China, which was a big news. It was named “Kinkacha (Golden Camellia)” . And it was designated as a Chinese natural monument and was temporarily prohibited from taking it out of the country. The yellow camellia first came to Japan in 1980, and it quickly spread among connoisseurs. Originally it is a single bloom that makes bright yellow flowers bloom, but now the variety improvement has progressed, there are various yellow camellias such as “Yellow”.

椿は万葉集にも歌われているほど、日本人には親しまれてきた花です。床の間や茶室の一輪ざしは日本文化の象徴です。赤い花が普通ですが、白い椿もあり、白地に赤の斑入りもあったり、ピンク色、更には黒椿もあるほどです。しかし、1965年に中国雲南省の山深くに黄色い椿が見つかり、一大ニュースになりました。「金花茶」と名付けられた金椿は、中国の天然記念物にも指定され、一時は国外への持ち出しは禁止されました。日本へ渡来したのは１９８０年で、瞬く内に好事家の間に広まりました。元は鮮やかな黄色い花を咲かせる一重咲きですが、今では品種改良が進み、「黄凰」を始め、様々な黄色椿があります。

In the nearby park, carp streamers began to swim early in the sunshine of spring. The momentum of infectious diseases caused by coronavirus does not stop. The call to refrain from unnecessary trips extends to the park. Perhaps because of that, there seems to be less crowded than usual, but at least if I do not come out only here, I will be choked. When you walk in the grove avoiding contact with people as much as possible, the young sprouts stand out. I feel like I’m finally alive.

近くの公園には、春の日差しの受けて、早々と鯉のぼりが泳ぎ始めました。コロナウィルスによる感染症の勢いは止まりません。不要の外出は控えるようにと言う呼び掛けは公園にまで及んでいます。そのせいもあってか、普段より人出は少ないようですが、せめてここだけでも出て来なければ、息が詰まります。できるだけ人との接触を避けて木立の中を歩くと、新芽若葉が目立ちます。やっと生き返った思いがします。

One spring day, Knight Rudolf and the beautiful Maiden Berta were taking a walk along the Danube. By chance, when Berta suddenly looked at the waterside, bright blue florets were blooming. Rudolph reached out to pick the riverside flowers for his beloved Berta. At that moment Rudolf slips and falls into the rapids. He desperately struggled with the strong current, but he couldn’t beat the Danube rapids. Rudolf realized that he could no longer save his life and shouted, “Don’t forget me! (Vergiss-mein-nicht!)”, Threw the flower he had in hand to Bertha on the shore and sank to the bottom of the Danube.The small blue flowers on the banks of the Danube were forget-me-nots.

ある春の日、騎士ルドルフと美しい乙女ベルタがドナウ河畔を散策をしていました。ふとベルタが水辺に目をやると鮮やかな青色の小花が咲いていました。ルドルフは愛するベルタの為に河岸の花を摘もうと手を伸ばしました。その瞬間ルドルフは足を滑らせて急流の中に落ちてしまいます。花を握ったまま彼は必死にもがいたけれどもドナウの急流には勝てません。もはや命は助からないと悟ったルドルフは、「僕を忘れないで！(Vergiss-mein-nicht!）」と叫び、手にした花を岸辺のベルタに投げて、ドナウの底に沈んでしまったのです。このドナウの岸辺に咲いていた青い小さな花こそ勿忘草(Forget-me-not)だったのです。

Apple flowers are pink when they are buds, but become white as the flowers open, and become pure white when they bloom. The flowering period is short and the apple farmers who have to pick flowers during this period are very busy. However, there are also red flower apples like the photo among ones. This is a pollinating tree called Maypole apple, not an apple tree for fruit purposes. The flowers are red and beautiful, so now they are mainly used for viewing.

リンゴの花は蕾の頃はピンク色をしていますが、花が開くに従って白くなり、咲き切ると真っ白になります。開花期間は短く、この間に摘花しなければならないリンゴ農家は大忙しです。ところが、写真のリンゴの花の様に赤い花もあります。これはメイポールリンゴと言う受粉樹で、果実目的のリンゴの木ではありません。花が赤く美しいので、今では主に鑑賞用として愛用されています。

When the gentle breeze of spring runs over the blooming nemophila, waves gently occur. Nemophila has a cute name, such as the Japanese name “Ruri-karakusa ” and the English name “Baby blue eyes”. Native to the United States, it was introduced to Japan more than 100 years ago in 1877, but it was unknown to us Japanese until recently. Even in gardening, it was only a secondary to other popular flowers. However, in 2001, at the “National Hitachi Seaside Park” in Ibaraki Prefecture, we realized a production in which a quiet nemophila was the protagonist. Every one flower is small and sober, but it was shocking to plant it on a vast hill. Nemophila spread all over the country in an instant.

一面に咲いたネモフィラに春のそよ風が走ると、穏やかにウェーブが起こります。ネモフィラの和名は「瑠璃唐草」、そして英名は「Baby blue eyes」と言うようにどちらも可愛い名前が付いています。アメリカ原産で、日本には100年以上前の1877年に持ち込まれましたが、近年まで私たち日本人にとってあまり知られていませんでした。ガーデニング等でも他のポピュラーな花々の引き立て役にしか過ぎませんでした。しかし、2001年に茨城県の「国営ひたち海浜公園」で、おとなしめなネモフィラを敢えて主役とする演出を実現させたのです。一花一花では小さくて地味ですが、広大な丘一面に植えたことで衝撃が走りました。瞬くうちに全国に広まったのです。