I visited a friend who enjoys growing wild plants. There are ripe red raspberries in his field. Apparently he haven’t eaten any. He seems to become attached to them. A long time ago, when I went back to the country, my neighbor brought me a chicken, but I couldn’t eat it till returning home. I’m sure he and I have the same feeling. Occasionally, there is a controversy between ethnic peoples that they shouldn’t eat whales or cows, which is an extension of this feeling. However, one should avoid imposing ones thoughts on others.

野生の植物を栽培するのを趣味にしている友人を訪ねました。真っ赤に熟した木苺ができています。一つも食べていないそうです。情が移ってしまったのですね。昔、田舎に帰った時、近所の人が鶏を食べて下さいと持ってきてくれましたが、とうとう食べられなかったことを思い出しました。鯨を食べてはいけない、牛を食べてはいけないと、時々言い争いになることがありますが、こういう気持ちの延長でしょうね。しかし、押しつけはいけません。

Oniyuri (Tiger lily) has just bloomed on the shore of Lake Kawaguchi near the end of the rainy season. Even though I don’t know who named it, the name Oniuri sounds bit cruel. Whether its name or not, this Oniyuri that blooms in front of Mt Fuji is cute and shy. Flowers of the season bloom every season around Mt. Fuji, and the flowers compete with each other for the beauty, but in front of Mt Fuji, all the flowers are sweet and shy. And the flowers that bloom in front of Mt Fuji look the most beautiful even of the same flowers.

梅雨明け間近の河口湖畔に鬼百合が咲きました。誰が名付けたのか鬼百合とは少しかわいそうな名前ですが、この富士山の前に咲く鬼百合の何というしおらしさ。富士山の周りには四季折々の花が咲き、美しさを競いますが、富士山の前ではどの花もすべてしおらしくなります。そして富士山の前で咲く花はどの花も最も美しくみえます。

There are many flowers that bloom at the transition of the season, such as hydrangea, lily, licorice, sunflower, and hagi. Early summer flowers, midsummer flowers, and autumn flowers are mixed and blooming. In haiku, there is promise that must include season words to decide the season title, but the promise cannot be kept due to the above circumstances. This is an annoying situation. Not only this. Nowadays, varieties are improved and some flowers bloom all year round, while there are names of flowers that can’t fit in seven sounds, let alone five sounds, which complicates the problem. This is one of the reasons why free haiku is born.

折節の移り変わりに咲く花は紫陽花あり、百合あり、萱草あり、向日葵あり、そして萩ありです。初夏の花、真夏の花、そして秋の花が入り乱れて咲いています。俳句には、季語を入れて季題を決める約束がありますが、これでは約束事が守れません。悩ましい状況です。これだけではありません。今では品種改良が進み一年中咲く花もあれば、五音はおろか、七音でも収まり切れない花の名前があったりで、とても約束事を守れない事が沢山あります。自由俳句が生まれる理由の一つです。

The peaches that were left alone in a tree form were completely colored and ripe enough to eat. After harvesting, I put them in a large wicker basket, and I went out on business. After a while, when I came back, the room was filled with the scent of peaches. This scent covers my body in burning due to the heat outside. It’s almost like taking a peach bath. When I turn on the air conditioner immediately, the cold air that blows out also has the scent of peach. I spent my day absorbed in peaches.

木成りのまま放っておいた桃がすっかり色付き食べごろになりました。収穫して大き目の籐籠に入れ用足しで外に出、しばらくして帰ってくると、部屋中桃の香りで満ちています。外の暑さで身体中が火照っている上にこの香りです。まるで桃のお風呂に入っているかの様。早速エアコンを入れると、これまた吹き出す冷風が桃の香り。桃三昧の一日になりました。

July 25th is “Shaved Ice Day”. Do you know it ? It is 725 (Natsugo) and it is a play of the words putting on the summer ice. It is written in the advertisement of the store of the Japanese confectionery shop. I was caught by this and entered the shop. When I ordered my favorite “Uji Kintoki” and while I was waiting, I opened the booklet in front of the menu. There is written down the details of “Shaved Ice” . It was so funny that I was crazy about it and read. When I noticed, there was the “Uji Kintoki” in front of me.

７月２５日は「カキ氷の日」です。ご存知ですか？７２５(なつご)と夏氷に掛けたわけですね。和菓子屋さんの店先の広告に書いてあります。これに釣られてお店に入りました。大好きな「宇治金時」を注文し、待っている間に、前に置いてある小冊子を開くと、「カキ氷」の蘊蓄(うんちく)がこと細く書いてあります。面白いので夢中になって読んでいる内に、いつの間にか「宇治金時」が前に置いてありました。

The rainy season is not over even though July is about to end. If things go on like this, the end of the rainy season will be in August and it will be another “Record-breaking lately finishing of the rainy season”. Because the sunshine hours are short, the price of the vegetable has risen sharply, and some of them have tripled in price. American-Deigo in the park gets impatient and is blooming crimson flowers. Deigo is the prefectural flower of Okinawa Prefecture, and the northern limit is around Okinawa Prefecture, but American-Deigo is strong in the cold and can be found here and there in Honshu.

もう間も無く七月が終わろうかというのに梅雨が明けません。この分では八月にずれ込みまたまた「記録破りの遅い梅雨明け」になりそうです。日照時間が短いめ野菜の値段が高騰し、中には通常の３倍になっているものもあるとか。公園のアメリカンデイゴが痺れを切らして真紅の花を咲かせています。デイゴは沖縄県の県花になっているように北限が沖縄県あたりですが、アメリカンデイゴは寒さにも強く本州のあちこちにに見受けられます。

Azure sea. The sound of waves crashing. The hot springs soaked while bathing in the waves that occasionally fall are paradise. Casually looking at the side, Hamayu is blooming white flowers. The gray hair of an old woman who has just finished bathing seems to be shining in the sunlight. It is a memory of my trip to Izu. Hamayu flower word “No stain” comes from the delicate white flower appearance of cotton (Yu) used in Shinto rituals. Another flower language is “Somewhere far away.” The seeds come from distant seas and bloom the flower, and the seeds that have grown there are carried somewhere else to bloom. Now, summer will be in full swing soon.

紺碧の海。打ち寄せる波の音。時折り降りかかる波しぶきを浴びながらつかる温泉は極楽です。ふと横を見ると少し離れて浜木綿が白い花を咲かせています。湯浴みを終えたばかりの老女の白髪が陽光に煌めいているように見えます。伊豆旅行をした時の思い出です。浜木綿の花言葉「汚れがない」は、神事に用いられていた木綿（ユウ）のような繊細な白い花の姿からつけられています。もう一つの花言葉は「どこか遠くへ」。遠くの海からやって来て花を咲かせ、育んだ種がまたどこかに運ばれて花を咲かせます。まもなく夏本番ですね。

On the shore of Kushimoto Town in Wakayama Prefecture, there is a strange rock called “Hashikuiiwa”, where about 40 rock columns are lined up for about 850 meters toward Oshima Island on the opposite bank. It is said to be the bridge girder that Odaissan (a popular name of Kobo Daishi with containing the respect and familiarity in Osaka) left behind unsuccessfully because he was deceived by the devious demon. Now it is a national scenic natural monument. As Asahi seen from here is exceptionally beautiful, it also has been selected as one of the “100 Asahi in Japan”. Just now a red Bussoge (a hibiscus original species) is blooming in memory of Kobo Daishi against the backdrop of Hashikuiiwa.

和歌山県の串本町の海岸に「橋杭岩」と言って、対岸の大島に向かって約850メートルの間に約40個の岩柱が立ち並ぶ奇岩があります。おだいっさん(大阪では弘法大師を尊敬と親しみを込めてこう呼びます)が天邪鬼に騙されて未完成のまま残された橋桁だという言い伝えが残る国の名勝天然記念物です。ここから見る朝日は格別美しいということで「日本の朝日百選」にも選ばれています。今ちょうど橋杭岩を背景に弘法大師を偲んで真っ赤な仏桑華(ハイビスカスの原種)が咲いています。

There is another increase today. Chatty lilies, Teppo-lilies, talk to me all at once. There is a bench in the corner of the park where I go every day, and just next to it, they have been blooming all the time now. After the walk, as I’m soaked in sweat all over body, I wipe sweat here and prepare for return. The surrounding bushes are thick, and for some reason they’re blooming only in this corner and seem to make me feel lonely, and I unconsciously feel to want to talk to them. By the way, to be precise, this lily is a New Teppo lily, which is a relatively new variety that combines the Teppo lily that grows south of Kyushu and the Sasa lily.

今日もまた一つ増えました。おしゃべり好きのテッポウユリが一斉に話し掛けてきます。毎日出かける公園の一角にベンチがあり、その直ぐ脇に、このところ、ずっと咲き続けています。散歩を終えて汗びっしょり。ここで汗を拭い帰り支度を整えます。周りは灌木が生い茂り、何故かこの一角だけに咲いていて、人恋しげな姿に、こちらからもいつも話しかけたくなります。正確にはシンテッポウユリで、九州以南に自生するテッポウユリとタカサゴユリを掛け合わせた比較的新しい品種です。

Since it’s a customary day in Japan called “Doyo” today, I haven’t eaten eel recently, so I went to a nearby mall to eat eel. I was surprised because there were so many people, but I couldn’t find the eel restaurant I was looking for. Suddenly, the Japanese confectionery store that hangs a small “100% Honwarabi” flag caught my eyes. I entered the store because I wanted to know the meaning of “Hon (true)”. According to the “Oshinagaki (a menu list)”, there are usually many things mixed with kudzu flour and potato starch, and warabi-mochi made from only a pure warabi powder is rare. After a while, the Hon Warabi-mochi was brought in. It was covered with kinako and matcha, but the Warabi-mochi itself was dark and soft, and passed through the throat. I will never forget its texture, smoothness and aftertaste.

今日は土用の丑の日だということで、最近あまら鰻も食べたことがないことだし、それではと鰻を食べるために近くのショッピングモールにでかけました。思ったわりに人出が多くてびっくりしましたが、なかなかお目当ての鰻屋さんが見つかりません。ふと目に止まったのが「本わらび100%」の小さな幟を吊るしてある和菓子店です。「本」の意味が知りたくてそのお店に入りました。「お品書き」によると、普通はクズ粉やイモの澱粉を混ぜたものが多くて、本わらび粉だけのわらび餅は滅多にないとのこと。しばらくすると、本わらび餅が運ばれてきました。きな粉と抹茶がまぶしてありますが、地は黒っぽくて柔らかく、スルッとのどを通っていきました。その食感とのど越しの良さ、そしてあと味の良さが忘れられません。