Today, some families are coming to the fallow fields in Satoyama, which I visit occasionally, and they are spreading their lunch. It’s a countryside that usually has no characteristics, but there are many small pale pink flowers in bloom. Look closely, it is Sakura Tade. The flowers are larger than ordinary Tade, supple like a willow, and as the name suggests, flowers that resemble cherry blossoms are in bloom. In Junichiro Tanizaki’s novel, there is a story called “Tate-eating insect”, but the woman n”Ohisa” that appears there suddenly came to my mind.

たまに訪れる里山の休耕田に、今日は何組かの家族連れが来ていて、お弁当を広げています。普段はこれと言って特徴のない田園ですが、淡いピンク色の小さな花がいっぱい咲いています。よく見るとサクラタデです。普通のタデより花が大きめで、柳のようにしなやかで、名前通りサクラによく似た花が咲いています。谷崎潤一郎の小説に『蓼喰う虫』と言うのがありますが、そこに出て来る「お久」がふと思い浮かびました。