Hyakujitsuko (crape myrtle) means a flower that keeps blooming for 100 days in Japanese, and similarly, Sennichiko (globe amaranth) means a flower that keeps blooming for 1000 days. Both do not represent a specific period, but mean a flower that blooms for a long time. It is the same expression as “3000m long White hair” in Chinese poetry or “Naniwa’s 808 bridges” which means that there are many bridges in Osaka. There is a word called “Tohkako (Flowers that bloom for ten days), but this is not a specific flower name, but means “No flower keeps blooming for ten days.” and is used to express which is likened to the fragility of human life.

百日紅はサルスベリのことで、およそ百日は咲き続ける花と言うことでしょうね。それでは、千日紅は千日咲く花と言う意味かと言うと、そうではなく、百日紅よりは長く咲くとと言う意味が込められているのでしょう。いずれにしろ、百日とか千日は「長く」と言う意味で使われています。「白髪三千丈」とか「難波八百八橋」と同じ表現です。十日紅と言う言葉がありますが、これは具体的な花の名前ではなく、「花に十日の紅なし」と言う意味で、生きとし生けるものの命の儚さを表現する時に使います。

“Lettuce was 461 yen, cabbage was 298 yen, and Chinese cabbage was 1580 yen, which was taken at a supermarket on the weekend, but it’s a shocking price,” says caster Yuko Wakabayashi. It’s the same price everywhere in Okinawa, Fukuoka and Osaka. Vegetables are soaring nationwide. (August 24th Livedoor ’News article)

It is said that the cause is the long rain and lack of sunshine that the end of the rainy season is put off to August, and the intense heat and light rain as soon as the rainy season begins. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries website states that it will return to normal levels later this month, but it is still expensive.

「レタス461円、キャベツ298円、ハクサイ1580円と、週末のスーパーで撮影されたものですが、衝撃的な価格ですね」とキャスターの若林有子アナが伝える。沖縄、福岡、大阪、どこでも同様な値段だ。野菜が全国的に高騰している。(8月24日 Livedoor’ News)

梅雨明けが８月にずれ込むほどの長雨と日照不足、明けた途端の猛暑と少雨などが原因と言われています。農林水産省のホームページには今月下旬には平年並みに戻ると書いてありますが、まだまだ高いです。

Ayu, which had been running upstream, began to descend downstream and approached the edge of the river when there was a sign of autumn. They’re looking for a spawning place. It starts spawning when the water temperature drops below 20 degrees Celsius, and finishes spawning around 16 degrees Celsius. The hatched Ayu spend about one-third of their lives in the sea near the mouth of the river, and in the spring of the following year, they return to the river where they were born and begin to run up. The best time to eat Ayu with its unique aroma is early summer, and grilled sweetfish is the best. No, some people say that the Ayu with eggs going downstream is the best. Ayu’s dance eating and sashimi are delicious, but raw food is not recommended due to the presence of parasites.

秋の気配が漂う頃、川上に遡上していた鮎は下流に下り始め、川の淵に寄ってきます。産卵場所を探しているのです。水温が20度を下回る頃から産卵し始め、16度位の頃には産卵を終えます。孵化した鮎は河口付近の海で一生の３分の1ほどを過ごし、翌年の春頃には生まれた川に戻って来て遡上し始めます。独特の香気を持つ鮎の食べごろは初夏で、それも焼き鮎が一番です。いや、卵を孕んだ落ち鮎が一番だと言う人もいます。鮎の踊り食いや刺身も美味しいのですが、寄生虫がいることがあり、生食はお勧めできません。

It’s getting a bit like autumn, so I went to a nearby park with a paperback in my hand. By the shaded bench, Murasakishikibu was full of purple fruits. Speaking of Murasakishikibu, of course, we think of the Murasaki Shikibu author of the Tale of Genji. This plant was originally called Murasakishikimi, but before we knew it, everyone came to call it Murasakishikibu. “Shikimi” refers to the fact that the fruits overlap, and because the purple fruits overlap, the Murasakishikimi had been called, and it changed to the Murasakishikibu. Sounds good. I’m sure the first person to call that is a romantic person.

少し秋らしくなってきたので、文庫本を片手に近くの公園に行きました。木陰になったベンチのそばにムラサキシキブが紫色の実をいっぱい付けています。ムラサキシキブと言えばもちろん思い浮かべるのは源氏物語の作者紫式部。元はムラサキシキミと呼んでいた物がいつの間にかムラサキシキブに変わったそうです。シキミとは実が重なっていることを指し、ムラサキの実が重なっているからムラサキシキミ。そしてムラサキシキブ。いいですね。最初にそう呼んだ人はきっとロマンチストなんでしょうね。

ちなみに、ミムラサキはムラサキシキブの別名です。

The terrifying typhoon No. 10 passed less than expected and passed off Kyushu. There is no great damage and it is above all. It is said that’s because Typhoon No. 9, which followed the same course, stirred the hot sea surface and the cold deep sea water, so the sea surface temperature had dropped slightly. The blue sky spread and the temperature dropped to around 30 degrees today, so I’m relieved. I hope no more extremely hot day will come, but is it optimistic? The fan in the cafeteria that I dropped in a little stayed stopping, and the cool breeze which seems to be typhoon’s remnants was shaking the big red parasol.

恐ろしい台風10号も予想したよりかは勢力を落とし九州沖を通過しました。甚大な被害はなく何よりです。同じコースを辿った台風９号が高温の海面と冷たい深海の海水をかき混ぜたため、海面温度が若干下がっていたからだろうと言われています。青空が広がり、気温も30度前後に下がったので、ほっとしたところです。もういくら何でも猛暑日は来ないと願っていますが、甘いでしょうか。ちょっと立ち寄ったカフェテリアの扇風機も止まっていて、台風の名残りか、涼しい風が赤い大きな日傘を揺すっていました。

“A preserved flower that is as fresh as a freshly picked flower”— “Preserved flowers” are the most advanced way of storing flowers. It’s a method of flower preservation conceived by the Vermont company in France in 1991. Preserved flowers allow fresh flowers and leaves to absorb organic dyes and undergo special processing to maintain a natural appearance, texture, touch and vivid flower color close to the raw state for a long period of time. Some of them can maintain their fresh flower status for 10 years. You can freely change the flower color and enjoy various flower arrangements.

「まるで摘み取ったばかりの花のようにみずみずしいプリザーブドフラワー。」と、今やプリザーブドフラワーは花盛り。1991年にフランスのヴェルモント社が生み出した花の保存方法。プリザーブドフラワーは生の花や葉にオーガニック系の染料を吸わせ、特殊な加工を施すことで、ナチュラルな姿や風合い、質感、生の状態に近い鮮やかな花色を、長期間にわたって保つことができます。長い物では10年も生花状態を保つことができます。花色も自由に変えることもでき、様々なフラワーアレンジメントを楽しむことができます。

Tsutomu Mizukami’s “Gobancho Yugirirou” is a tragic love story of both a prostitute, Yuko, who came out of Tango to support her family and a student monk, Seijun, who was her childhood friend and was turned away from everyone due to a stutter disorder. Following after Seijun who set fire on the temple and killed himself, Yuko killed herself under the Hyakujitsuko that was blooming in the temple of her hometown. It is a novel and a movie that reminds me every time I see Hyakujitsuko. Every person lives with one or two lumps of heart. And, to a certain degree, we are alive with accepting the bad and the good. Therefore, we seek for relaxation and healing for the flowers that bloom every season.

A toast to the Hyakunen Beni, which blooms and bears fruit while surviving a hot summer day!

水上勉の『五番町夕霧楼』は、家族を養う為に丹後から出てきた遊女と、その幼馴染みで吃音で人から疎まれる学生僧の悲恋物語りです。寺に放火し自らの命を絶った正順の後を追って、夕子は生まれ故郷のお寺に咲く百日紅の下で命を断ちます。百日紅を見る度に思い出す小説であり映画です。人は皆、一つや二つの心のしこりを持って生きているものです。そして、程度の差こそあれ、清濁併呑して生きています。それ故に、私達は四季折々に咲く花々に憩いを求め、癒しを求めます。

猛暑日に耐え凌ぎつつ咲き切って実を付けた百日紅に乾杯！

The millets are holding their ears the sky. Adding Rice, wheat, foxtail millet, bean to it, they are called five grains, everything is one of the staple foods. The first things that come to mind when you think of millet is “Kibi dumplings” and “Momotaro”. “Momotaro” is a national fairy tale that Momotaro goes getting rid of the demon with a monkey, a dog and a pheasant, holding the “Kibi dumpling” prepared as a reward. The prototype is “Ramayana” of India and “Saiyuki” of China.

天高く黍が穂をもたげています。米、麦、粟、豆を加えて五穀と言いますが、主食の一つです。黍と言えばまず思い浮かべるのは「吉備団子」です。国民的お伽話「桃太郎」に出てくる桃太郎がご褒美に用意した「吉備団子」を腰に下げて、猿、犬、雉を従え鬼退治に行くというお話しです。インドの『ラーマーヤナ』、中国の『西遊記』にその原型が求められます。

In the nearby fields, cockscombs for the Ohigan are cultivated, and the buds are swollen all at once. The cockscombs in front of the Buddha are indoors, and the cluster amaryllis outdoors. As such, these two flowers are representative of autumn. Hot days are still going on, but autumn is definitely coming. The name cockscomb was named because it resembles a chicken crest. Jakuchu, who continued to also draw chickens, drew cockscombs. It is a strange flower that I do not know where the petals are.

近くの畑にはお彼岸用の鶏頭が栽培されていて、一斉に蕾が膨らんでいます。屋内には仏前の鶏頭、屋外には彼岸花と、共に秋を代表する花々です。暑い日がまだまだ続いていますが、確実に秋は近づいています。鶏頭は文字通り鶏の鶏冠に似ているところから付いた名前です。鶏を描き続けた若冲も鶏頭を描いています。どこからが花びらなのか分からないちょっと変わった花です。

Sui-Fuyo is a flower that blooms for only one day, it is white when it begins to bloom in the morning, and it turns reddish over time and changes to crimson in the evening. The same fellow, Fuyo, stands upright and blooms from bottom to top, but Sui-Fuyo branches and blooms. As it is supple and charming, some people liken it to Princess Yang Guifei, Princess of Emperor Xuan Zong. “Fuyo” is the name of the most beautiful thing, as is the name of Mt. Fuji, and water lilies are sometimes called Fuyo. Hibiscus, the state flower of Hawaii, is also a same family.

酔芙蓉は一日だけ咲く花で、朝開花した時は白色ですが、時間が経つごとに赤みを帯び、夕方には紅色にと変化します。同じ仲間の芙蓉は直立していて下から上に花を咲かせていきますが、酔芙蓉は枝分かれして花を咲かせます。しなやかで赤く色が変化して行く様が色っぽく、玄宗皇帝の寵姫、楊貴妃に喩える人もいます。芙蓉は富士山の雅称でもある様に、最高に美しい物な喩えで、睡蓮も芙蓉と呼ぶことがあります。ハワイの州花であるハイビスカスも同じ仲間です。