Even on this morning’s TV, it seems that cherry blossoms are in full bloom nationwide and crowds of people are flocking to enjoy the blossoms. Despite the harsh winter cold this year, spring came suddenly, and it seems that the dormancy break has worked, as every cherry blossom tree is beautiful. After three years of waiting, the joy of flower viewing exploded, and every flower viewing spot is overflowing with people, making the beauty of cherry blossoms even more prominent. Fortunately, many foreign tourists can be seen everywhere. Yesterday, I went to a nearby park for the last cherry blossom viewing. The cherry blossoms here have already bloomed in full and the cherry blossom petals have been beginning falled, and the young leaves are prominent. For some reason, many sparrows were there, flying around in the cherry blossoms. Many families with children and elderly people came, and everyone have been enjoying their last flower viewing of the year.

今朝のテレビを見ていても、全国的に桜が満開で花見客が押し寄せている様です。今年の桜は冬の寒さも厳しく、その割に急激に春が押し寄せたので、休眠打破が効いたのか、どこの桜も綺麗です。花見客も3年間の我慢が爆発し、どの花見会場も人が溢れていて、桜の美しさをいっそう際立たせています。嬉しいことに、どことも外国人観光客が沢山目に付きます。そんな中、昨日は最後の花見に近くの公園に行きました。ここの桜はもう咲き切って、葉桜が目立ちます。なぜかスズメが沢山来ていて、桜の中を飛び回っています。子供連れやお年寄りも沢山来ていて、どなたも今年最後の花見を楽しんでいました。

The camellia flowers in the park have fallen, and it seems that flowers have bloomed on the ground. Winter is finally coming to an end. Camellias are a familiar plant to Japanese people, as they have been featured in nine poems in the Man’yoshu (an ancient collection of Japanese poetry). As the scientific name Camellia japonica suggests, camellias are a flower tree native to Japan, with two types found in Japan: Yabutsubaki and Yukitsubaki. Camellias were first cultivated for ornamental purposes in Japan during the mid-Muromachi period, but it was during the Edo period that they were officially developed through breeding. When they were introduced to Europe in the 1800s, they quickly spread around the world. Nowadays, hybrid breeding of camellias has also been carried out in Europe, America, Australia, and New Zealand, and over 2,000 types of camellias, collectively known as “Camellia,” are loved by people around the world.

公園の椿がたくさんの花を落とし、大地に花が咲いた様です。いよいよ冬仕舞いといったところです。椿は万葉集にも９首もの歌が詠まれているほど、日本人にとって古くから馴染みのある植物です。Camellia japonicaという学名が示すように椿は日本原産の花木で、日本に分布する椿には、ヤブツバキとユキツバキがあります。椿が日本で観賞用に栽培されるようになったのは室町時代中期頃といわれていますが、本格的に育種される様になったのは江戸時代からです。1800年代にヨーロッパに紹介されると、短期間で世界中に普及しました。現在では、欧米やオーストラリア、ニュージーランドなどでも交雑育種が進み、2000種を超える椿が「カメリア」と呼ばれて愛されています。

In terms of peach production, Osaka ranks around 30th in the country, but it is home to the peach with the world’s highest sugar content, certified by Guinness. It is the peach from Kishiwada City’s Kanechika area, where the peach orchard is currently in full bloom. Across the country, cherry blossoms are also in full bloom. While many people flock to see the cherry blossoms, there is no one here in Kanechika’s peach orchard. What is the reason for this difference? While you may know that cherry blossoms are Japan’s national flower, there is no other country in the world where the entire nation takes such an interest in a single flower. The long-awaited cherry blossoms, which bloom on a peaceful spring day with the warm sun shining down , are beautiful and perfect for leisurely viewing, but they quickly scatter and are gone. It is precisely in line with the Japanese sentiment. It also leads to Bushido, which says, “Flowers are Sakuragi, people are Samurai.” In contrast, the peach blooms continuously from early March to mid-April, and its flowers are robust and long-lasting, with the added anticipation of the delicious peach fruit to come. This creates a greater sense of expectation for the fruit than the blossom.

桃の生産量では全国で30番前後の大阪に、糖度世界一でギネス認定された桃があります。岸和田市包近の桃です。今その桃園の花が満開です。相前後して全国ではどことも桜が満開。桜には多くの人が押し寄せていますが、ここ包近の桃園には誰もいません。この違いは何でしょう。桜が日本の国花であることはご存知だと思いますが、世界的に見ても、ひとつの花に全国民がこぞってこれほど関心を持つ国はありません。待ち焦がれて、陽がのどかに射している春の日に咲く桜は美しく、のんびりと静かに桜を見ていたいのに、あっという間に散ってしまう桜は、日本人の心象にぴったりなのです。「花は桜木、人は武士」の武士道にも通じます。その点、桃は３月の初めから４月半ばまで咲き続け、花持ちはしっかりしていますし、その先に美味しい桃の実が成ります。その期待の方が大きいのです。

Cherry blossoms seem to be in full bloom in most areas of Japan except for the snow country. They are blooming almost a week earlier than usual this year, but due to the cold weather, the period for enjoying cherry blossoms seems to be longer. This year might be a great year for cherry blossoms. Even in the nearby park, cherry blossoms are in full bloom around the iris pond. The blue sky is reflected on the water surface, and the green young leaves, which I did not notice before, are also reflected. The spring breeze still feels chilly at times, and the cherry blossom petals flutter in the wind. A family of waterfowl suddenly appeared from somewhere and swam, separating the cherry blossom petals that covered the water surface. The scenery around me sways without a sound, making me feel like I am watching a silent movie. While feeling the happiness of being able to nestle in the hurried yet peaceful spring, I prayed for world peace and a safe and healthy year.

日本全国、雪国を除くほとんどの地域でさくらは満開の様です。例年に比べてどことも一週間近く早いそうですが、花冷えもあり、桜を鑑賞できる期間も長い様で、今年はさくらの当たり年かも知れません。近くの公園でも、菖蒲池の周りはさくらがパノラマ状態です。水面には青天が映し出され、気が付かなかった緑の若葉も映っています。時折吹く春風にはまだ肌寒さが残り、その都度花吹雪が舞い上がります。どこからともなく現れた水ガモの親子が、水面を覆ったさくらの花びらを分けて泳いでいきます。音もなく揺れ動く辺りの景色は、まるでサイレント・ムービーを見ている感じです。慌ただしくも長閑な春に身を寄せられる幸せを感じつつ、世界平和と今年の無事息災を祈りました。

I enjoyed fishing with my grandchildren at a sea fishing pond located near the Naruto Bridge. While I have gone sea fishing before, this was my first time catching fish in a pond like this. The fishing equipment was simple and tailored to the pond, with a hook and bait attached to a rod that had no reel or float. After waiting a few minutes with the bait on the hook submerged in the sea, I felt a pretty strong tug. I caught a big sea bream that was wriggling left and right in the water, shimmering with a sparkling cherry blossom color. It was quite a challenge to pull the bent fishing rod back and put it into the net. My grandchild, who is still in elementary school, couldn’t handle it. Finally, we managed to bring it up to the floor, but it was still jumping around. It was a large sea bream, possibly 30cm long. My grandchildren were overjoyed, and we took some commemorative photos. Within less than an hour, we managed to catch four more similar large sea breams.

鳴門大橋のすぐ近くにある海上釣り堀で孫達と釣りを楽しみました。海釣りはしたことはありますが、こんな釣り堀で魚を釣るのは初めてです。釣具は、タナどりもこの釣り堀に合わせてあって、リールも浮きも付いていない至って簡単なものです。針に餌を巻き付け、釣竿の先を海面に沈めて待つこと数分、かなり強い手応えがあります。釣れました。糸の先にはかなり大きな鯛が海中で左右にもがいています。キラキラと桜色に輝いています。弓形になっている釣竿を引き寄せ、タモ網に入れるまでが大変。まだ小学低学年の孫ではとてもとても手に負えません。やっとの思いで床に上げましたが、跳ね回っています。体長30cmはあろうかと思える大鯛です。孫達は大喜び。早速記念撮影です。こうして１時間足らずの内に、同じ様な大鯛を４匹も釣りました。

I traveled to Awaji Island with my grandchildren, enjoying the refreshing breeze. It had been three years since I last saw them, who live in Shanghai, China. When we last met three years ago, it was early December 2019 when the first case of infection was reported in Wuhan, China, and the first case in Japan was confirmed on January 15, 2020. At that time, it was still the Chinese New Year, and many Chinese tourists had been flooding into Japan. No one could have predicted the pandemic that followed. The elder of my grandchild had just started first grade of elementary school at the time, and now, when we met again, he have become fourth-graders. I was amazed at how much they had grown and felt the speed of time passing and the rapid changes in history. It has been 18 years also since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, and I am deeply moved by the sight of the rich greenery of Awaji Island and the progress of the recovery of the Hanshin area that we passed through on the way here.

恵風薫る淡路島を孫達と旅しました。中国上海に住む孫達とは３年ぶりの再会です。３年前に会った時、その前年の2019年12月初旬に, 中国の武漢市で第1例目の感染者が報告され、わが国においては, 2020年1月15日に最初の感染者が確認されていました。まだその頃は中国の春節で、多くの中国人観光客が 日本に押し寄せていて、その後のパンデミックは予想だにしていませんでした。上の孫がちょうど小学一年生になる年で、今度会った今年は小学四年生になるんです。逞しく成長した孫の姿に驚くとともに、歳月の経つ早さと歴史の変化の激しさを実感しました。阪神淡路大震災からも18年、途中通って来た阪神地区の復興ぶりと、今目にする淡路の緑豊かな光景にしみじみとした思いが過ぎります。

In the field, there stands a flower peach tree, covered in flowers from its base to its head. Its gracefulness is simply overwhelming. The flower peach is a variety of peach that has been cultivated for its ornamental flowers, and it reaches its peak bloom season around the time when cherry blossoms bloom. Peaches have been considered to bring good luck and ward off disasters in China since ancient times, and they are said to have been introduced to Japan during the Yayoi period. There are two types of peach trees: those that produce fruit and those that produce flowers. Fruit-bearing peaches have been cultivated and used as food since ancient times, but during the Heian period, the Peach Festival on March 3rd was established, and the viewing of peach blossoms became popular. Although peaches have been beloved by the Japanese people since ancient times, the cultivation of ornamental flower peach trees did not begin until the Edo period. Today, there has not been much progress in the breeding of flower peach varieties, and most of the cultivated horticultural varieties are those developed during the Edo period. There are several tree forms, including upright, drooping, and broom-like, and some varieties do produce fruit, but they are not suitable for consumption.

野っ原に、足元から頭のてっぺんまで花びっしりの花桃が立っています。その艶やかさには圧倒されるばかりです。花桃は、花を観賞するために改良された桃で、桜の花の咲く時期に前後して開花の最盛期を迎えます。桃は古来より中国では災いを除き、福を招くとされてきました。日本への渡来は古く、弥生時代といわれています。桃には実桃と花桃があり、実桃は古い時代から栽培され、食用に供されてきましたが、平安時代には3月3日の桃の節句が祝われ、桃の花が観賞されるようになりました。このように桃は太古から日本人に親しまれてきましたが、観賞用の花桃として改良が行われるようになったのは江戸時代に入ってからです。現在も花桃の品種改良はあまり進んでおらず、栽培されている園芸品種には江戸時代に作出されたものがほとんどです。樹形には立ち性、枝垂れ性、ほうき立ち性などがあり、実ができる品種もありますが、食用には適していません。

It has been almost a week since the cherry blossom declaration was announced, but the nearby cherry blossoms are only about 70% in bloom. The morning temperature is around 5-6 degrees Celsius, and during the day it is around 15 degrees, so there is a feeling of “Hanabie (flower cold)” . It’s too much trouble to go outside when it’s cold, and I tend to stay indoors. However, the sunshine that shines through the window feels warm and I tend to doze off. And the dream I had was like the picture as an image. A dream is a kind of hallucination that feels like a real experience during sleep. There are still many things that are not understood about sleep, but it has been found that there are REM sleep and non-REM sleep in brain activity during sleep, and in 1957 it was revealed that dreams are mainly observed during the REM sleep state. It seems that an average of 3-5 dreams are seen in one night, and incoherent dreams may be a result of overlapping of these 3-5 dreams.

開花宣言が発せられてからほぼ１週間経ちますが、近くの桜はまだせいぜい七分咲きといったところです。朝の気温は5、6度、昼間も15度前後ですから、全く花冷えといった感じなのでしょう。寒いと外に出るのは億劫で、どうしても家の中に引き篭もりがちになります。それでもやはり春、窓から差し込む日差しは暖かく、ついウトウトとしてしまいます。そして見た夢が、イメージとしては写真の様な夢でした。夢とは、睡眠中あたかも現実の経験であるかの様に感じる、一種の幻覚です。睡眠に関してはまだまだ分かっていないことが多いらしいですが、睡眠中の脳活動にはレム睡眠とノンレム睡眠があって、1957年に夢は主にレム睡眠の状態にみられる現象であることが明らかになったそうです。一晩に平均３〜５つの夢を見るそうで、支離滅裂な夢はこの〜５つの夢が重なるからでしょうね。

Yesterday, March 26th (Sunday), it rained cold throughout the country, making it Hanabie (cherry blossom chill). Even in Osaka, the temperature hardly rose from morning and stayed at around 13 degrees Celsius throughout the day, making it a cold day. Despite this, reports have come in from various parts of the country that the cherry blossoms have bloomed earlier than ever recorded. It is said that even in Washington D.C., USA, the cherry blossoms that were sent from Japan are blooming one week to ten days earlier than usual, causing quite a stir. Today, the rain has stopped in the morning, and although it is still chilly, the sunlight shining through the window is the warmth of spring. There are many beautiful words associated with cherry blossoms, such as “Hanabie”, “Hanahubuki” (cherry blossom storm), and “Hanaikada” (cherry blossom raft). I am looking forward to finding more ways to express the beauty of cherry blossoms as they continue to bloom.

昨日26日(日)は、全国的に冷たい雨となり、花冷えの一日となりました。 大阪でも朝から気温はほとんど上がらず、日中でも13度止まりで、肌寒い一日になりました。そんな中、全国各地からは、統計開始以来最も早く桜が開花したという開花情報が届きます。アメリカのワシントンでも、日本から送られた桜が、例年に比べて1週間から10日早く咲いて話題ななっているそうです。今日は朝方の雨も止み、まだ花冷えではありますが、窓から差し込む日差しは春の陽光です。花冷えもそうですが、花吹雪とか花筏とか、桜にまつわる美しい言葉が沢山ありますね。これからまだまだ桜が咲き続き、どんな言葉で桜の美しさを表わせるか楽しみです。

The sakura information released by the Japan Meteorological Agency has also changed from the announcement of the blooming to the announcement of full bloom. Tokyo, which was the first to declare the start of blooming, had already reached full bloom on the 22nd. Osaka is still at around 80% blooming and is expected to reach full bloom on the 28th, two days from now. This year’s blooming is breaking records everywhere, but there have also been instances of cold weather that make it feel like winter again, even after having had summer-like days. The blooming period is likely to be prolonged as a result. With the lifting of restrictions due to the pandemic, we see people having picnics under the full-bloomed cherry blossom trees on television. There are also more foreign tourists, and it seems that the lively atmosphere of the past is gradually returning. This year, we hope for a full recovery.

日本気象協会が発表する桜情報も開花情報から満開情報に変わりました。全国で一番早く開花宣言が出た東京はもうすでに22日に満開を迎えたそうです。大阪はまだ８分咲きといったところで、明後日28日が満開の予想です。今年はどことも記録破りの開花の早さですが、夏日があるかと思えば、冬に逆戻りした様な花冷えがあったりして、開花期間も長引きそうですね。コロナ禍からの解放もあって、満開の桜の下で宴会をする様子がテレビから流れてきます。外国人観光客の姿も多くなり、徐々に昔の賑わいも復活しつつある様で、今年こそ全面復活して欲しいですね。