FROM THE GARDEN OF ZEN

July 22, 2024

Ajisai (hydrangea) flowers: Kencho-ji

Ajisai (hydrangea) has large oval leaves and clusters of four-petaled flowers that form colorful spherical shapes like the shape of Temari (Japanese toy handball). The countless ball-like flowers continually keep changing their colors from pale green to purple, blue or red, due to the subtle interaction between their pigments and the rainwater.

Ajisai flower has been traditionally cherished as a seasonal lovely flower and used as a design motif since the Heian period (794-1185), because of its vivid and precious appearance found in the melancholic rainy season.

In the Edo period (1603-1867), it was used as a typical pattern of gold brocade for Kiyomizu-ware and Kutani-ware potteries. Dohachi Ninnami and others, who were great artisans of Kyo yaki (Kyoto-style ceramics), used hydrangea flowers as a seasonal design of their tea-bowls used for early summer tea ceremonies.

Ajisai (hydrangea) flowers: Kaizo-ji

Ajisai (hydrangea) flowers: Kencho-ji

July 11, 2024

Suiren (water lily) flower: Kita-kamakura

As the height of spring approaches, the temperature and sunlight increase gradually, and all manner of living things awaken from their winter slumber one by one.

In accordance with their profound wisdom genetically built up over billions of years, various birds having kept silence resume their lively chirping for mating, fresh greenery grows thickly at a tremendous pace, and numerous flowers begin to successively bloom in a hurried manner.

Bright spring shows us the gorgeous celebration and festivity of the nature lives, which rapidly change in the blink of an eye. All living things must be fleeting in this world and every beautiful flower appears and disappears all too soon before my eyes.

In order to try to bear the vanishing memories of the ephemeral spring flowers in mind, I hereby leave an assortment of these lovely flowers on record.

Iwatabako (Conandron ramondiodes) flowers: Kita-kamakura

I never know why every flower is so extravagantly beautiful. If they were simply the plant organs for reproduction, they would not need to be so diverse and beautiful.

At times I imagine that some transcendental being, that had designed this earth's ecosystem and organisms long, long ago, created these exquisite flowers for her enjoyment like a sacred horticulturist.

The star-shaped violet flowers of the Iwatabako are blooming on the mossy rocky surfaces in the shade as if to let us know the secret arrival of the long-awaited spring in Kita-kamakura.

These small (1-2 cm in diameter) and fragile flowers symbolize the quiet and contemplative atmosphere of Kita-kamakura which may be filled with the tranquil spirituality of the old Zen temples.

They seem to bloom and fade away without any hesitation, while having nothing to do with the clamors and poisons of our earthy world.

Hanashobu (iris) flowers: Kaizo-ji

In the tradition of Japan, the iris flower has the auspicious meaning of victory or "Shobu" (triumphs over evil), and is associated with the wish to grow into a brave and strong samurai warrior.

There is also the legend that the slender leaf of iris look likes like the sharp bade of a japanese sword which enables a hero to slay any Oni (ogre) and demon. It is said that such a sward-like green leaf terrifies and exorcises all demolish spirits around us.

In the rainy season of late spring, iris opens its delicate and ephemeral flowers elegantly.

This plant has been believed to have the mystical power to ward off all evil spirits. In Japan, the annual Boys Day Festival of May 5th is called "Tango no sekku " which is also called “Iris Festival,” when people take Shobu-yu (bathwater with iris leaves) to pray their good fortune and health.

Hanashobu (iris) flowers: Kaizo-ji

Ajisai (hydrangea) flowers: Kamakura

The true virtue of the Ajisai (hydrangea) flower is its continuous and subtle changing of colors, which is caused by intricate and enigmatic chemistry of nature in the rainy season.

Ajisai plants soak up plenty of rainwater from the earth during the rainy season and show off their variety off flower colors, which reminds me of the magical shapes and colors of old French surrealist painters.

These flowers show red, blue, purple, and other mixed colors, and the base of these colors is the pigment called anthocyanin.

Anthocyanin is normally red, but when it reacts with the aluminum absorbed in the rainy soil, it changes to blue by chemical reaction. Therefore, Ajisai flowers that absorb a lot of aluminum are blue, those that do not absorb aluminum are red, and those in between are purple.

In Japan, Ajisai flowers are also called "Shichi-henge" which means "seven quick changes of clothes." This naming comes from the traditional Kabuki dance in which the star actor quickly changes his beautiful clothes seven times in the highlight scene.