FROM THE GARDEN OF ZEN: 2023

December 3, 2023

Autumnal tints: Kencho-ji

Just before the arrival of pale cold winter, being stimulated by a sudden drop in temperature, the various green leaves of deciduous trees are hurriedly becoming dyed in vivid hues of flame, creating a dazzling mosaic of autumnal tints.

The stone monument of Kanzan and Jittoku, which was donated by Kanzan-ji Temple in Suzhou of China, is standing still in this grove. These legendary Chinese Zen monks of Tang Dynasty, whose legends symbolize the eccentric spirit of Zen, seem to be enjoying this autumn-colored extravaganza, dancing with great glee and laughing uproariously.

As if to compete with the autumn leaves for beauty, the bright magenta flowers of Kantsubaki (Camellia in the Winter) are coming into full bloom and adding another graceful colors to this late-autumn spectacle.

Autumnal tints: Kencho-ji

Autumnal tints: Engaku-ji

Autumnal tints: Eisho-ji

June 11, 2023

Water lily flower: Kita-kamakura

As if to make me aware of the stealthy arrival of early summer, the adorable flower of the water lily is blooming like a newborn child on the calm water surface in my small water-lily bowl this year again.

The lifetime of this flower is about four days and it repeatedly opens in the early morning and closes in the afternoon in response to temperature changes. The tender flower that appears on the first morning is especially enchanting, which always makes me sense the mystery of life in the rapid rotating of the seasons.

In the microcosm of the small water-lily bowl, this flower shows its changing appearance every morning, as if to suggest a piece of poetry about the birth and impermanence of a living thing, and eventually fades away like an ephemeral dream.

Water lily flowers: Ofuna Flower Center (Kamakura)

Iwa-tabako (Conandron ramondioides) flowers: Kita-kamakura

I found the small violet flowers of Iwatabako emerging quietly from beneath the glossy leaves spreading on the wet mossy stone wall as if to shyly welcome the long-awaited early summer.

These mystical star-shaped flowers make me imagine that their seeds may have been carried by a shooting star from the distant universe to the earth in far away past.

They symbolize the quiet beginning of summer in the tender greenness of Kita-kamakura region just before the colorful flowers of Ajisai (hydrangea) begin appearing all together everywhere.

Iwa-tabako (Conandron ramondioides) flowers: Kaizo-ji

Hime-utsugi (Deutzia gracilis) flowers: Kaizo-ji

Hime-utsugi is a shrub of the hydrangea family widely distributed in Japan. Because of the beauty of its small silky-white flowers (about 2 cm in diameter) that bloom around the summer rainy season, this plant has long been popular as a material used for flower arrangement and an ornamental garden plant since ancient times.

The hime-utsugi has long been loved and cherished by Japanese people. For example, many Japanese poetries about the Hime-utsugi flowers are found in the Manyo-shu, Japan's oldest of traditional Japanese poems. The name "hime-utsugi" is not used in this anthology, but it is believed that the plants referred to as "utsugi" and "u-no-hana" (white-rabbit flower) may have been hime-utsugi.

Daisy flowers: Ofuna Flower Center

Ayame (iris) flowers: Ofuna Flower Center (Kamakura)

The iris (Hana-shoubu, ayame) is a classical garden plant in Japan, the variety of which was improved mainly during the Edo period ((1603-1868) and there are currently more than 5,000 varieties.

They sprout from around May and grow to a height of 50 cm to 1 m, producing delicate and ephemeral flowers of white, blue, purple, spotted and yellow.

Flowers can be three-petalled, six-petalled or double-petalled and the sword-shaped leaves are narrow and raised with distinct veins.

In Japanese horticulture, there are four main types according to where the variety was bred, which are called Edo, Ise, Higo, Nagai Kosei families. Furthermore, the hybrids of these families, the yellow-flowered varieties bred through interspecific crosses, and varieties bred in foreign countries such as the USA are inherited.

The irises that I photographed in the Ofuna Flower Center belong to a classic strain of the Ofuna iris family. They were bred based on the national export policy during the Taisho period (1912-1926). This breeding was linked to the historical background of the internationalization of modern Japan at the time.

The main person behind this breeding was Bungo Miyazawa, who was the director of the Kanagawa Prefectural Agricultural Experiment Station at the time. Although this station continued only for a short period of time, some 300 varieties were bred by crossing the Edo-type iris varieties available at the time.

The current Ofuna Flower Center is the successor to this Kanagawa Prefectural Agricultural Experiment Station.

Ayame (iris) flowers: Ofuna Flower Center (Kamakura)

Rose garden: Ofuna Flower Center (Kamakura)

May 16, 2023

Peony flowers: Kencho-ji

Various spring flowers have bloomed and faded away one after another with very hasty steps. Now, as if to celebrate the grand finale of spring and to predict the coming of summer, the gorgeous flowers of a white peony are in full bloom majestically in the quiet garden.

The seasons are changing amazingly fast before my eyes, which always impresses on me the transitoriness of this world.

The peony is a deciduous shrub native to China, and its gorgeous flower is esteemed as the king of all flowers there. The color, the size, and the richness of its petals all suggest that it deserves such an honorific title.

These pale white flowers are swaying gracefully and sorrowfully in the gentle breeze, like a king who foresees his own fate to perish before long.

Peony flowers: Kencho-ji

Along the silent stone-paved pathway leading to the Kaisan-do hall, in the calm sunlight of the early afternoon, the colorful flowers of Botan (peony) are blooming as if to praise each other for beauty.

Kaisan-do is the temple hall commemorating its spiritual teachers. A wooden portait statue of Rankei Doryu (the founder of Kencho-ji, 1213-1278) is enshrined here, and, behind it, the tombs of Rankei Doryu and Mugaku Sōgen (the founder of Engaku-ji, 1226-1286) are placed. This building is regarded as the most spiritual place of this old Zen temple.

These peonies are grown by Unsui monks (monks undergoing Zen training) with their whole hearts as a part of the practice and as the beautiful offering to all worship-visiors.

The family crest of Mitsu-uroko (three drangon's scales) of the Hojo clan, which is the founding family of this temple, is printed on the white curtain hanged on the Suzan-mon gate.

Peony flowers: Kencho-ji

Yae-zakura (double-flowered cherry tree) flowers: Ofuna Flower Center (Kamakura)

Shiran (Hyacinth orchid) flowers: Kencho-ji

Yae-zakura (double-flowered cherry tree) flowers: Ofuna Fower Center (Kamakura)

Peony flowers: Ofuna Flower Center (Kamakura)

May 2, 2023

Kaido (Malus halliana) flowers: Kaizo-ji

The abundant bright sunlight from the spring sky is bringing back the vigor of life to various living things after their winter dormancy.

Knowing that the cherry blossoms are about to fall in concert soon, these magenta flowers of Kaido are beginning to come into full bloom, like a diva of great beauty who tries to inherit the leading role on the spring stage.

As is well known, in China which is the place of origin of a Kaido tree, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang likened this elegant flower to his beloved beauty, Yang Kuei Fei, who was dozing off drunkenly in a bewitching manner in his quiet garden filled with the fragrance of lively spring air.

According to the eternal cycling of the seasons brought about by the universe, every seasonal flower blooms gracefully with all its might and then pretty soon fades away, leaving an evanescent shadow of an immortal beauty.

Kaido (Malus halliana) flowers: Kaizo-ji

Haku-un-boku (Styrax obassia) flowers: Engaku-ji

In the garden of the Hojo (main hall) of the old temple, the small white flowers of Haku-un-boku (white cloud tree) are fully blooming in clusters and floating like bright cirrus clouds in the deep blue sky.

A gentle breeze is slowly shaking these flowers to let them give off their pleasant fragrance around this garden.

Unlike the white clouds which are shortly swept away by the wind and vanish into the air, these white flowers will remain here for several days in a graceful manner. However, before long, these fragrant flowers will scatter one after another and fall to the earth like snowflakes to fade away.