From mid-April to early May, the drooping purple or white flowers of Fuji (Japanese wisteria) emerge suddenly all at once from the bushes of the fresh green, while giving off a sweet and elegant fragrance to let us notice their pleasant blooming.
From ancient times, the graceful figures of wisteria flowers in slender clusters have been admired by Japanese people and have been written about in Waka (traditional Japanese poetry) since the Nara and Heian periods (710-1185).
Their elegant figures have long been depicted in many Japanese picture scrolls and folding screen paintings. The gracefulness of their drooping flower clusters symbolizes fragility and elegance when they sway in the gentle spring breeze. This appearance evokes the deep feeling of beauty, which keenly arouses the pathos of nature which is at the root of the Japanese aesthetic senses.
The wisteria flower has traditionally been treated as the symbol of long-lasting nobleness and prosperity. The ladies of the Heian aristocracy adorned their hair with such wisteria flowers. The aristocracy incorporated wisteria flowers into their family crests and even used the forms of these flowers as a Yusoku-monyo (the traditional crests used by the court and nobility).
It is said that, at the time of full bloom, in the gardens of aristocrats, wisteria viewing parties had been held with graceful orchestral music to enjoy the precious beauty of the flowers.
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