FROM THE GARDEN OF ZEN: September 2025

September 2, 2025

Lily: Kita-kamakura

The sunlight grows ever stronger day by day, and the harsh heat continues to rage as if to burn the world to the ground. This summer season seems to be endless and ruthless to the living things that endure the fury of the sun.

The lily must be the true flower of summer, whose graceful petals and sweet scent cast a spell on us to awaken cool sensations and make us forget swelter for a moment.

Its large flowers never succumb to the oppression of the pitiless weather and, like a midsummer day's dream, keep blooming elegantly in the cruel sunlight to manifest the sparkle of life in this short, scorching season.

Lily: Kita-kamakura

The Yama-yuri (golden-rayed lily) is one of Japan's most popular lilies and is also known as “the queen of lilies” in Japan because of its particularly beautiful figure and very rich perfume.

The splendid flower of Yama-yuri is a typical summer flower of Japan. It grows wild in the mountain areas of Honshu from the Kanto region to the Chubu region and magically comes into view in midsummer.

This white flower is over 20 cm in diameter. Its petals have thick golden streaks and small reddish-brown spots. It keeps giving off a strong sweet fragrance even at night to captivate many pollinating insects.

The Yama-yuri has often been the subject of Japanese art because of its splendor and fragrance. Especially since the late Edo period, it has been incorporated into the paintings and crafts. It has been presented as a representative summer flower in the ”Ka-cho-hu-getsu” (flower, bird, wind, and moon) of the traditional seasonal themes of Japanese paintings.

It was often depicted in the schools of Ogata Korin and Sakai Hoitsu. The contrast between white and gold made the Yama-yuri lilies become the suitable subject for the highly decorative and refined Edo-rimpa-style paintings.

Lily: Ofuna Flower Center (Kamakura)

There are a variety of native lily species in Japan, including Yama-yuri (mountain lily), Kanoko-yuri (dappled lily), and Teppou-yuri (Easter lily), which were imported to Europe as “rare plants” through Dutch trading posts since the Edo period (1603-1868).

In the Meiji period (1868-1912), Japanese botanists and gardeners actively exported bulbs, which became popular overseas as “Japanese Lily.” The pure-white "Easter Lily" in particular became very popular in the USA and Europe as the symbolic flower of Easter.

After World War II, the exports of bulbs and cut flowers of the lily began eagerly for the revival of the Japanese economy. New varieties of the lily based on the hybrids from the species native to Japan were created in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the world. It is said that Japan had a major impact on world horticulture as the “country of origin” of the lily.

Lily: Kita-kamakura

Getto (shell ginger) flowers: Ofuna Flower Center (Kamakura)

Getto (moon peach) or shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) is a ginger plant widely popular in the Nansei Islands of Japan, including Okinawa and the Amami Islands. It is associated with legends and folk beliefs, and its fragrant leaves have been used medicinally for food and for warding off evil spirits.

Also called “Sannin” in Okinawa, it was considered a plant that wards off evil spirits and disasters. It plays a significant role during events like the Lunar Bon Festival (the Buddhist custom that honors the spirits of one’s ancestors) and the Shiimii Festival. Shiimii is a very important event where family members that live apart after having their own family gather and work together, eat, and laugh. Its leaves are laid out, and offerings are wrapped in them not only to preserve them but also to ward off evil spirits.

It was believed that hanging the leaves and stems of the Getto on the roofs and gates of houses would ward off evil spirits and protect the family. Even today, there are areas where people still decorate the roofs and gates with Getto leaves as part of the annual events of the lunar calendar.

Its large leaves are considered to be the place where gods and ancestral spirits descend and were also used as vessels to hold sacred wine and offerings during sacred rituals.

Getto has high antibacterial properties and has long been used as a preserved food and medicinal herb, making it a plant that protects health and longevity from the Ryukyu Kingdom period.

During the Kingdom period, Okinawan people wore herbal pouches (incense pouches) made from the leaves of Getto for the wish that they would be safe on their journey. It was believed that the sweet fragrance would protect them from evil and misfortune.