8/29/2010

Oak trees Quercus

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Oak Trees / Quercus

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Plant


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Explanation

The family Fagaceae, or beech family,
comprises about 900 species of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, which are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like (cupule) nuts.
The best-known group of this family is the oaks, genus Quercus, the fruit of which is a non-valved nut (usually containing one seed) called an acorn.

Castanea - Chestnuts
Castanopsis
Chrysolepis - Golden chinkapin
Colombobalanus
Fagus - Beeches
Formanodendron
Lithocarpus - Stone oaks
Quercus - Oaks
Trigonobalanus



An Oak is a tree or shrub
in the genus Quercus, of which about 600 species exist on earth.
The flowers are catkins, produced in spring. The fruit is a nut called an acorn, borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule; each acorn contains one seed (rarely two or three) and takes 6–18 months to mature, depending on species.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


Let us look at some types of Japanese oaks (kashi 樫) and their kigo.

The most important varieties:

akagashi アカガシ (赤樫 別名:oogashi, オオガシ、oobagashi オオバガシ 学名:Quercus acuta)
arakashi アラカシ Quercus glauca
hanagakashi ハナガカシ Quercus hondae
ichiigashi イチイガシ (一位樫 学名:Quercus gilva )
kashi 樫 ... Quercus
kunugi 櫟 Quercus acutissima
shikubanegashi ツクバネガシ (衝羽根樫  学名:Quercus sessilifolia)
shirakashi シラカシ (白樫・白橿 学名:Quercus myrsinifolia )
ubamegashi ウバメガシ (姥目樫 別名:イマメガシ・ウマメガシ  学名:Quercus phillyraeoides)
urajirogashi ウラジロガシ (裏白樫  学名:Quercus salicina)

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kigo for late spring

kashi no hana 樫の花 (かしのはな) Kashi-oak tree blossoms


樫の木の花にかまはぬ姿かな
kashi no ki no hana ni kamawanu sugata kana

the Kashi oak
seems not to care about
the cherry blossoms . . .

Tr. Gabi Greve

The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.
Written in 1685, when Basho visited Mitsui Shuufuu 三井秋風 Shufu at Narumi.
(Shufu - 1646 - 1717) A rich kimono merchant and haikai poet from Kyoto.

Basho compares the Kashi oak to his independent-minded host (or rather, vice-versa).
Basho often uses the nature around him to imply a human condition also just now around him.

. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .
Nozarashi Kiko


. Echigoya 越後屋 and Mitsui 三井 .

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. ichi-i no hana  一位の花 いちいのはな flower of the yew tree
Taxus cuspida. ichii


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kigo for early summer

kashi wakaba 樫若葉 (かしわかば) young leaves of the Kashi-oak
..... kashi shigeru 樫茂る(かししげる)


kunugi no hana 櫟の花 (くぬぎのはな) flowers of the Kunugi-oak
..... tsurubami 橡(つるばみ)、ichii, ichi-i いちい
donguri no ki 団栗の木(どんぐりのき) "acorn tree)


shii wakaba 椎若葉 (しいわかば) young leaves of the Shii-oak
shii ochiba 椎落葉(しいおちば)fallen leaves of the Shii-oak
Castanopsis cuspidata. pasania. Shii-Castanopsis



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shii no hana 椎の花 (しいのはな) flowers of the Shii-oak
..... shihi no hana しひのはな
..... hana shii 花椎
kigo for mid-summer

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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kigo for mid-autumn

tsukubane 衝羽根 (つくばね) Tsukubane-oak
..... tsukubane 突羽根(つくばね)
kogi no ko 胡鬼の子(こぎのこ)
hago no ki 羽子の木(はごのき)
Quercus sessilifolia

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kigo for late autumn

donguri 団栗 (どんぐり) acorn (from an oak tree)
..... kunugi no mi 櫟の実(くぬぎのみ)acorns from the Kunugi-oak tree
Quercus acutissima, Spitzeiche

dongurigoma 、団栗独楽(どんぐりごま)top made from an acorn
donguri mochi 団栗餅(どんぐりもち) rice cake with acorns
Eichel

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. ichi-i no mi 一位の実 (いちいのみ)
berry of the yew tree

Taxus cuspida. ichii



kashi no mi 樫の実 (かしのみ) acorn
from the evergreen Kashi-oak
..... 橿の実(かしのみ)



mochi no mi 黐の実 (もちのみ) ilex fruit
mochi no ki no mi もちの木の実(もちのきのみ)
toosei 冬青(とうせい)"winter green"
Quercus ilex. Steineiche




nara no mi なら (楢 ) の実 Japanese oak acorn
Quercus serrata / Quercus crispula

. nara momiji 楢紅葉(ならもみじ)Nara red autumn leaves .
Quercus serrata
- - - - - and
hahaso momiji 柞紅葉 Japanese Emperor Oak momiji
Quercus dentata




shii no mi 椎の実 (しいのみ) Shii-oak acorns
..... ochi shii 落椎(おちしい)fallen acorns
..... shii hirou 椎拾う(しいひろう)collecting acorns
pasania; chinquapin
Shii-Castanopsis, Castanopsis cuspidata


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kigo for all winter

fuyu kashiwa 冬柏 (ふゆかしわ) Kashiwa-oak in winter
kashiwa no kareha 柏の枯葉(かしわのかれは)dried leaves of Kashiwa
karekashiwa 枯柏(かれかしわ) withered kashiwa
Quercus dentata



kunugi karu 櫟枯る(くぬぎかる) withering Kunugi-oak

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木がらしやいわしをくるむ柏の葉
kogarashi ya iwashi o kurumu kashiwa no ha

winter windstorm
wraps a big oak leaf
around a sardine

Tr. Chris Drake

This hokku is from the end of the seventh month (early September) in 1823. Japanese oak leaves fall off not in early winter but in summer, when new green leaves appear; a "winter oak" keeps its brown leaves on its branches, and the leaves make uncanny sounds in the wind while the limbs of other deciduous trees are bare. Because oaks normally keep their fairly large leaves in winter, they were widely believed to be the trees in which the tree-leaf protector god (hamori no kami 葉守の神) stayed during the winter months. The gale in the hokku, however, is so strong it rips even oak leaves off their limbs many months before they are ready to fall.

When Issa writes a hokku in his diary that evokes a season different from the season in which he is writing, he usually writes the character representing the season of the hokku above the hokku, but there is no such note above this hokku, so it can be taken either as an autumn or a winter hokku. A kogarashi, according to a popular folk etymology, is literally a "tree-withering blast" or cold, dry gale-force windstorm from the north or northwest, can be either a late autumn or an early winter image in both traditional waka poetry and in premodern haikai, though most contemporary haiku saijiki editors usually list it only as a winter image. These powerful windstorms usually begin to blow in late October and continue into December or even later.

Issa's diary for 1823, for example, has the first big windstorm taking place late in lunar autumn, on 9/24. A dried sardine, perhaps hanging with several others from a beam in the kitchen or a hallway, seems to have been blown onto the ground, and the wind pushes the sardine against a wall or fence and presses a large oak leaf around it.

Earlier, in the twelfth month (January) of 1818, Issa wrote a similar hokku, one that deals with ordinary fallen leaves:

kogarashi ya ko no ha ni kurumu shiozakana

withering winter wind
wraps a salted fish
in a dry leaf


Perhaps Issa rewrote it because he wanted to use the stronger image of the wind blowing down an oak leaf. The word order in the later hokku is also smoother.

Chris Drake

. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 Issa in Edo .

. Withering Wind, Cold Gale (kogarashi 木枯らし) .


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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way



Nuts from the Forest

Buna no mi ぶなのみ (欅/椈 の実)beechnut
Chestnut, sweet chestnut (kuri 栗)
Kurumi くるみ (胡桃) walnuts
Nara no mi なら (楢 ) の実 Japanese oak acorns
Tochi とち (橡/栃/杼) horse chestnut
. Food from the Bountiful Woods
(Mori no Megumi)
 


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Karatsu no koma 唐津の独楽 spinning tops from Karatsu
made from strong local wood マテバシイ mateba shii oak, Pasania edulis Makino.


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Kashiwa no Kami カシワの神 Deity of the Kashiwa-Oak
Geist und Beschützer der Eichen.

In the 吉城郡 Yoshiki district of Gifu, the deity カシワの神 Kashiwa no Kami, the Deity of Oak Trees, is venerated everywhere. He is said to use a walking stick and eat rice. He can also suppress an earthquake.

. jishin 地震 Legends about Earthquakes .


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HAIKU


shii 椎 the Shii-oak, Pasania
Castanopsis cuspidata. pasania. Shii-Castanopsis


MORE haiku about this tree and its blossoms
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


まづ頼む椎の木もあり夏木立
mazu tanomu shii no ki mo ari natsu kodachi

First of all, my dear
Dependable tree of shii stands here
In the summer grove

Tr. Oseko

Summer grove –
pasania tree and I
find shelter.

Tr. Stryk


My temporary shelter,
a pasania tree is here, too,
in the summer grove.

Tr. Ueda

Written in 1690, at the end of Genju-An no Ki records (The Hu. Basho stayed with Suganuma Kyokusei 菅沼曲翠 曲水 of the Zeze domaine, after coming back from his long trip, Oku no Hosomichi.
Basho visited there from April 1690 till July 23.

While Basho stayed at this Hermitage, he wrote
" ... I wondered if I would become a Buddhist priest, but I rather wanted to suffer the winds of journey without a definite destination to enjoy nature with flowers, birds, winds and the moon . . . ."
Tr. Oseko


quote
In this hut where I live as a hermit, as a passing traveler, there is no need to accumulate household possessions. ... But I should not have it though from what I have said that I am devoted to solitude and seek only to hide my traces in the wilderness. Rather, I a m like a sick man weary of people, or someone who is tired of the world.. What is there to say? ...
I labor without results, am worn of spirit and wrinkled of brow. Now, when autumn is half over, and every morning and each evening brings changes to the scene, I wonder if that is not what is meant by dwelling in unreality.
And here too I end my words.


Among these summer trees,
a pasania --
something to count on.


source : www.hermitary.com


tanomu 頼む to ask a person to do something, to depend on, to count on

Basho wrote at Genju-An
quote from Peipei-Qiu
I don’t force myself to love idleness and solitude (kanjaku 閑寂), yet I am like a sick man who is weary of people, or a person who is tired of the world. How is it so? I have not led a clerical life, nor have I engaged in worldly undertakings; I am neither benevolent nor righteous. Ever since I was very young I have liked my eccentric ways, and once I made them the source of a livelihood, only temporarily I thought, I couldn’t put anything else in my mind and, incapable and talentless as I was, I have been bound to this single line of poetry.

In the poetry of Saigyô and Sôgi, the painting of Sesshû, and the tea of Rikyû, despite the differences of their talents, the fundamental principle is one. Without knowing, the autumn has half passed as I was pressing my back, rubbing my belly, and making a wry face. Human life is also like this, short as a brief dream. Again, I feel this must be what is meant by dwelling in unreality.

Let me stay for now
where there is a pasania tree—
the summer grove.

mazu tanomu/shiinoki mo ari/natsu kodachi


It doesn’t look like
they will die in a short time—
the sounds of cicadas.

yagate shinu/keshiki mo miezu/semi no koe

source : Basho-and-the-Dao - Peipei-Qiu


. - Genjuuan Ki 幻住庵記 Genju-an Records - .
the Hut of the Phantom Dwelling
Unreal Hut
Hut of the Unreal Dwelling


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fallen oak leaf ...
one by one my friends
reach half a century


. . . . .

In the square where we live, nine oak trees add presénce. It is a joy to watch them grow new leaves in spring and then to watch these leaves fall in autumn.
Right now, the branches are draped with snow.

oak trees
my twenty-two years
as an immigrant


Ella Wagemakers
Philippines, Netherlands


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Crescent moon at dusk


crescent moon --
snow-covered oak trees
float in the fog


Fog covering the field

Haiku and Photos
© Isabelle Prondzynski, Ireland
December 2010



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Related words

***** Berries and related kigo


. TREES as kigo .

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kunugi 櫟 / クヌギ 伝説 Quercus acutissima oak legends

. kunuki Daruma, ku nuki Daruma 苦抜き達磨
Daruma taking away the pain .

kunugi 櫟 Quercus acutissima - a pun with 苦抜き ku nuki, ku o nuku.

In 茨城県 Ibaraki they think the roots of paulownia 桐の木の根 and kunugi and live squid are sending off light when placed in a dark spot. This light is then able to bewitch people.
In 真壁町 Makabe village they believe the tree likes to hear the low, painful voice of sick people and therefore never plant it in their garden.

In 愛媛県 Ehime there is a custom called トンドさん Tondo san. On the 15th day of the first lunar month people cut kunugi branches and build a small square hat. Inside they place diapers and then roll diapers all around the walls, like flags. Then the whole hut is burend down and the ashes taken to sea, mixed with sea water and then taken home to place at the four corners of the house.
This way bad luck and disaster can be avoided for the coming year.

. Legends about trees - - 木と伝説 .


- reference : nichibun.ac.jp yokai database -

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8/25/2010

Gardenia (kuchinashi)

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Gardenia (kuchinashi 梔子)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Plant


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Explanation


This plant is found in most parts south of the center of the main island of Honshu. It can grow up to 3 meters high and is well liked in gardens and parks.
Its blossoms have 6 white petals and a pleasant fragrance, which grows stronger in the evening. The fruit does not open, even when it is ripe, that is why it is called "without a mouth" kuchi nashi, in Japanese.


kigo for mid-summer

CLICK for more photos
Gardenia jasminoides

kuchinashi no hana 梔子の花 (くちなしのはな)
gardenia flowers

..... hanakuchinashi 花梔子(はなくちなし)


lit. kuchi nashi means : to have no mouth.


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kigo for late autumn

CLICK for more photos

kuchinashi no mi 梔子の実 (くちなしのみ) gardenia fruit
..... kuchinashi no mi 山梔子の実(くちなしのみ)


The yellow color is used to enhance some food preparations.

. WASHOKU
kiku kabura 菊かぶら / 菊蕪 "chrysanthemum turnip"
 
pickles


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Gardenia jasminoides (also known as Gardenia augusta)
is a fragrant flowering evergreen tropical plant, a favorite in gardens worldwide. It originated in Asia and is most commonly found growing in Vietnam, Southern China, Taiwan, Japan and India. With its shiny green leaves and fragrant white summer flowers, it is widely used in gardens in warm temperate and subtropical climates.

Evidence of Gardenia jasminoides in cultivation in China dates to the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), where both wild and double-flowered forms have been depicted in paintings, such as those of the Song Emperor Huizong.

Gardenia jasminoides fructus (fruit) is used within Traditional Chinese Medicine to "drain fire" and thereby treat certain febrile conditions.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Worldwide use


Gardenie


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Things found on the way




source : www.suiboku.jp


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HAIKU





くちなしの花香りたる交差点
kuchinashi no hana kaoritaru koosaten

the gardenia flowers
are so very fragrant
at the crossroads


source : yoshizo


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gardenia –
the lingering smell of
Daruma's stroll
Chibi


kuchinashi ya
Daruma talks
you have no mouth

Gabi

source : Haiku about Daruma



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rainy december
gardenia at the corner
keeps on withering


source : Wedomartani, Wahyu W. Basjir 2009

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still, its scent --
the gardenia blossom's
faded petals


- Shared by Rick Black -
Joys of Japan, 2012





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Related words

. PLANTS - - - the Complete SAIJIKI .


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8/02/2010

Pomegranate (zakuro)

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Pomegranate (zakuro)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Mid-autumn
***** Category: Plant


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Explanation

zakuro 石榴(柘榴)(ざくろ) pomegranate
Punica granatum

mizakuro 実石榴 pomegranate fruit

CLICK for more photos


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zakuro no hana 石榴の花 (ざくろのはな) pomegranate blossoms
..... hana zakuro 花石榴(はなざくろ)
kigo for mid-summer


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A pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to between five and eight meters tall. The pomegranate is native to the Iranian Plateau, and has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. It is widely cultivated throughout Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, India, Israel, the drier parts of southeast Asia, Indonesia, peninsular Malaysia, the Mediterranean and Southern Europe and tropical Africa.



The name "pomegranate" derives from
Latin pomum ("apple") and granatus ("seeded").

Hinduism
In Hinduism, the pomegranate (Sanskrit: Beejpur, literally: replete with seeds) symbolizes prosperity and fertility, and is associated with both Bhoomidevi (the earth goddess) and Lord Ganesha (who is also called Bijapuraphalasakta, or the one fond of the many-seeded fruit).
Every part of the plant [root, bark, flowers, fruit, leaves] is used for medicinal purposes in Ayurveda.
More about the symbolism is HERE
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Kishibojin
used to eat children before she was converted by Shakyamuni Buddha.
Now she is the protector of children and eats pomegranates (zakuro ザクロ) instead .

. Kishibojin 鬼子母神 .





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Worldwide use

Granatapfel


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Yemen


Pomegranates burst ...
awaiting us to get ready
for new elections


Heike Gewi, September 2011


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Things found on the way



. Kariteimoten (Hariti) Kishimojin 鬼子母神  
A deity eating children, later pomegranates ザクロ instead, after Shakyamuni Buddha convinced her not to eat children any more.


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zakuro guchi, zakuroguchi 柘榴口(ざくろぐち)
special entrance in a public bath

Special ladies (yuna 湯女) would come through this entrance to the male bathers and wash their backs. This entrance is about 90 cm wide. To give more brightness to the room, its walls were painted white.



CLICK for more photos

quote
At the beginning, two sliding doors were fixed in the doorway to keep the hot steam inside. But it was not enough, so zakuroguchi was made to improve it. Zakuroguchi was a board that almost covered the front of bathtub from the ceiling. People had to stoop because zakuroguchi had a low entrance.
One interesting theory of the origin of this strange name zakuroguchi“ (“pomegranate gate“) is that the fruit juice of zakuro (pomegranate) was needed to clean a mirror at that time.
This is in fact a play on words.
Mirror is “kagami“ and to need something is “iru“ in Japanese. To stoop is “kagamu“ and to enter is also “iru“ in Japanese. So they had to ’stoop (“kagamu“) to enter (“iru“)’ a zakuroguchi just as ’a mirror (“kagami“) needed (“iru“) a pomegranate, or zakuro.’

In zakuroguchi, it was dark. When people in Edo city entered the bath, instead of just saying “Excuse me,” they often called out something such as: “Branches (= limbs) will touch you” or “I'm from the country” and then people in the bath cleared their throat to tell their presence. (See the illustrations of zakuroguchi: the above one from Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs, by J. M. W. Silver published in London in 1867 and the below one from Great Encyclopedia Vol.10 published in Tokyo in 1932.)
source : decodingkyoto.policy-science.jp




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HAIKU



露人ワシコフ叫びて石榴打ち落す  
rojin Washikofu sakebite zakuro uchiotosu

the Russian Washikoff
shouted out and hit
a pomegranate



西東三鬼 Saito Sanki (Saitoo) 1900-1962

. Saito Sanki and New Haiku  



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Related words

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