(Stars on the ground)
(Stars on the ground)
"Project X, The challengers", one of NHK's long-life famous programs, has been gaining a high
audience rating among business people because it mainly features success
cases achieved by minor leaguers. (I wonder why an individual effort is
not appreciated in Japan....)
The theme song of the program is "the star on the ground", which
is written and composed by Miyuki Nakajima as singing
♪Pleiads in the wind, Milky way in the sand, ---- Pegasus in the grass
land, and Vinus on the street........
Trees and grass have woken up from the long winter sleep and bloom at once
in gardens, at the street corners and parks ---- shining on the ground.
Subcelestrial stars have five or six flower petals like stars in a children's
book.
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Baby blue eyes or Californian bluebell ("Nemophia") The varsity player of the flowers that are shining blue. The name of Nemophia comes from Greek that means "love forest"- an eco-friendly flower. The flower word is "Success" (Chitosedai, Setagaya) It looks like Persian speedwell ("Ohinuno fuguri").  (Yoyogi park, Shibuya) |
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| Star-shaped bellflower("Hoshi-gikyo") (Gotokuji, Setagaya) |
Spring Star Flower("Hananira") (Sakurajosui, Setagaya) |
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| Periwinkle("Tsuru-nichinichisou") (Daita, Setagaya) |
Gentiana zollingeri ("Haru-lingdou"") (Forest park, Hachioji) |
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| Anemone (Chitosedai, Setagaya) |
Anemone pseudo-altaica ("Ichirinsou) (Takao, Hachioji) |
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| Moss pink("Shiba-zakura") (Kyodou, Setagaya) |
Unidentified flower (Daita, Setagaya) |
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| Unidentified flower (Kami-soshigaya, Setagaya) |
Unidentified flower (Hanegi, Setagaya) |
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| Unidentified flower (Kinuta, Setagaya) |
Banana shrub ("Karatane ogatama) smells banana favor. (Sakura-josui, Setagaya) |
Gathering stars shape a galaxy and one of the closest galaxies from the Earth is the Andoromeda.
In the floral world the most prominent galaxy is cherry blossom
in Japan.
The Forest Science Park of the Institute of Forest attached to Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, which locates near the emperors' mausoleums, has collected 800 spices of cherry trees nationwide. You can enjoy cherry flowers from October to June next year. It takes only 10 minutes walk from the Takao station of JR East Japan.
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Cherry("Sato zakura") Except Somei-yoshino and Hikan zakura, most of cherry flowers are called Sato-zakura as "village cherry". Depending flower shape and color, they are named variously just as constitution has its name. "Hikan zakura"  (All - Forest park, Hachioji) |
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| "Ukon" | "Mikuruma gaeshi" | "Gyoikou" |
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| "Itokukuri" | "Taihaku" | Weeping cherry ("Shidarezakura") |
Double flowered cherry("Yaezakura") There used to be a service that applicants having taken the college entrance exam could receive a telegram saying "Your cherry has bloomed" when he/she could pass the exam. Now such service has disappeared due to personal info protection and e-mail diffusion. (Tokyo Univ. Komaba, Meguro) |
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Cherry is not only the flower that shapes galaxy feature.
Even other flowers can take the shapes of Milky way, spherical shape, pillar
shape and even horse-head shape.
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| Reeves' spirea("Kodemari") (Chitosedai, Setagaya) | Ageratum (Gotokuji, Setagaya) |
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| Alpine roses("Shakunage") (Akatsutsumi, Setagaya |
Wisteria("Fuji") (Daita, Setagaya) |
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| Grape hyacinth ("Muscali") (Soshigaya, Setagaya) Dwarves in Spring |
Unidentified flower (Chitosedai, Setagaya) |
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| White Chinese bud("Shirobana hanazuo") (Kinuta, Setagaya) |
Red witch hazel("Benibana tokiwa mansaku") (Daizawa, Setagaya) |
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| Flowering crab-apple ("Kaidou") (Akatsutsumi, Setagaya) |
Japanese andromeda("Asebi") (Tama mausoleum of Showa Emperor, Hachioji) |
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| Chinese fringe tree("Hitotsuba-tago") (Akatsutsumi, Setagaya) The closest shape of the galaxy. | Scotch broom ("Enishida) (Funabashi, Setagaya) |
| Japanese cobra lily("Mamushi-gusa") The shape looks like cobra standing in the pot with serpent-charmer's piper. A kin of aroid and mannan Also resembles horse-head galaxy. (Forest park, Hachioji) |
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When the star ends its life, it will inflate and turn into the supernova,
then finally explode.
Flowers follow the same way with dispersing their petals and showing the
dazzling spectacles like star's end.
And....they produce seeds that bear new lives inside.
| Peony tree("Botan") China origin, once used for medicine. In the "Noh" world it is called "Fukamigusa", which means the flower of Bo Hai  (Saifukuji Temple Akatsutsumi, Setagaya) |
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| Camellia japonica ("Tsubaki") This "Tsubaki" blooms in the garden of our condominium and called "Otome (virgine)". There are lots of "Tsubaki" in Japan due to its origin as shown the nomenclature is "Japonica". Comparing with peony tree you can see how different the Japanese aesthetic taste is far from Chinese one's. (Kinuta, Setagaya) |
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Dandy lion ("Tampopo") Like an explosion of the supernova the seeds are going to disperse its seed to the unknown space. When I was a child and found the flower in the field, I used to blow the head and let them fried out in the sky. (Funabashi, Setagaya) |
| In April it starts new fiscal year in a company and administrative institutions as well as school systems. In some elementary school upper graders gives the new comers with their cared tulips at the entrance ceremony. And we learn a song of Tulip at the begging of our school days. ♪Tulips have bloomed, and lined up in a low with flags of red, white and yellow. Every flower is beautiful! We have started from scratch, but I wonder now how wide the distance is ......  (Soshigaya, Setagaya)Tulip The above tulips are seen evrywhere but once tulips were in the buble. Netherlanders exited to make various shapes and colors as shown below.     (All are in Hanegi, Setagaya) |
| Ah! Flowers are quickly spreading all over the earth in Spring, which makes me so busy in this season....... |
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| Japanese aquilesia("Odamaki") (Soshigaya, Setagaya) This is Japan origin. "Oda" means acromphalus. |
Aquilesia This is imported specie. (Matsubara, Setagaya) |
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 Blue berry (Miyasaka, Setagaya) |
 Black berry (Soshigaya, Setagaya) |
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 Scented jasmine("Kisokei") (Gotokuji, Setagaya) |
 Jasmine("Sokei")(Akatsutsumi, Setagaya) |
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Carolina jasmine (Komaba, Meguro) Family of Jasmine produce tropical flavor. Chinese jasmine tea is made of "", which is different flower. |
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 Oxalis japonica("Katabami")(Hanegi, Setagaya) |
 Oxalis (Soshigaya, Setagaya) |
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 Clematis (Fuse, Osaka) Eight petals is called "Windmill". |
 Bachelor's button ("Yagurumaguiku") (Kami-soshigaya, Setagaya) |
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 Violet ("Sumire") (Daita, Setagaya) |
 Pansy (Daita, Setagaya) Like a chimpanzee? |
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 Colla("Oranda kaiwu) (Kyodou, Setagaya) |
 White Arum("Mizubasho) (Takao, Hachioji) |
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 Rose geranium (Gotokuji, Setagaya) |
 Pelagonium (Hanegi, Setagaya) |
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 Lily of the valley("Suzuran") "Suzu" stands for bell. (Funabashi, Setagaya) |
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| Spanish bluebell ("Tsurigane suisen") Kin of scilla. |
Caribbean (Cuban) Lily (Both Hanegi, Setagaya) |
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| Ixia (Kyodou, Setagaya) A kin of iris |
Chinese ground orchid ("Shiran") (Kyodou, Setagaya) |
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| Christmas Orchid ("Ebine") (Kyodou, Setagaya) a kin of Orchid |
Kaffir Lily ("Kunshiran") (Kyodou, Setagaya) This is not orchid family, but. strangely belongs to Lycoris family. |
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| Poppy ("Hinageshi") (Kami-soshigaya, Setagaya) |
California Poppy("Hanabishi-sou") (Kami-soshigaya, Setagaya) |
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| Fumitory ("Murasaki-keman") (Forest park, Hachioji) |
Unidentified flower (Soshigaya, Setagaya) |
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| Cotton Weed("Hahako-gusa") (Chitosedai, Setagaya) |
Madwoman's milk("Toudai-gusa") (Fuse, Osaka) |
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| Cherokee rose("Naniwa ibara") (Miyasaka, Setagaya) |
Rugosa rose("Hamanasu") (Gotokuji, Setagaya) |
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| Katakuri (Takao, Hachioji) The rood produces starch. |
Chinese milk vetch ("Renge-sou) (Funabashi, Setagaya) These flowers are raised by students
of Chitosedai Highschool Holticulture Club. |
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| Water forget-me-not("Wasurena-gusa") (Daizawa, Setagaya) A youngman who picked up this flower for his lover slipped down to the river and cried out "For get me not" in the rapid flow. |
Japanese Aster("Miyakowasure") (Kinuta, Setagaya) Emperor Juntoku who was banished to Sado Island due to the sin of Shokyu Rebellion, sighed with the grief when he saw this flower saying "It makes me forgot my home palace with its beauty". |
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| Japanese horse radish("Wasabi") (Takao, Hachioji) The ground root is for Sashimi | Candy tuft("Hana-nazuna") (Akatsutsumi, Setagaya) |
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| This year spring comes one month earlier this average year. Flowers seem
rushing to bloom. Early summer flowers are soon ready to bloom...... |
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| Rose("Bara") (Hachimanyama, Setagaya) |
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| Gifted Pictures We had some gift pictures of beautiful and rare flowers from our viewers. These pictures are from Mr. Kobayashi. |
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 Handkerchief tree (Farm of Tokyo Univ., Nishi-Tokyo) |
 Azalea Rhododendron("Tsutsuji") (Nezu Shrine, Bunkyo) |
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If you find your favorite pictures, let us know them via e-mail to matsunaga@insite-r.co.jp
We will send back the original picture files (JPEG 300 to 400 KB)