UVa Library Etext Center: Japanese Text Initiative

植物【しょくぶつ】 shokubutsu Plants

帰り花【かえりばな】 kaeribana （かへりばな）, returning flowers (early winter)

返り花【かえりばな】 kaeribana returning flowers [carries the overtone of "fading"]
忘れ花【わすればな】 wasurebana forgetful flowers / forgotten flowers [forgetful of the time of year / bloomed some time ago and unexpectedly returned]
帰り咲【かえりざき】 kaerizaki return flowering / return of flowering
狂い咲【くるいざき】 kuruizaki off-season flowering [literally "confused flowering"]

山茶花【さざんか】 sazanka （さざんくわ）, sasanqua [Camellia sasanqua, a member of the camellia family, but note its later bloom-time] (early winter)

茶花【さざんか】 sazanka sasanqua [not to be confused with 茶花【ちゃばな】 chabana, "tea flowers", an informal flower arrangement for tea ceremony (not a season word)]
姫椿【ひめつばき】 himetsubaki sasanqua [literally "princess-camellia"]
小椿【こつばき】 kotsubaki sasanqua [literally "small camellia"]

An evergreen tree of modest height, the sasanqua is a member of the camillia family native to Shikoku, Kyushu, Yakushima, and the Ryukyu Islands. The wild variety has flowers with a single ring of white petals, but many varieties have been cultivated for ornamental use--some with pale red, crimson, or red and white flowers, some with several rings of petals per blossom. The kanji now used to write sazanka (山茶花), the Japanese name for the plant, are a phonetic approximation of the sound sasankuwa, which was the older Japanese name for the plant. The Chinese name for the same plant is written with the kanji 茶梅 (pronounced ちゃばい chabai in Japanese), meaning "tea plum" (or "tea apricot"). Because it resembles the camellia it is sometimes called the "princess camellia" or "lesser camellia", but unlike the camellia, which blooms in spring, the sasanqua blooms in early winter. The flowers are a little smaller than those of the camellia and, unlike the latter, are fragrant. Apart from the tree's ornamental uses, the seeds are a source of oil for dressing the hair, and the wood is valued for making handles for farming implements and carpentry tools.

山茶花のここを書斎と定めたり

正岡子規

sazanka no koko o shosai to sadametari

here by
the sasanqua I establish
my study

Masaoka Shiki

山茶花の長き盛りのはじまりぬ

富安風生

sazanka no nagaki sakari no hajimarinu

the sasanqua's
long blossom-time
is beginning

Tomiyasu Fūsei

山茶花の一とたび凍てて咲きし花

細見綾子

sasanka no hitotabi itete sakishi hana

the sasanqua
at one time frozen--
opening blossoms

Hosomi Ayako

山茶花や嫁ぐ人ある夕べの灯

森田たま

sazanka ya totsugu hito aru yūbe no hi

sasanqua blossoms . . .
there's a daughter to be married
evening lights

Morita Tama

Peering into a house which is lit up in the evening, it is clear from the presence of wedding accessories that a daughter of the family will soon be getting married. The sasanqua is just coming into bloom, as though in honor of the impending wedding.

八手のはな【やつでのはな】 yatsude no hana Japanese aralia blossoms / Japanese fatsia blossoms [Fatsia japonica] (early winter)

柊の花【ひいらぎのはな】 hiiragi no hana （ひひらぎのはな）, holly osmanthus blossoms / holly tea-olive blossoms [Osmanthus heterophyllus, similar to English holly Ilex aquifolium] (early winter)

茶の花【ちゃのはな】 cha no hana tea blossoms [Thea sinensis] (early winter)

蜜柑【みかん】 mikan mikan / mandarin orange [fruit of the Citrus reticulata] (all winter)

枇杷のはな【びわのはな】 biwa no hana （びはのはな）, loquat blossom(s) (mid winter)

紅葉散る【もみじちる】 momiji chiru （もみぢちる）, red leaves fall / colored leaves fall (early winter)

木の葉【このは】 ko-no-ha leaves of trees [noted for drying, falling, blowing in wind] (all winter)

木の葉散る【このはちる】 ko-no-ha chiru tree-leaves fall

落葉【おちば】 ochiba fallen leaves (all winter)

落葉焚【おちばたき】 ochiba-taki leaf fire
落葉掻【おちばかき】 ochiba-kaki leaf rake
落葉籠【おちばかご】 ochiba-kago leaf basket

Deciduous trees shed their leaves each year, from late fall into winter, as they prepare for winter dormancy. The season word ochiba, falling or fallen leaves, includes beautiful red and yellow leaves (see 紅葉【もみじ】 momiji and those which simply turn brown before they fall. Leaves drifting down one by one, and those driven off the branches by gusts of wind--all are potent signs of approaching winter. Ochiba refers both to leaves falling and to those already lying on the ground, though when the latter become dry and faded they are called "withered leaves" (枯葉【かれは】 kareha). The sound of these under foot calls to mind the dreariness of winter. Fallen leaves may be raked into piles to be burnt, or collected in baskets and used to fill compost heaps. Many season words for fallen leaves of specific trees are also used by haikai poets: "fallen/falling persimmon leaves" (柿落葉【かきおちば】kaki-ochiba), "fallen/falling magnolia leaves" (朴落葉【ほおおちば】 hō-ochiba), "fallen/falling ginko leaves (銀杏落葉【いちょうおちば】 ichō-ochiba), and so on. ("Tree leaves" (木の葉【このは】 konoha), below, by itself is also an all-winter season word.)

水底の岩に落ちつく木の葉かな

丈草

minasoko no iwa ni ochitsuku konoha kana

under water
settling on the rocks
the leaves of trees

Jōsō

落葉踏むけふの明るさあすもあれ

水原秋櫻子

ochiba fumu kyō no akarusa asu mo are

I tread on
fallen leaves in today's light--
let there be tomorrow, too

Mizuhara Shūōshi

白き手の病者ばかりの落葉焚

石田波郷

shiroki te no byōsha bakari no ochiba-taki

pale hands
of sick people only--
a fallen-leaf fire

Ishida Hakyō

落葉して木々りんりんと新しや

西東三鬼

ochiba-shite kigi rinrin to atarashi ya

leaves fallen
tree-by-tree, grove-by-grove
chill, renewed

Saitō Sanki

When their leaves fall, deciduous trees fall enter a period of winter dormancy, though not without preparing the buds they will put forth in the spring. The dark trees, prepared for winter, conceal the secret force of renewed life.

枯木【かれき】 kareki withered tree(s) / leafless tree(s) (all winter)

冬木立【ふゆこだち】 fuyu kodachi winter grove (of trees)
裸木【はだかぎ】 hadakagi naked/leafless trees

冬枯【ふゆがれ】 fuyugare winter withering (all winter)

枯るる【かるる】 karuru (to) wither / (to) be withered [in winter]

水仙【すいせん】 suisen （すゐせん）, narcissus [Narcissus tazetta] (late winter)

枯菊【かれぎく】 karegiku withered chrysanthemums (all winter)

菊枯る【きくかる】 kiku karu chrysanthemums wither

枯蓮【かれはす】 kare-hasu withered lotus(es) (all winter)

蓮枯る【はすかる】 hasu karu lotuses wither / lotus withers

白菜【はくさい】 hakusai Chinese cabbage / bok choy [Brassica sinensis] (all winter)

葱【ねぎ】 negi stone leek(s) [Allium fistulosum, also known as "Welch onions"] (all winter)

根深【ねぶか】 nebuka stone leek(s) [literally "root-deep"]
葉葱【はねぎ】 hanegi leafy leek(s)

大根【だいこん】 daikon daikon [the Japanese white radish, Raphanus sativas, much used in cooking] (all winter)

枯草【かれくさ】 karekusa withered plants [includes more than grasses] (all winter)

草枯【くさがれ】 kusagare the withering of plants

枯尾花【かれおばな】 kare-obana （かれをばな）, withered pampas grass [Miscanthus sinensis] (all winter)

枯芒【かれすすき】 kare-susuki withered pampas grass
冬芒【ふゆすすき】 fuyu-susuki winter pampas grass

All these terms refer to withered pampas grass. Kareo-bana, literally "withered tail-flowers" is so called because the flower resembles the tail of a rooster. In a line from a popular song of the Taishō era collection "Songs of a Boatman" (船頭小唄 Sendō Kouta), a man laments "I'm just a withered stalk of pampas grass on the riverside." Here, the plant is a symbol of the evanescence of life. When both its leaves and flowers are withered the pampas grass might well suggest fragility, though it is a perennial--the roots will put forth a new stalk the following spring, and it is in fact a very hardy plant. One variety of pampas grass, the "Tokiwa pampas grass" (常磐芒【ときわすすき】tokiwa-susuki), is an evergreen which survives through the winter and is also called "cold pampas grass" (寒芒【かんすすき】 kansusuki).

なきながら笠にかくすや枯尾花

其角

nakinagara kasa ni kakusu ya kare-obana

hiding my tears
under a wide-brimmed hat . . .
withered pampas grass

Kikaku

舟慕ふ淀野の犬や枯尾花

几董

fune kitau yodono no inu ya kare-obana

longing after a boat
a dog on Yodo Plain . . .
withered pampas grass

Kitō

[The master apparently left on a boat on a nearby river.]

さざなみは影をつくらず枯尾花

渡辺水巴

sazanami wa kage o tsukurazu kare-obana

water-ripples
make no shadows--
withered pampas grass

Watanabe Suiha

枯芒ただ輝きぬ風の中

中村汀女

kare-susuki tada kagayakinu kaze no naka

withered pampas grass
just shimmering
in the wind

Nakamura Teijo

我も死して碑に辺せむ枯尾花

蕪村

ware mo shishite hi ni hotorisemu kare-obana

when I too die
place me near this monument
withered pampas grass

Buson

Buson helped rebuild Bashō's cottage at Konpukuji in Eastern Kyoto some 80 years after Bashō's death. The epigraph to this verse reads "The gravestone of Old Bashō" (芭蕉翁墓 Bashō-ō no haka). After his own death, Buson wishes to be buried here, next to the Bashō monument, so that each time winter comes he might be able to view the withered pampas grass together with his revered predecessor. [Note: There is little hard evidence for an original "Bashō cottage" at Konpukuji, though there are poems he was said to have written near there. In an essay, Buson tells of the "rebuilding of Bashō's cottage" on the site. The words "gravestone" (haka) in the preface to the poem above and "stele" or "monument" (hi) in the poem itself seem to refer to a monument marking the supposed site of the Bashō cottage. Bashō's ashes are believed to be buried at Gichūji Temple in Ōtsu, and some remnants are also said to be in his family's gravesite in Ueno in old Iga Province, present Mie Prefecture.]

枯芝【かれしば】 kare-shiba withered lawn / withered turf (all winter)

枯葎【かれむぐら】 kare-mugura withered creepers [refers to 金葎【かなむぐら】 kanamugura, Humulus japonicus], sometimes called "Japanese hop(s)" or "Japanese hemp"] (all winter)

石蕗の花【つわのはな】 tsuwa no hana （つはのはな）, rock butterbur flowers / rock fuki flowers [literal renderings; Farfugium japonicum, also known as 石蕗【つわぶき】 tsuwabuki; a garden variety, aureomaculata, has spotted leaves and is called "leopard plant"] (early winter)

冬萌【ふゆもえ】 fuyu-moe winter sprouts [first green sprouts under winter-withered plants] (late winter)