Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan, vol 2 | Page 5

Just as rocks and stones form
the skeleton of the ground-plan of a garden, so pines form the
framework of its foliage design. They give body to the whole. In this
garden there are five pines,--not pines tormented into fantasticalities,
but pines made wondrously picturesque by long and tireless care and
judicious trimming. The object of the gardener has been to develop to
the utmost possible degree their natural tendency to rugged line and
massings of foliage--that spiny sombre-green foliage which Japanese
art is never weary of imitating in metal inlay or golden lacquer. The
pine is a symbolic tree in this land of symbolism. Ever green, it is at
once the emblem of unflinching purpose and of vigorous old age; and
its needle- shaped leaves are credited with the power of driving demons
away.
There are two sakuranoki, [11] Japanese cherry-trees--those trees
whose blossoms, as Professor Chamberlain so justly observes, are
'beyond comparison more lovely than anything Europe has to show.'
Many varieties are cultivated and loved; those in my garden bear

blossoms of the most ethereal pink, a flushed white. When, in spring,
the trees flower, it is as though fleeciest masses of cloud faintly tinged
by sunset had floated down from the highest sky to fold themselves
about the branches. This comparison is no poetical exaggeration;
neither is it original: it is an ancient Japanese description of the most
marvellous floral exhibition which nature is capable of making. The
reader who has never seen a cherry-tree blossoming in Japan cannot
possibly imagine the delight of the spectacle. There are no green leaves;
these come later: there is only one glorious burst of blossoms, veiling
every twig and bough in their delicate mist; and the soil beneath each
tree is covered deep out of sight by fallen petals as by a drift of pink
snow.
But these are cultivated cherry-trees. There are others which put forth
their leaves before their blossoms, such as the yamazakura, or mountain
cherry. [12] This, too, however, has its poetry of beauty and of
symbolism. Sang the great Shinto writer and poet, Motowori:
Shikishima no Yamato-gokoro wo Hito-towaba, Asa-hi ni niou
Yamazakura bana. [13]
Whether cultivated or uncultivated, the Japanese cherry-trees are
emblems. Those planted in old samurai gardens were not cherished for
their loveliness alone. Their spotless blossoms were regarded as
symbolising that delicacy of sentiment and blamelessness of life
belonging to high courtesy and true knightliness. 'As the cherry flower
is first among flowers,' says an old proverb, 'so should the warrior be
first among men'.
Shadowing the western end of this garden, and projecting its smooth
dark limbs above the awning of the veranda, is a superb umenoki,
Japanese plum-tree, very old, and originally planted here, no doubt, as
in other gardens, for the sake of the sight of its blossoming. The
flowering of the umenoki, [14] in the earliest spring, is scarcely less
astonishing than that of the cherry-tree, which does not bloom for a full
month later; and the blossoming of both is celebrated by popular
holidays. Nor are these, although the most famed, the only flowers thus
loved. The wistaria, the convolvulus, the peony, each in its season,
form displays of efflorescence lovely enough to draw whole
populations out of the cities into the country to see them.. In Izumo, the
blossoming of the peony is especially marvellous. The most famous

place for this spectacle is the little island of Daikonshima, in the grand
Naka-umi lagoon, about an hour's sail from Matsue. In May the whole
island flames crimson with peonies; and even the boys and girls of the
public schools are given a holiday, in order that they may enjoy the
sight.
Though the plum flower is certainly a rival in beauty of the sakura-no-
hana, the Japanese compare woman's beauty--physical beauty--to the
cherry flower, never to the plum flower. But womanly virtue and
sweetness, on the other hand, are compared to the ume-no-hana, never
to the cherry blossom. It is a great mistake to affirm, as some writers
have done, that the Japanese never think of comparing a woman to trees
and flowers. For grace, a maiden is likened to a slender willow; [15] for
youthful charm, to the cherry-tree in flower; for sweetness of heart, to
the blossoming plum-tree. Nay, the old Japanese poets have compared
woman to all beautiful things. They have even sought similes from
flowers for her various poses, for her movements, as in the verse,
Tateba skakuyaku; [16] Suwareba botan; Aruku sugatawa Himeyuri
[17] no hana. [18]
Why, even the names of the humblest country girls are often those of
beautiful trees or flowers prefixed by the honorific O: [19] O-Matsu
(Pine), O-Take (Bamboo), O-Ume (Plum), O-Hana (Blossom), O-ine
(Ear-of- Young-Rice), not to speak of the professional flower-names of
dancing- girls and