Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun.
April 25, 2022 at 14:40 JST
I often stop when I find flowers blooming along the road at this time of the year.
“Let me see, your name is … .”
I often wonder if they are “harujion” (Philadelphia fleabane) or “himejo-on” (annual fleabane).
The two members of the daisy family Asteraceae are like two peas in a pod.
While I try to tell them apart by looking at the difference in the petal widths, I recently learned you can distinguish them by buds, too.
Harujion have drooping buds, which turn upward as they bloom.
Singer-songwriter Masashi Sada composed a song about Philadelphia fleabane, which he calls “Harujo-on.”
He assigns three kanji characters to the flower’s name to use as phonetic symbols: “haru” (spring), “jo” (woman) and “on” (garden, park).
“Harujo-on resembles you/ Looking abashed in pale pink/ Facing downward and trembling.”
In a recent installment of this column, I wrote, “Spring, I think, is a season that goes well with dreams, hopes and yearnings.”
But people sometimes experience disappointment in this season as well.
Like harujion buds, people droop with disappointment when they struggle to get used to a new place and feel it does not live up to their expectations.
“You can trust harujo-on/ As they never fail to put out flowers.”
As Sada sings, we are sometimes encouraged by plants, with buds that endure a bitter winter and flowers that bloom even after being stepped on.
Botanist Hidehiro Inagaki’s book titled, “We can learn important things from plants,” talks about weeds whose stems have joints.
It appears a plant takes a respite from growth by producing a joint.
But weeds with joints are resilient, shooting out buds from joints even if they are torn or clipped, according to Inagaki.
Perhaps, people also become more resilient by “creating” joints when they suffer from problems and waver in their judgment.
It is said himejo-on was brought to Japan during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) while harujion was introduced during the Taisho Era (1912-1926).
Even though they came to a completely new world, the plants now bloom, looking upward, as if declaring this is their place in the world.
--The Asahi Shimbun, April 24
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
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Flowers of harujion bloom in Saitama in 2009. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
