Photo/Illutration An osmanthus tree in Yokohama (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The meanings represented by kanji characters are not always the same everywhere.

Take the kanji that, when it is written in Japan, refers to a midsize deciduous tree called “katsura,” for example.

The kanji, which consists of the “tree” left-hand radical with the character for “earth” stacked vertically, placed on the right side, is also pronounced as “kei” in Japanese, but in China, it is pronounced “gui” and refers to the evergreen tree sweet osmanthus.

The name of the city Guilin, or Keirin in Japanese, known for its landscapes reminiscent of ink paintings, is also derived from the Chinese meaning of the character.

There is a poem by the Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Wang Jian that includes this osmanthus, depicting an autumn night: “White is the courtyard where crows perch on the tree/ Cold dew in silence moistens the sweet osmanthus flowers.”

The moonlight makes the garden shine pale and white, and the cool dew wets the flowers of the osmanthus.

The small petals are not clearly visible. Perhaps that made their sweet fragrance seem all the more intense.

In my neighborhood, there’s a sweet osmanthus tree, and I would sniff the air every morning and evening, wondering when it would bloom. But this year, the arrival of its fragrance was late. It used to bloom in September, but this year it only started four days ago.

One reason must be this unusual weather. On Oct. 19, the temperature in central Tokyo topped 30 degrees, and I briefly turned on a fan at work. That was the third “manatsubi” (midsummer day), a day when the maximum temperature exceeds 30 degrees, in October.

Although it’s supposed to grow cooler on Oct. 20, the weather forecast predicts a “natsubi” (summer day) with the maximum temperature over 25 degrees around mid-week. It makes you want to check the calendar to remember what month it is.

At home, my clothes rack is a mix of short and long sleeves, and every morning I ponder what to wear. The notion of sensing the season through the penetrating pungent smell of camphor during a seasonal change of clothing has all but disappeared recently.

“Urei” (sorrow) is written as a combination of “autumn” and “heart” in kanji. But with autumn looking the way it does now, the meanings represented by kanji might change before long.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 20

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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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