In every wood in every spring there is a different green

May is the best season of year when we can enjoy the numerous hues of burning green.  

One day I walked a nature trail to Mt. Wakakusa through the Kasuga Primeval Forest of Mt. Kasuga in Nara. Kasuga Grand Shrine is at the foot of Mt.Kasuga.

This is a cozy tea room in an old Japanese style, surrounded with fresh maples.

 Here is the start point of the nature trail.

  On its thatched roof, baby maples are growing.

The extensive forest in Mt.Kasuga is considered sacred, so no one is allowed to cut down the trees or hunt animals. Now this primeval forest nurtures many kinds of plants, animals and insects as a sanctuary for the living beings. The forest was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.

In every wood in every spring there is  a different green.

The sunlight softly slants through the overlapping leaves. The entire forest looks like a natural cathedral with shimmering emerald stained glasses and  graceful canopies. When a breeze blows over the green canopies, flickering sunlight through the  leaves quietly falls on me. I feel as if I were in the bottom of the sea and looking up at the surface of water. What a  pleasant and soothing moment it is!

 This is the top of Mt. Wakakusa,  Mt. Young Grass,  where  "Grass Burning Festival" is held in January every year.

In every wood in every spring there is  a different green.

When I came back to the start, the charming cafe was closed already.

I got to know this words "In every wood in every spring there is a different green."

 ("I sit and Think" by J.R.R.Tolkien, the anthor of  "The Lord of the Rings".) through Professor Sheffner (his blog).  Also last year he left the similar comment  on my blog "Everything is Bathed in Green Breeze, Isui-en Garden". "In every tree, in every wood, there is a different green" (Bilbo Baggins in "Lord of the Rings").

I have been deeply inspired by the words of Tolkien. For me, his words seem to depict the essence of life in spring green and its mysterious energy.  This spring, I visited a several places to find out the green mentioned by Tolkien.  It was somthing like a quest or pilgimiage with no religious meanings. But, I felt it was enough to visit even only Mt. Kasuga and its forest. Every place had its own unique shades of green.

Everything is Melted in Green Breeze

Now, Nara Park is amid the whirlpool of lush verdure of young leaves. The sunlight goes through the fresh leaves and flickers them.

 Camphor trees are shedding old leaves and growing new ones.

 Fallen leaves look like beautiful autumn foliage. None of them has the same color or pattern. Look at green marble-like patterns, I won’t be tired of viewing them!. But most of people are just passing by them.

In the grounds of Kasuga Grand Shrine, there are many old and magnificent camphor trees. It is said that the trees have been considered as divine because of their mysterious smell.  In olden days, people used to make moth balls from camphor trees to protect clothes from moths.

Camphor tree (left big one), wild wisteria and deer

Wild wisteria flowers in sunset. Flowers in May are wisteria, and people enjoy wild wisteria as well as cultivated ones in the park. In the 8th century, the Fujiwaras were the  most powerful and rich clan.  Their favorite flowers were wisteria as Fujiwara means wisteria field.  That's why so many wisteria around Nara Park.

wisteria leaves

The maple leaves which are rimmed with faint red.
They look like open hands of babies.

A thatched house is surrounded with maple trees. It seems as if it were enveloped in green blazes.( related blog is here,Last Flicker of Subtle Beauty, Mizuya-chaya )

This Haiku was composed on the deadly catastrophe which hit Tohoku district on March 11^th. The poem was selected and appeared in Asahi Newspaper. Haiku is the shortest Japanese poem consisting of 5-7-5 syllables

ものの芽の 天地裂くとも 萌えいでよ　斉藤哲也

Buds,

Even though heaven and earth were split,

Sprout!

by Saito Tetsuya

Not only leaves but also grasses are gorgeous.

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Here, people come to enjoy doing nothing.

Deer in early sunset

In sunset

It is hard to introduce all of them. This beauty continues only for a while. The leaves soon grow strong and lose their shy softness and fragileness. I love their fleeting beauty. 

For your reference

Each season has each color. Based on Chinese faith, green or blue represents spring. In olden days, both green and blue were named blue in Japan. No wonder, spring is depicted as green(blue).

Blue or green, spring, 青春

Red, summer、朱夏

White, autumn、白秋

Black, winter、玄冬

Yellow, canicular days 土用

This time, I had hard time to post my blog because of Blogger's  system trouble. I struggled for a long time.  Did n't you have it?(^^;)

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Everything is Bathed in Green Breeze, Isui-en Garden

This is my favorite Japanese garden in Nara, Isui-en Garden.

As those glasses were made in Meiji(1868-1912) or Taisho(1912-1926) eras, they are not flat or smooth but slightly uneven. So the reflections on them look dim and distorted a little.  I love these subtle images.

The garden is a stroll-through and also borrowed landscape garden. Three mountains and the magnificent roof of Great South Gate of Todai-ji Temple are incorporated to the beauty of the garden. The reflections on the glass sliding doors above is this scenery.

May is the month when we can enjoy the most gorgeous green of young leaves. The leaves show myriad shades of green and twinkle against fresh sunlight of May. The leaves are soft, gentle and fragile. The shining  leaves are reflected on the glass sliding doors. It seems as if they are condensed and frozen inside a house.