Hydrangea,Ajisai,アジサイ

This is the second installment of a two-part series on this topic.

紫陽花 (ajisai), hydrangea, is the deciduous shrub up to five feet high with ball-shaped clusters of bluish flowers in June and July. It has become a common ornamental throughout the world.

  In Japan both 額紫陽花(gaku ajisai), H. macrophylla and 沢紫陽花(sawa ajisai), H. serrata in particular have been cultivated for so many centuries that they have become part of the culture. 

a haiku of Basho Matuo

　紫陽花や藪を小庭の別座敷　松尾芭蕉　　

   ajisai ya  yabu wo koniwa no  betsu zashiki

          Hydrangea!  in grove, being little garden,  the detached room

 quote from

Akita International Haiku Network 

https://akitahaiku.com/2009/07/18/bashos-hydrangea

Hydrangea,Ajisai,アジサイ

This is the first installment of a two-part series.

The hydrangea is one of flowering plant for enjoying its blooms in Japan from ancient times, and there is mention in "Manyoshu tanka collection" published in the eighth century.

Hasezan Hondoji or Hondoji temple, Matsudo-shi, in Chiba Pref., is famous temple with surrounded flower of  Hydrangea in its season.

About Hondoji temple, please see below

 

 About Hondoji temple

⇓⇓

The Hondo-ji Temple originarlly started in 1269,when a governor of Hiraga Province named kageyama Tosannokami who became a great devotee of Nichiren Shonin,raised a Hokke-do hall
(a hall for the Lotus Sutra chanting )in Kogane area around Matsudo City in Chiba Prefecture.
Though the temple fell into decay due to wind and rain disasters,Lord Soya Kyoshin of the monor
with a deep faith in the Lotus Sutra ,made a great contribution to the reconstruction of the temple in 1277.
In 1309,a daughter of Lord soya Kyoshin donated the land of Hirga-rokugo area to establish the Hondo-ji Temple of today.
Hondo-ji is so named because of Nichiren Shonin's wish as follows.
"The Original Buddha will reside in this land"'Hon' means true or original ,and 'do' refers  to land

The Hondo-ji temple is commonly known by "Ajisai-dera(Hydrangea Temple)."

Night heron,Goisagi,ゴイサギ

ＩＵＣＮ　category: Least Concern    

I think that Night heron to be a kind of smart wild bird which sometimes use a twig as a tool for capturing a small fish.

They capture small fish at the moment when they trace the surface of the water with the twig which they had in their mouth to a bill, and a small fish escaped.

Because water lilies grew thick, They do not see the surface of the water. Therefore the Night hero cannot catch a small fish.                     

        

 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Adult bird

Great cormorant,Kawau,カワウ

ＩＵＣＮcategory: Least Concern

Great cormorant is one of disliked wild bird among fishery cooperatives in Japan.

They come to a river and a lake by a large herd or in one of them every day, and are eating fishes except big fishes which is not able to eat too big.

The damage of "Ayu" which is artificially released by a local fishermen's cooperative in particular is serious, and the amount of damage in the country is said to be 7 billion（US＄6.5billion ) yen a year.

Ayu fishing is one of the several narrowly defined styles of fishing in Japan.
Ayu fishing was practiced by Samurai as long as 430 years ago. It uses very long rods (5–7 meters) and fly, but fly-casting is not required. Ayu fishing originated at least 430 years ago ^[1] when anglers discovered they could dress their flies with pieces of fabric and use those to fool the fish. The art became more refined as the samurai, who were forbidden to practice martial arts and sword fighting in the Edo period, found this type of fishing to be a good substitute for their training: the rod being a substitute to the sword, and walking on the rocks of a small stream good leg and balance training. "Only the samurai were permitted to fish. So, the samurai who enjoyed ayu fishing would take sewing needles and bend them themselves, and make their own flies by hand.
Ayu fishing may be done with lures or with a live decoy. As ayu fish are very territorial, they are likely to attack the live decoy fish used bait.                                             quote from Wikipedia

This is the author of this blog, Ayu fishing four years ago.  

Great bittern,Sankanogoi,サンカノゴイ

The Japan’s Ministry of Environment of Regional Red List has assessed its  conservation status as being of "endangered speciesIB".

One of my favorite,at the rice field in a rainy day.

Common cuckoo,Kaxtukou,カッコウ

Two different Chinese character to express a common cuckoo are in this country. One is a 郭公 in 閑古鳥 one more.

We call the 郭公kaxtukou and call the 閑古鳥kannkodori.

The Kankodori, lonely, float, but refers to the emptiness, etc.

For example, I say the restaurants where nobody is even if I go in what time when kankodori calls.

The Japanese seemed to feel feeling sad in a common cuckoo from ancient times, and a haiku of Basho Matsuo shows it.

"Uki-ware-wo sabishigarase-yo kannkodori, 憂きわれをさびしがらせよ閑古鳥" is a haiku of Basho Matsuo(1644-1694) which the word of common cuckoo is used as the word of kankodori.

English meaning of this haiku" 憂きわれをさびしがらせよ閑古鳥"is "let feel lonely of distress me a Kankodori", If I easily translate its meaning.

About Haiku, Please see wikipedia