Mark Johnston Photography

20 June 2009: 紫陽花　Ajisai

The night I got back from my last two-week road trip to Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, I popped into "Tory’s", one of my favorite bars in Ito.

"Tory’s" is the original establishment of the now-massive Suntory brewery conglomerate, and is a tiny, wood-paneled, second-floor spot on a little side street near the center of town. The place is run by a great family - "DJ Taka" and his parents.

I got into a chat with Taka-san's mom, and I was reminded how minutely the Japanese, especially the older generation, know their land and its living things.

We started talking about the beginning of rainy season, and how rainy season means the season of "ajisai" [紫陽花] - "hydrangea" in English.

From there, she began to explain about all the different kinds of crickets and their songs, giving me a vocal demonstration of each one. The Japanese language also has many onomatopoeic words - words that sound like their meanings. Most are one- or two-syllable words that are repeated; for example, "doki-doki", imitating the thumping of the heart to mean nervous excitement; or "koro-koro" to represent the sound of a small, rolling object.

Anyway, she was using specific syllables and pitching her voice to mimic the sounds of many different kinds of Japanese crickets. She had a much richer knowledge and vocabulary than just the generic English "chirp-chirp" that I would use.

And then we started talking about bird sounds . . .

Back to ajisai - there are a remarkable number of varieties and forms - flower range from white to cream to blue and red, into variegated colors. Shapes, sizes, and arrangement all vary, too.