Bears and nuts

Today was the second day of the cock in November, so Tori no Ichi(酉の市:the Cock Fair) was held at the Otori Shrines.

Many shrines held Ebisu-kou on November 19th and 20th.

 

 

acorn head and layered kimono made of kaki leaves


Many Asiatic black bears(月輪熊, Tsukinowa-guma) have been found in and around human settlements in Japan this autumn.  It is thought to be due to poor acorn crop, bear's lacking a feeling of fear of humans, deserted border areas between mountain foothills and arable land. In the areas, bears got a taste for unharvested chestnuts or kaki. Many bears are quite fearless about humans due to a decrease in hunters. Tsukinowa-guma literally means "crescent bear."

There was a good crop of mushrooms this year. Poisonous mushrooms became a problem.

Karasu-uri（烏瓜、Trichosanthes cucumeroides）

Karasu-uri literally means crow's melon.

Its unripe fruits look like a watermelon.

Karasu-uri flowers come out in the twilight around the end of July because they are pollinated by moths.

Japanese Beautyberry (紫式部, Murasaki-shikibu)

Murasaki-shikibu is the author of "The Tale of Genji", and Murasaki also means purple. So this plant was named after its color.

Haze-no-ki(櫨の木、黄櫨の木：Rhus succedanea）

The colored leaves of this plant is beautiful, but I got poison ivy from this plant belonging to a sumac family.

bamboo shoot

green bamboos and a bamboo shoot,
designed by Kazuko Togami

Kazuko Togami, Kisetsu-wo-Tanoshimu-Washi-no-Etegami 220（Tokyo：Nihon Vogue-sha,1999, p.39
戸上和子著,「季節を楽しむ和紙の絵手紙220」(東京:日本ヴォーグ社,1999年),P.39
Kazuko Togami, Washi-de-Tsukuru-Etegami 220（Tokyo：Boutique-sha.co.,1999), p.7
戸上和子著,「和紙で作る絵てがみ」(東京:株式会社ブティック社,1999年),P.7

Bamboo shoots are seasonal food and are becoming out of season. It is difficult to find a bamboo shoot in a bamboo grove. Experts can find out a bamboo shoot when its tip slightly pokes up through the ground. Overgrown shoots are hard to eat.
Freshly dug bamboo shoots are good without acrid taste. we parboil a bamboo shoot in its skin, strip and cook it.
Bamboo shoots in Kyoto are made painstakingly.

Meanwhile, many withered leaveas of bamboo are on the ground now. It's called "autumn of bamboo(竹の秋)" in Japan.

Green bamboo logs are often used as tableware at the Japanese restaurants. Freshly-cut bamboo logs are vivid, but they're nonreusable as containers. By being dried for several years after oil content is removed, bamboo logs can be used as material for bamboo ware or utensils. Bamboo is withy, light and accessible in Japan.


bamboo utensils for the tea ceremony:
chasen(茶筅:bamboo whisk) and its case
chashaku(茶杓:bamboo teaspoon(short type))





We can get bamboo leaves during young bamboo's development. They are used to wrap food such as rice balls. Because they control the level of humidity by absorbing and releasing moisture.

Bamboos spread widely underground through their rhizomes. neglected bamboos invade adjacent areas. So eating their shoots and cutting to use have restrained bamboos from spreading widely. Fewer people utilize bamboos for various uses, so neglected bamboo groves has become a serious problem.

It was hot like summer the day before, but it's been very cold like midwinter yesterday and today. We've got to worry about what to wear every morning. Vegetables, expecially leaf ones have been very expensive.