Happy May Day to all our readers! May 1st is actually an ancient, pre-Christian European celebration, marking the end of spring and the arrival of summer. I still cherish boyhood memories of people dancing around maypoles at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. In the Asian koyomi almanac as well, the Rikka or official start of summer will arrive this coming Saturday.
This is a great time of year for cycling around the Japanese satoyama countryside. The farmers are hard at work transplanting the rice seedlings into the paddies. The roadsides and dikes are splashed with blooming wildflowers; and busy birds bustle about collecting twigs for their new nests.
But already the early afternoon sun climbs high and hot, forcing satoyama cyclists to look for a secluded well-shaded wood to rest for an hour or so.
Fortunately, there are still a few oak woodlands where the farmers, sometimes with the help of volunteer workers, continue their traditional management practices. Trees are coppiced at regular intervals, and the undergrowth is cut back in winter. The result is an open, airy wood. In early summer, sun filtering through the thin new tree leaves bathes the entire wood in a soft green light, creating a natural cathedral-like atmosphere that soothes the spirit.
One day last week I was resting in just such a wood. I was sitting on a soft bed of forest litter, with my back resting against the trunk of a young but sturdy oak. The earthy aroma rising from the ground and the soft light were truly enchanting. Then all of a sudden I began to catch fleeting, ephemeral glimpses of a beautiful woman dancing gracefully around the tree trunks.
As an Irish/Scottish Celt I am inherently susceptible to all sorts of natural glamour and mystic visions of nymphs and fairies. But as I slowly drifted back into 2018 earth-dog year reality I chuckled to realize just who the beautiful dancing lady was.
The oak I rested against was surrounded by dense clusters of low growing plants, each with four leaves spread out horizon-tally to make the most of the light. From the center of the leaves arose short stems bedecked with tiny white flowers.
These plants were chloranthus, typical of various low-growing perennial wildflowers that take advantage of the unique softly-shaded habitat created by the traditional woodland management practices. These plants cannot withstand harsh sunlight, but also fail to flourish in dark, deep shade. Like Goldilocks with her soup and chairs, they require just the right amount of soft light.
Japan's two common woodland cloranthus are hitori shizuka (C. japonicus), with only one flower stalk; and futari shizuka (C. serratus), usually with several stalks. Hitori means 'one person' and futari 'two people'; but the shizuka in the names refers to Shizuka Gozen, a famous 12th century court dancer and lover of Japan's greatest folk hero Yoshitsune Minamoto.
Yoshitsune was a warrior belonging to the powerful Genji Clan. He led his clan to victory over the rival Heike, but was later banished and pursued by his jealous brother. Yoshitsune fled to the north, and Shizuka is said to have wandered through wood and glen in a desperate but unsuccessful search for her lover. Legends abound about Shizuka, and even today her ghost is said to still dance through Japanese woodlands.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
