IV. WINTER
“Flowers blossom and then fall. The flower-like snow
Falls first and blossoms later.”—Baron Takasaki
(Translated by Arthur Lloyd)
The year is not dead and shrouded with the coming of the Winter and the snow. Late into November the Maple’s glory lasts, like a fiery sunset, burning itself slowly out. Bass and Birch trees, turned warm, sunny yellow, eke out the meagre noon sunlight, too, with their ochre and saffron leaves. Oaks, heavily clad in russet, velvety brown, or sienna garments, keep their warmth of colouring past December, while the Cryptomeria trees change to such a rich bronze that the other dark which evergreens give the landscape is nullified. The ‘Iron Creeper’ (Kadsura japonica), which has stems as thick and nearly as strong as steel-wire hawsers, clings to its brownish red foliage as long as possible. And there is plenty of green left—Laurels, of all sorts, glossy and well-groomed looking; Fir trees and Junipers, Mosses and Ivy, and the constant Bamboo. There is real colour, too, in the winter berries: Nandina domestica, known (along with several other plants) as the ‘Holly of the Orient,’ has brilliant red fruit, like the true home sort, but with leaves not prickly and intractable, though glossy and decorative. Another variety has orange balls, and is handsome, though not
