Whenever spring comes around, I sing to myself a song "spring" for primary school music classes which literally means;


What a sort of song do you sing upon hearing the approach of spring?

Early in March, the cold of winter has eased up, and the temperature gradually goes up, and rainfall rapidly increases. In the southern part of Japan such as Kyushu, rapes blossoms and peaches bloom. White butterflies fly around the cabbages, and then sparrows come in late March.

Upon opening a Japanese literary calendar by me, a wide variety of spring flowers in March come up, including a peach, cherry blossom, Thunberg's meadowsweet, Japanese rose, iris japonica, wisteria, azalea, satsuki azalea, fritillaria, Orychophragmus violanceus, Chinese milk vetch, Kaffir lily, English daisy, jonquil, yellow narcissus, violet pansy, shoot of field-horse tail, dogtooth violet, Chloranthus japonicus, Japanese five finger, Philadelphia fleabane, camellia, rose cherry , an early-flowering cherry, Magnolia kobus, yulan, magnolia, daphne, weeping golden bell, Magnolia quinquepeta, Oriental paper-bush, spike winter-hazel, Chinese woldberry, early spiketail, and Cymbidium goeringii.

Some of spring flowers are indigenous to foreign countries including China, South Africa, Europe, or North America. However, they have mated with local species, becoming very Japanized for centuries. So many people simply assume that they are native to Japan, and often put them into Haiku as traditional season words of spring to express their feelings towards such flowers.
Can you find some of them in your country?

In this issue, to enjoy the spring of Japan with a step ahead, I would like to show you Sankeien Japanese garden, accessible only within 50 minutes from JR Tokyo Central Station to Negishi Station, the nearest one, on JR Keihin-Tohoku Line - Negishi Line, in Yokohama City. As mentioned in Cafe Negishi August, 2008, Yokohama celebrates the 150 th anniversary of the opening of Yokohama Port for 6 months from April 28 to September 27 this year


Sankei en Garden was originally laid out by Hara Tomitaro (1868-1939), one of the most successful silk traders in Yokohama during the civilization and enlightenment of Meiji period (1868-1912). He has also been known as an art-lover and a patron to many young promising artists and literary men, and played a key role for the development of Japanese art world in the early 20 th century.

The name of the garden came from his artistic name "sankei" or three valleys. The garden covers the area of over 17.5 ha of undulating land with three valleys, featuring many historical buildings which were moved from Kyoto and other areas, and arranged exquisitely in harmony with the environment. Ten of them are registered as important cultural properties.

Therefore, you can enjoy not only a wide variety of seasonal flowers of spring, but also various kinds of Japanese traditional buildings in the garden here.

The garden consists of two parts; the inner garden and outer garden.