Musukari Armeniacum

This is also found near my house. The name is Musukari or Musukari
Armeniacum.

Musukari



Musukari@Botanical Garden

This seems like upside-down grapes.
The other name in Japanese is Ruri-Musukari.

Astragalus Sinicus

This is also found near my house. The name is Genge or Astragalus
Sinicus.

Genge







Genge@Botanical Garden

So far I have been calling this 'Renge' or 'Renge-sou', but the
standard Japanese name seems to be 'Genge'!

Brassica Rapa Var. Amplexicaulis

This is also found near my house. The name is Aburana or Brassica
Rapa Var. Amplexicaulis (so long!).

Aburana







Aburana@Botanical Garden

There seems to be some kinds of Aburana: Natane (Brassica Campestris),
Seiyo-Aburana (Brassica Napus), and Nanohana (I don't know the name in
English). However, I don't know which one is this! (^_^;;;

Clover

This is also found near my house. The name is Clover or Trifolium
Repens.

Clover





Clover@Botanical Garden

We Japanese sometimes call it 'Shirotsume-gusa' or 'Mitsuba'.
'Yotsuba-no Clover' (clover with four leaves) means lucky (at least in
Japan).

The flower season will be over soon...

Magnolia Heptapeta

This is also found near my house. The name is 'Haku-Mokuren' or
Magnolia Heptapeta.











'Haku-Mokuren'@Botanical Garden

This is an original tree of the yesterday's 'Sarasa-Mokuren'.

The flower season of this tree was over this year, and we can see only
green leaves except for a white one near the top. I marked the
position with a magenta line, though it is difficult to see in the
picture...

Magnolia x Soulangiana

This is also found near my house. The name is 'Sarasa-Mokuren' or
Magnolia x Soulangiana.







'Sarasa-Mokuren' @ Green Art Museum

At first I doubted this is a late-blossomed Haku-Mokuren (Magnolia
Heptapeta), but my friends said that this could be a Kobushi (Magnolia
Praecocissima). Then I found that this seems to have the name plate!
And at last we found this is Sarasa-Mokuren (Magnolia x Soulangiana).



Sarasa-Mokuren is created by crossing Mokuren (Magnolia Quinquepeta)
and Haku-Mokuren. This is the first time in my life to hear the
name. The flower is mainly white and thin pink near the calyx. It
seems to bloom the season between Haku-Mokuren and Mokuren!

Low-cost Carrier

Some days ago the first low-cost carrier in Japan was announced to
launch between Japan and Australia. Like this the rate of no-frills
airlines is increasing these days.

And Ryanair said that it is planning to run a transatlantic airline
between Europe and US for as little as 12 dollars!

(REUTERS)

It is very nice to cut extra costs and services, but is it possible to
maintain the security with this price???

Some day a return trip ticket between Tokyo and New York could be sold
out for ten thousands yen (about 880 dollars)??? However, I hesitate
to ride the flight... (^_^;;;

Veronica Persica

Here is also found near my house. The name is 'Ooinu-no-Fuguri' or
Veronica Persica.







'Ooinu-no-Fuguri'

Small blue flowers found here and there in this season. This is
well-known, and I also know well! (^_^)

Vinca minor

One of the plants' series near my house (^_^)
'Hime-Tsuru-Nichinichi-Sou' or Vinca minor.




'Hime-Tsuru-Nichinichi-Sou'

This name was also taught by a net-friends of mine.

I hear there are two kinds in Vinca minor. I don't know how they are
distinguished in the English name. In Japanese one is called
'Hime-Tsuru-...', while the other is simply called 'Tsuru-...'. The
one near my house is 'Hime-Tsuru-...' because it has fur or soft
bristle at the calyxes. The following is the simple 'Tsuru-...'.

'Tsuru-Nichinichi-Sou'

I am sorry that the magnified pictures are out of focus m(_ _)m

Professional Investors

By the Kinyu-Syouhin-Torihiki-Hou (the law of financial dealing?)
which was made last year in Japan, Tokutei-Toushika (professional
Investors) will be authorized.
http://kabushiki-blog.com/article/21326350.html

The proposal of the details were prevailed last Friday from Kinyu-tyou
(Financial Services Agency).
http://www.fsa.go.jp/news/18/syouken/20070413-3.html

In short, the professional investors are those who have financial
assets over 300 million yen (about 2.5 million US dollars)! (It is
defined at 5(2) of the above proposal.)

Hum-mm... I would like to be a proposed investor some day (^_^;;;

Yuki-Yanagi

Yuki-Yanagi or 'Spiraea thunbergii' planted in the garden of my
apartment house.
Yuki-Yanagi(Botanical Garden)

I took the picture the day before yesterday, but I did not know the
name. However, I got it after the help of my friends on line. They
are very kind!

Cherry Trees

Cherry trees near my house. Probably this weekend is the last chance
this year to see the blossoms.




Here is a Someiyoshino... maybe.
While most of Someiyoshino are out of bloom, this one is still near
the peak.



Here is a Yama-zakura... maybe.
Most of this type is almost over.

Tetra Etiquette Straw

I made a great discovery today! (^_^)

This morning I drank a pack of juice called "Jyu-jitsu Yasai (full of
vegetables)" made by Ito-en.

This contains 20 vegetables (carrots, spinach, colored sugar beets,
lettuce, red sweet pepper, kidney beans, celery, broccoli, kales,
pumpkins, green peppers, asparaguses, napa cabbages, Komatsu-na,
Ashita-ba, parsley, watercresses, cabbages, radishes, honewort) and
three fruits (apples, lemons, grapes). Moreover, 2600 micro-g of
beta-carotene is included in the 100g of this juice!!!

This is not so important here... (^_^;;;
Anyway, the straw which sticks to this pack is a great straw... It has
a silencer and the name is "Tetra Etiquette Straw"! Though it only
has a streak along the straw...

I noticed it this morning for the first time in my life! But this
seems to exist for about five years... so many persons have already
known this???

By the way, it is silent when you leave your mouth from the straw, not
when you are drinking.

But why "Tetra"? Since the cut of the straw is like a quadrangle???

Japanese, English, Chinese, Italian, Spanish...

The order of the language which were used for blog articles in 2006,
according to the research by Technorati.
http://technorati.com/weblog/2007/04/328.html

Wow, why Japanese articles are so much??? From the posted times,
Japanese people seem to upload during his/her working time... (^_^;;;

Yellow Sand

When I went to a post office at lunch time, the view over a few
hundred meters was blured. The yellow sand coming from China!

Those who ware contact lenses have some trouble in this season.
At least for me tears come out of my eyes by the yellow sand and/or
the pollen (-_-;;;
If it occurs on driving, I have many many troubles!

Midsummer Day

In Japan a day which have the highest temperature above 30 degrees
Centigrade is called 'Manatsu-bi' or a midsummer day. And today
(April 1) was a midsummer day in Shizuoka prefecture!

Here the highest temperature was not over 30 degrees, but also a very
hot day, indeed...

This is NOT an April Fool's Day!!! (^_^;;;