Will Miss #378 - sweet osmanthus

Osmanthus fragrans is a type of flowering tree which is pretty common in Tokyo. There is one growing behind my apartment and in front of it. Most Tokyoites recognize it's pleasantly sweet smell and view it as a part of the seasonal change experience. For me, I will not only associate the scent with life in Japan, as the tree is not common in the United States, but also the change from oppressive summer to mild and pleasant autumn. The trees flower when the weather turns cool (usually after the equinox).

I'll miss the scent of osmanthus in the air and the association with the summer ending.

Will Miss #370 - monster goya vines

At this stage of the year, the vines are about 4 stories high, and they're not finished yet.

Goya is a vegetable that is often translated to mean "bitter gourd". It looks like a big cucumber with a bad skin disease and is famous for being a part of Okinawan cuisine. Some Japanese folks swear by it and others detest it. It's one of those polarizing things, but mainly, I notice it in the summer when the local government office grows monster goya vines up the side of its building. With post-quake energy conservation (setsuden), it was recommended that many people follow their lead because the vines have the potential to cool buildings by a few degrees. In my area, this massive vine growing project has been going on for years and is part of the rhythm of life in Japan for me.

Seeing the progression of these vines from seedlings in tubs to multi-story wonders to browning debris every year is a reminder of the cycle, resiliency, and power of nature, and how the Japanese can be so particular in how they harness it, and I'll miss it.

Will Miss #342 - Japanese gardens and parks

One of my friends recently took a tour through a Japanese garden in San Francisco. It had all of the stuff you expect to see in such a place, particularly if it is designed with tourism in mind. It's also not exactly the type of thing you tend to see in Japan since all of the elements of that garden don't tend to appear in one place here. For example, you don't tend to see cultivated trees, meticulously groomed flower beds,  and sparse rock gardens together, but rather as individual entities. Japanese gardens and parks tend to have characters all of their own, and many of them look like little snapshots from a book of fairy tales. Walking around Tokyo, I'll sometimes chance upon such places amongst the urban and suburban sprawl (and the greatly more common "dirt parks").

I'll miss the sense of whimsy, care, and beauty that such gardens give me.

Won't Miss #221 - "dirt" parks

Tokyo is a big city comprised of 23 main wards. Each ward is like a city itself. In fact, many students will say, "I live in (name of ward) city." Within each ward are other large neighborhoods. Most neighborhoods have one or two parks, sometimes more, within their boundaries. The vast majority of such parks are nothing more than stretches of dirt surrounded by trees and cultivated bins of flowers or plots of bushes. There are some "real" parks with green grass in Tokyo, but they're relatively few and far between and far afield. You have to travel to reach them and pay to enter some of them. Locally, we're essentially greeted with hard-packed dirt. I'm not sure why most of the parks are plots of dirt, but I'm guessing it has to do with either the fact that grass takes more effort to maintain or people who use those parks abuse the grass and the caretakers give up on keeping the grass alive.

Whatever the reason, I won't miss my local parks being closer to parking lots than to nature.

Will Miss #216 - cherry blossoms (the good)

The cherry blossoms in Japan are undeniably beautiful, and in the right spots, you can see the sort of thing that you dream of as a part of Japanese culture and life here. The blossoms fall gently from the trees like snow that has been tinted pink.

Walking through a nice park during the cherry blossom season can be a very peaceful and sublime experience, and I will miss it.

Won't Miss #194 - lack of grass

Some of the things I write about in this blog may be similar all over Japan, and some are highly localized. This one is definitely related to not only living in Tokyo, but my particular area. I live in a residential area, but it's almost all concrete. My guess is this is because it's so close to Shinjuku, a major business, government, and shopping center. Our location is great because it makes commuting easier and it's not far from a major transportation hub. However, all of the land in the areas not too far from Tokyo is pretty valuable, and people aren't going to waste it with plots of grass. My exposure to grass is so limited that I was walking to a store about a year ago and smelled something which was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite place it at first. I realized that it was fresh-cut grass, and I hadn't smelled it for years.

I grew up in a place that was surrounded by grass and trees, and I miss this close regular contact with nature, so I won't miss the absence of grass around me.

Will Miss #181- Japanese garden ornamentation

I read a few lifestyle blogs that are devoted to home and garden styling, and I often encounter the notions of foreign people who have never been to Japan and what they think it's going to be like here. Most of them think it's all temple gates and immaculate gardens, not to mention minimalist living. The truth is that most people in cities use as much of their property as possible to build the biggest house, create parking spaces, and laundry hanging areas. In the city, gardens are somewhat uncommon. Well-tended and stylishly decorated gardens in particular are rare. It's far more usual to see a jungle of potted plants than to see a well-appointed plot of foliage. I also see more garden gnomes and Disney characters in little plots of nature than traditional Japanese lawn ornamentation.

When I chance upon a lovely little bit of nature which is tastefully decorated with Japanese lawn ornaments, it gives me a sense of that zen peacefulness many people believe abounds, and I'll miss that.

Will Miss #176 - ginkgo trees

Trees are not something that are necessarily abundant in Tokyo, but I live in a ward which has a tree as its icon and that has lined the main street near my home with ginkgo trees. In the autumn, they shed uniformly golden leaves that beautifully blanket the sidewalks at night, and that vanish the next morning when shopkeepers scramble to clear them away. In summer and spring, they add much needed green to the largely gray and boxy visuals of my neighborhood.

I will always associate ginkgo trees with living in Japan and will miss them.

Won't Miss #166 - bound and decapitated trees

One of the things which happens as a result of people living practically on top of each other in Tokyo is that the nature on their respective properties has to be kept in line. I know that trees are cut down, pruned, and managed everywhere in the world, but the level at which they are brutalized into submission in Tokyo sometimes makes me cringe as it so often exceeds what I grew up with in terms of foliage maintenance.


I understand why it is done, but it just feels wrong when I see someone removing half a tree or binding it nearly up to it's crown in order to keep it from growing branches that may obscure the view of a building or spread onto communal or a neighbor's property.

I won't miss seeing these seriously bullied bits of nature, particularly in a culture which boasts frequently about how much it values and respects nature.