August 2013 Archives

Dear customers and friends,

Hello from Akiko Yamada of Shukado.
I hope that this newsletter finds you well.

In Japan summer vacation have started at elementary schools .
One of homeworks for first grade students is planting pots of morning glories and counting how many morning glories have opened up during the summer vacation!
Today I will write about summer flower, morning glories.
I went to the exhibition of morning glories the other day. 
It is being held at the Hibiya park near Shukado.
I was surprised at its beauty and its big petals!
More than 20centimeters diameter of petals!!
Please check the photos in my staff blog.
http://www.aojc.co.jp/staff_blog/2013/07/post-300.html

As this exhibition, a lot of morning glory exhibitions or markets are being held in summer.
The most famous morning glory market is Morning glory market in Iriya was held in July. 
One hundred gardeners opened up street stalls and the market gathered more than four hundred thousand people.
http://www.kimcom.jp/asagao/poster.php

Iriya(Koto ward Tokyo) have been known as the place where many gardeners specialized in morning glories lived in.
Morning glories are inexpensive and ease to grow. 
Furthermore its transience that morning glories petals wither every morning fits Japanese taste.
So morning glories were very popular among common people in Edo period.
People bought pots of morning glories from peddlers.
And some samurai warriors grew morning glories as part time job. 
With improvement in morning glories varieties, hybrid species like double-flowered morning glories were in boom.
I will introduce you to some Ukiyo-e and paintings depicted morning glories.

http://www.japanese-finearts.com/item/list2/A1-87-366/Yoshitoshi/32-Aspects-of-Women--Looking-Awake
http://www.japanese-finearts.com/item/list2/A1-87-303/Chikanobu/Morning-glory
http://www.japanese-finearts.com/item/list2/A2-87-294/Yamaguchi-Hoshun/Morning-Glories
http://www.japanese-finearts.com/item/list2/A2-87-454/Nakasumi-Doun/Morning-glory-and-Dragonfly
http://www.japanese-finearts.com/item/list2/A2-88-132/Kobayashi-Kahaku/Morning-Glory


Still now, morning glories are one of the most popular flower in Japan.
If you are interested in Pinting and Ukiyo-e depicting morning glories, I recommend those museums.
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/48982?rpp=20&pg=1&ft=suzuki+kiitsu&pos=1
(Metropolitan Museum)
http://www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp/english/special/201307/index.html (English version)
http://www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp/exhibition/special/2013/07/index.html (Japanese version)
(Edo-Tokyo Museum)

We hope that you'll have a nice summer holiday!!

Sincerely yours,
Akiko Yamada