DOI Heft:
No. 133 (April, 1904)
DOI Artikel:Holme, C. Geoffrey: Japanese flower painting
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19881#0208
Japanese Flower Painting
JAPANESE FLOWER PAINTING.
BY THE EDITOR.
One of the features of Japan that strikes
all visitors with admiration is the variety and
profusion of flowers. From January to December
there is a succession of blossom that exceeds in
beauty and quantity anything to be found in
any other country of the world. In the spring-
time, some portions of the land are pink with
flowering cherry and the hills are flushed with the
bloom of the wild azalea. The wistaria twines
among the bushes, or is carefully trained upon
overhead trellises, and its long sprays of violet-
coloured flowers contrast harmoniously with the
soft green foliage. Iris in every imaginable tint
is seen on the banks of streams, or cultivated in
fields in profusion; the water lily, the beautiful
Neiumbo specwsum, appears in great masses upon
the ponds and moats. The peony and lily are
nowhere so fine and so beautiful as in Japan, and
the chrysanthemum flourishes there in its greatest
" pawlonia and chrysanthemum"
XXXI. No. 133.—April, 1904.
perfection. Even when the snow covers the
ground, the pink and red camellias enliven the
dreary landscape with spots of brilliant colour.
The reason of this great wealth of floral display
is not, however, entirely due to the profusion of
Nature, untended and uncared for. On the
contrary, it is in great measure the result of culti-
vation. The avenues of flowering cherry trees
at Mukojima, in Tokyo, in the Noge Street,
Yokohama, the scattered groups in Uyeno Park
and Yoshino are the outcome of careful planting
and continual attention.
The famous iris garden at Horakiri, the lotus
flowers in the castle moat in Tokyo, the wistaria
at the Kameido temple are the products of human
industry ; while the beautiful gardens which exist
in various parts of the country, such as the Fukiagi
or Hotta, are emblems of the Japanese love and
knowledge of flowers and plants.
I am inclined to believe that the Japanese are the
finest garden-craftsmen in the world ; and this is
not so remarkable a statement as it may at first
by hoitsu
191
JAPANESE FLOWER PAINTING.
BY THE EDITOR.
One of the features of Japan that strikes
all visitors with admiration is the variety and
profusion of flowers. From January to December
there is a succession of blossom that exceeds in
beauty and quantity anything to be found in
any other country of the world. In the spring-
time, some portions of the land are pink with
flowering cherry and the hills are flushed with the
bloom of the wild azalea. The wistaria twines
among the bushes, or is carefully trained upon
overhead trellises, and its long sprays of violet-
coloured flowers contrast harmoniously with the
soft green foliage. Iris in every imaginable tint
is seen on the banks of streams, or cultivated in
fields in profusion; the water lily, the beautiful
Neiumbo specwsum, appears in great masses upon
the ponds and moats. The peony and lily are
nowhere so fine and so beautiful as in Japan, and
the chrysanthemum flourishes there in its greatest
" pawlonia and chrysanthemum"
XXXI. No. 133.—April, 1904.
perfection. Even when the snow covers the
ground, the pink and red camellias enliven the
dreary landscape with spots of brilliant colour.
The reason of this great wealth of floral display
is not, however, entirely due to the profusion of
Nature, untended and uncared for. On the
contrary, it is in great measure the result of culti-
vation. The avenues of flowering cherry trees
at Mukojima, in Tokyo, in the Noge Street,
Yokohama, the scattered groups in Uyeno Park
and Yoshino are the outcome of careful planting
and continual attention.
The famous iris garden at Horakiri, the lotus
flowers in the castle moat in Tokyo, the wistaria
at the Kameido temple are the products of human
industry ; while the beautiful gardens which exist
in various parts of the country, such as the Fukiagi
or Hotta, are emblems of the Japanese love and
knowledge of flowers and plants.
I am inclined to believe that the Japanese are the
finest garden-craftsmen in the world ; and this is
not so remarkable a statement as it may at first
by hoitsu
191