Flower of the Day - Wisteria

Every single day in Japan has its own flower. Some have up to five flowers associated with a given date. Also, some of the flowers repeat, so a flower could be represented on several days. But by and large you can associate one single flower to one single date in Japan. 

Take for example, April 29th. The flower of April 29th in Japan is wisteria or "fuji" 藤 as it is called in Japanese. Wisteria are very popular in Japan. There are hundreds of places you can see this captivating flower. Perhaps the most famous is Ashikaga Flower Park. Tokaen in Saitama Prefecture, close to Tokyo, is not as well known but it should be! The Wisteria at Tokaen, called the Ushijima Wisteria, are more than 1200 years old. In Tokyo, Kameido Tenjin Shrine wisteria is very popular. 

On top of being assigned a day of its own in Japan, each flower has its own distinct meaning, the "hanakotoba" or language of flowers. This is not distinct to Japan, many countries interpret the meaning or language of flowers. Sometimes the Japanese interpretation and the 'Western' interpretation are the same, but more than not they are different.

In Japan, the hanakotaba of Wisteria is kindness. But it can also mean "a welcome" which is a meaning it shares with wisteria in English. Another saying associated with wisteria in Japan is "drunk in love", which is something you can definitely feel the first time you see a large scale wisteria display in Japan!