Monday, February 17, 2014

Japanese Witch Hazel (Mansaku, 万作)

        *Today, I went to see the witch hazel (link) to the next city's park* 

     My friend taught me about the rare (for me) tree called witch hazel. 
Among the varieties of them; The majority of vernal , Chinese and Japanese witch hazels typically flower sometime from January into March.
The Japanese name for witch hazel is mansaku.  When it is written in Chinese character like this "万作" they literally mean “rich crop” ; in reference to folklore that posited that, when flowers appeared in great number, abundant crop harvests would follow. The name has also been translated as “earliest flowering”. It came from the dialect of northern part in Japan "mannzusakuru まんずさくる, firstly come"

the tree located a bit far from the camera angel,  sorry for my bad pics with zoom




After passing the gate, we needed to go down the path, and deep inside the park. We were lucky that running into the staff and being guided to the right direction.
It would be nice if we could get more closer and enjoy the unusually lovely flower better. They look tiny from where we stand.  As you can see, my husband used bicycle from the parking lot. 
Besides seeing the tree, it was a marvelous day for taking a walk and forest bathing whch I cannot usually have.




I'll link this post to "Our World Tuesday".  
I wished to write this in time before I sleep and to the link.
Thanks for stopping by. Visiting you soon, my friends.
Night Night from Japan;


20 comments:

  1. How gorgeous, my dear friend! What a lovely treat to be able to enjoy such beauty with wonderful people. I felt like I was right there with you all!

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  2. really beautiful blooms! did you notice that on your zoomed photos you achieved the blurred background you like so much? :)

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  3. and you got some marvelous bokeh, too! (the blurred circles of light in the background)

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  4. I've never seen mansaku. They are totally rare for me too!
    What a unique and pretty look they have. I love their cheeful orange color!
    It must have been really nice to enjoy walk and forest bathing. And riding bicycle is fun :-)
    I hope it's not too cold there. Have a wonderful week, Miyako san!

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  5. Hello Miyako, the Witch hazel tree is rare for me too. :) The blooms are lovely. And beautiful photos, Tex is right about the pretty bokeh in the background. Have a happy day and week ahead!

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  6. Beautiful photos and informative post for OWT ~ thanks, Happy Week to you ^_^

    carol and artmusedog
    www.acreativeharbor.com

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  7. A great place, I love witch hazel, it is the first bush with flowers in the late winter.

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  8. that's a beautiful tree with lovely flowers. i love the name too.

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  9. The mansaku blooms are just so beautiful and colorful dear Miyako . Your pictures are great so dont worry :) Love and hugs your way my sweet friend.

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  10. What lovely, spring-like photos!

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  11. they look very different... thanks for providing information too.. beautiful captures

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  12. Hello Orchid,
    What do you mean bad zoom? The photos are great! I wish I were there to see the mansaku myself! One day I will. What an interesting language lesson behind the name! That's so cool!
    It looks like you had a wonderful day out!

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  13. Hi Miyako
    I have never seen a witch hazel tree, it is rare to me too. I love it's wonderful delicate blooms.
    I see the weather is a lot kinder with you than the Japanese girls staying with us, they have deep snow at their houses back in Japan.
    Thank you so much for your thoughtful and helpful comments helping me with their English. I wish you were here!
    Wren x

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  14. Hi,Miyako sama. Nice captures. These witch hazel flowers in full bloom. Your photos are very beautiful. There are 2 kind of witch hazels in our country. One is witch hazel another is Chinese witch hazel. Even witch hazel are in full bloom, there are witch hazels which last leaves are remaining on branches. These witch hazels are called Chinese witch hazels ,i.e シナマンサク。
    Thanks for sharing.

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  15. Dearest Miyako,
    Lucky you for getting pointed into the right direction for finding this tall and lanky witch hazel.
    Lovely photos and this is the tallest witch hazel I've ever seen!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  16. Those are beautiful trees Miyako. I have heard of witch hazel as a sort of salve or medicine, but I never even thought about the fact that it came from a tree.

    I'm glad you got a nature walk in the park. I love to do that (as you know).

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  17. Must have been amazing. I use which hazel for healing.

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  18. Thanks for the photos. I have used witch hazel cream but I don't recall ever seeing the tree before.

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  19. what a lovely way to spend the day!!
    i have never heard of this tree! i know about witch hazel,but not the tree!! see,i learn something new every day( and,in todays case,2 things..because i learned of those beautiful caves in your later post,which i read first!! lol!!!)
    i really do love the photo's you share!!!

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