singlerockworld A Japan travel blog: July 2012

This is a post that I meant to post long time ago. Sorry that it didn't match the timing of the post. The photos are a mix of old and recently taken.

I love waking up early to go for my walks, especially in the summer. So one fine (hot!) day, I woke and went to the Yasukuni Jinja for a potted morning glories exhibition or as they called it, Asagao-ten (朝顔展). As the morning glories wilted under the hot sun, the exhibition usually starts early at 6am which is great for me as I can go and then come back in time for my work.

The morning glory plant is a popular household plant since the olden times in Japan for two reasons. The plant provides shade that cools the hot summer air and the flower provides beautiful blooms that pleases the eye. If the cherry blossom symbolizes spring, then "asagao" or the morning glory is the flower that symbolizes summer.

And every summer in Japan, we are treated to several morning glory fairs around Tokyo. While these fairs are intended as a place for you to buy the plants, the exhibitions are to make the cultivation of the morning glory plant and its knowledge more widely known among the general public

This is my first time visiting a potted plant exhibition in Japan and it is a 'WOW' exhibition for me. I wasn't prepared for the surprise in discovering so many varieties of bloom size, shape and colour for such a simple plant. I have learned that the cultivation of the Japanese morning glory plant is a serious business, but it is also considered a unique one in the history of horticulture.

Introduced from China for more than a thousand years ago, the flower, asagao, which can be literally translated as the 'morning face' in the Japanese language, has enjoyed a long cherished presence in Japan ever since its introduction. The morning glory plant was used as a medicinal plant during the Nara period. Later on, during the Edo period, it has been used as an ornamental plant.

The cultivation of the morning glory started in the late Edo period. Since then, the morning glory plant has experienced a number of periodical booms, especially during the Bunka and Bunsei eras (1804-1830), the Kaei and Ansei eras (1848-1860) and well into the Meiji and Taisho eras (1868-1926). After the Meiji-Taisho period, the popularity of the mutation techniques dwindles and gave way to the large-blossomed morning glories which you can view them at this exhibition.

This is the 39th time the Yasukuni Shrine has held their giant morning glory exhibition, Hono Asagao-ten, and exhibited these uniquely cultivated large-blossomed morning glory plants. You can see the morning glories in their full bloom under the shade exhibition stand.

Apart from learning about the morning glory plant, there is a class where you can also try your hands in making your own pressed morning glory print. Actually, it is a class meant for children, but if they are not too busy, you can try it. I didn't after learning that I have to wait for an hour or two to dry the pressed morning glory print. Need to get back to work before that.