Signs of the spring Ⅰ

　　　　The Ume blossoms (Japanese apricot) have begun to bloom from the middle of February.

　　　　The Ume blossoms flower earliest in the Far East.
　　　Thereafter, cherry blossoms, peach blossoms will bloom in sequence.

　　　　The wind is still cold.

"Ume" Japanese calligraphy

"梅" (bai, or ume). It is translated as plum, prune.
This character is written by Kanzi, Regular script.

Etymology :　Phono-semantic compound
semantic 木 (tree, wood)　　+　　phonetic 毎 (every)

The tree to tell about spring of every year.
The Ume blossoms may be the roles.

The Trace of Old Dream Ⅰ

This is the Karatsu-jo Castle, Karatsu, Saga Prefecture.
It was made by Hirotaka Terasawa (1563 - 1633) in 1602.
He is the first feudal lord of Karatsu feudal clan (1593 - 1817).



Corners of stone wall draw an arc neatly.
The Japanese castle comes to look like it all.

The building beauty of the castle was a pride of feudal lord (daimyos).



It is constructed a castle on the hill which faced the sea.
Feudal clan was independent existence in the same way as a country.

It is interesting that current dialect is different every former feudal clan.


Only a castle hands down the remains of the old prosperity and fights.

"Country" Japanese calligraphy

"國" (koku, or kuni). It is translated as nation, country.
This character is written by Kanzi, Regular script.

Etymology :　Phono-semantic compound
semantic 囗 (erect, proud)　　+　　phonetic 或 (or, either, else)

The country consists of various things.
Land, Nature, Animals, Plants, Human being, and pride, etc....

The Serenity of Estuary

A ship and streamflow are given from the river to the sea slowly.
The right side is a river. The left is the sea.


Karatsu Gulf.
There are few waves, it is the calm of the sea.


Matsuura River.
There is not a ship letting a river be waves elsewhere.

A pacific day.
Here is Karatsu, Saga Prefecture.