Japan’s Winter Flora

The thing about getting a DSLR camera is that you either become obsessed with a) taking pictures of abstract corners or b) snapping close-ups of flowers. I am definitely in the latter category – something I appreciated much better once my fingers had defrosted enough to adjust the focus on the lens.

Even in the middle of Tokyo, it was easy to find small nooks and crannies filled with flowers, and I think it might even have been more colourful than the city in high summer: which was varying shades of verdant green and lemonade yellow. For me, I survive better in the cold than the heat, so many of our wanders through the backstreets and quieter neighbourhoods were this time spent enjoying the personal touches dotted around, rather than a countdown until the next acceptable time to stop by a vending machine.

門前の小僧習わぬ経を読む : our environment is what makes us. I think as a proverb that one works really well, especially when you consider the literal translation: the young monk before the temple gate can recite the sutras untaught. We do learn from what is around us, and having beautiful flowers hidden in the metropolis is a testament to our ongoing need for beauty in the 21st Century.

Or more likely, the metropolitan government has a good policy for greenspace.

Above all, I just love that amidst all the hustle and bustle of one of the most densely populated areas on earth, these hardy (it was below freezing) blooms were able to not just survive, but thrive. Makes you feel guilty about not leaving the house for the entire weekend because it’s a bit chilly.

Taken on a Canon 2000D through Close-Up mode with no post-production editing. It’s a nifty piece of kit.