One function that Google Maps serves for me is to document my experiences, while walking around the neighborhood where I have lived for 25 years. I’m an American who immigrated to Tokyo, Japan, forty-two years ago after I married va fellow student at WKU,vwho is a Japanese woman.Therefore, I’m both an outsider and a very keen observer of Japanese life, its people and the places where they live, work, and play. One of my favorite places in Tokyo is the huge metropolitan cemetery near my home, known as Tama-bochi or Tams Cemetery. As it is very old and huge in land area, there are so many amazing gravesites, and culturally significant customs and functions that center around burying and honoring those who have died. Recently, I’ve been fascinated by the natural wonders in close proximity to the grave of one of Japanese most beloved ‘manga’ ( animated cartoon and comic author), Machiko Hasegawa.
The following article is mainly what I have written for my Google Maps review for
Machiko Hasegawa Grave…
Unnamed Road, 4 Chome Tamacho, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-0002
However,bi also document the botanical life of a special set of trees that have significance for me, as these crepe myrtle also grew at my family’s home in Bowling Green, Ky.
https://goo.gl/maps/ZaGrmHVVQQnzY3S37
Machiko Hasegawa was one of the first female Japanese manga artists, who lived from January 19, 1920 to May 27, 1992. Her famous comic strip, Sazae-san, ran in newspaper comics from 1946 until 1974. It become a regular TV cartoon series that still runs today.
Not far from Machiko Hasegawa’s grave on the corner of the open roundabout stand two crepe myrtle trees that bloom in July every year. The light pink and dark pink blooms last until mid-October. There are other shades of pink, violet, white and almost red crepe myrtle trees throughout the cemetery, and all over Tokyo.
See scientific details about the Crepe Myrtle (which is also called Crape Myrtle or Lagerstroemia indica and the Japanese crepe myrtle is known as サルスベリ or Lagerstroemia faurei.
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/lagerstroemia-indica/
In October & November, the サルスベリ ‘sarusuberi’ trees, which means ‘monkey slip’ trees, change color and then lose their leaves, evidently at different times as you can see. Sarusuberi can also be the Japanese pronunciation of the English word, Salisbury, so it may be possible that these trees had a foreign origin, as they are very common in my home state of Kentucky. As it turns out, the crepe myrtle actually came to Japan from India, where it originated. How or why I do not know … yet.
However, it is also true that the tree’s bark easily peels away, making them difficult to climb, hence the Monkey Slip name. The bark that easily slips away would make the trees difficult to climb on for humans, and for even the most agile of creatures, such as the Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata). Therefore, the tree and its curious naming in Japanese and English are fascinating bits of cross-cultural facts that may continue to remain a mystery until some smart reader informs me of the ‘real’ story of the crepe myrtle ( a name equally shrouded in mysterious origins, or maybe not). For now, I’m back on my Internet research trail.
It’s the 25th of November here and we are having an exceptionally mild Autumn; the two crepe myrtle trees are completely defoliated, and most of the slippery bark has been shed. See the latest photos at the link to the Google Maps review: https://goo.gl/maps/ZaGrmHVVQQnzY3S37