Writing Fukushima #2 Flower Viewing Mountain: A Dream Fulfilled
Abukuma River's*
sparkling light adds to
the cherry blossom glow
(abukuma no kira mo kuwaete hana akari)
※hana-akari (flower glow): A haiku season word. When the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, the surroundings seem to glow as if from their reflected light.
They say there is a Shangri-la in Fukushima and it is Hanamiyama*, or Flower Viewing Mountain, located on a hill south-east of the city. That day, with the still snowy Azuma Mountains ranged behind, I found it just about to come into full bloom.
Ichiro Abe, the 93 year old owner of Flower Viewing Mountain, was hurrying to pack and send off the early blooming cherry blossoms and witch-hazel flowers, but kindly took the time to show me around.
At the age of 16, Mr. Abe began a business with his father as a grower of flowers and trees for use in ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arrangement) but when he was 20 he was drafted into the army. During World War II he spent four years in the area of the bloody battle site of Chongqing in China, where he lost many comrades. At first, he told me, he agonized over why he had returned safely instead of them. Later he conceived the dream of covering the entire mountain, which his family owned, with cherry blossoms and other flowers. He thought the flowers would encourage those who had suffered traumatic experiences in the war. There was no heavy machinery then, so he spent every day with a single hoe clearing the forest and planting trees. But as he looks back on it, he feels that compared to his days on the battlefield his labors were not at all burdensome. Even working to his full capacity, the most he could clear in a single day was barely 3 tsubo (106 square feet). But he persevered, the vision of myriad cherry blossoms in full flower covering the mountain pulling him on. "A dream is not something to watch," he told me, "it is something you put into action. Otherwise, it's no different from dreaming while you are asleep." As if expressing their agreement, the chirping of small birds flowed down from the sky, and the fragrance of wintersweet flowers wafted towards us on the breeze. With support from his family, little by little, shovel by shovel, Mr. Abe's dream took form, and in 1959 "Flower Viewing Mountain Park" opened to the public.
Visitors to the park greet Mr. Abe one by one as they pass by. Everyone who comes here smiles. Last year the park had to close temporarily in order to care for the trees but except for that the tide of visitors has not let up, even after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
"People today are always demanding, seeking, wanting. But the flowers don't ask for anything." If you spend your whole life asking, you can never be satisfied. Mr. Abe suggests that the flowers might be able to help the loneliness of people today. "I brought the mountain under cultivation because I felt a need to make the suffering of four years at war serve some purpose. It's the same with the earthquake. One must make the suffering serve some purpose. Fukushima is at that point now." I felt a firm determination behind his quiet words. For 80 years he has walked together with the flowers. He told me that in his view of life he was entirely the student of the flowers. Each of his words sounded to me like the voice of the flowers themselves.
This year many will return to their homes having been taught and healed by the blossoms of Flower Viewing Mountain, which embraces birds and people in their suffering and their sorrows as it radiates blossom light over all.
The guardian of the flowers
gazing far off
talks of the flowers
(hanamori no tō-manazashi ni hana kataru)
*Abukuma River
A broad and beautiful river that flows from south to north on the border of Fukushima and Miyagi Prefectures, which were heavily damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake. From ancient times the Abukuma River has been celebrated in Japanese literature, including the classical waka and other forms of poetry. It is one of the major rivers of Fukushima.
* Hanamiyama (Flower Viewing Mountain)
Over 10,000 flowering trees are growing on the approximately five hectares of Flower Viewing Mountain Park and its surroundings. Due to the Tokyo Electric Power Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant disaster, the number of viewers decreased for a time. Last year access was restricted for the first time since the park opened in 1959 but this spring, for the first time in two years, it re-opened with full access, hoping to eliminate rumors.
Note: In September, half a year after this article was published, Mr. Ichiro Abe died in his 93rd year.
Haiku and text: Madoka Mayuzumi
Translation: Janine Beichman
Photo credit: Fukushima-Minpo Co., Ltd.
First publication: 9 April 2013, Fukushima-Minpo Newspaper
Photo caption: Hanamiyama
