Posted Sunday, February 09, 2003 by Robert Brady

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ZAZENSOU

Today went up along the western shore of the Lake toward Makino (that beautiful old village with the magnificent ancient cherry tree-lined coastal road I'll post pictures of this April when the trees blossom) but turned off before reaching there and went up into the low hills of Imazu. Our purpose was to savor the very, very first savor of spring, to be found around here at a place that was discovered by some junior high school science students only about 20 years ago, and has since been designated a Japanese natural treasure, a small (perhaps two acres) bog said to be one of the finest places around for viewing such a large assemblage of Zazensou or Darumasou (Zen meditation plant, or Daruma plant, for its resemblance to a monk in meditation beneath a hood) (Simplocarpus renifolius), known somewhat less spiritually in English as Skunk Cabbage.

This special variety of the plant (taxonomic suffix Schott ex Miguel) apparently sets it apart, it being somewhat rare. Still, I wasn't expecting too many Skunk--Zazensou fans to show up, so you can imagine my surprise when it looked like Elvis had been spotted in the vicinity. I can't imagine Americans mobbing out into the countryside to catch a glimpse of Zazen--Skunk Cabbage, but out in this special place it was like the Ginza on a bargain Sunday: you could hardly see the Skunk--Zazensou for the photographers on the narrow boardwalk through the bog, which was indeed richly populated with Skunk--Darumasou, glimpsable in flashes of red and yellow over the shoulders and heads of the jostling lens wielders on the boardwalk. Few are as unyielding of space as are nature photographers.

As I stood there on the ridge I was very impressed with how many people can fit on a narrow boardwalk through a swamp, and was expecting someone to tumble in any minute before I ventured out myself and couldn't get any decent pictures, so you can go here to get a look. There were elderly folks there, young folks, kids, busfuls of folks pulling in from as far away as Nagoya, all for a day out viewing Skunk--Zazensou, the tip of the tongue of spring, which is what it was really all about. There's nothing quite like that promise, at any age.