＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
１．Seedling-grown Sansho (Japanese pepper)
It was several years ago that I found young leaves of sansho (Japanese pepper) under a mukuge tree in our yard. Since no one remembers planting it, it was a seedling grown from a seed carried by a bird.
This pepper has grown rapidly over the years and is now about half the height of the mukuge tree, and it seems to be competing for power.
2．Struggle for Power among Plants
Unlike animals, plants cannot move, so they try to expand their power by putting down roots, growing vines and underground stems, and sending out seeds.
Around the mukuge, there are also the Hitoe yamabuki, the Hirado azalea, and the shaga, which fight each other for power.
Creeping plants, such as periwinkle, are also very strong. In economics, there is a term “creeping inflation.
Periwinkles are creeping and expanding their sphere of influence.
Once a year when I have the planters prune the trees, I make a ruling and determine the respective areas of power.
However, this power struggle is repeated year after year without tiring.
It is like a territorial dispute between nations.
３．The great enemy of sansho is the swallowtail butterfly larva
When you tear young leaves of sansho and rub them by hand, you can smell its good aroma. It is also a good garnish for eel bowls and other dishes.
The great enemy of Sansho is the swallowtail butterfly larva. If you do not keep an eye on it for a few days, the leaves will be completely shredded before you know it!
One should be careful when trying to catch these larvae by hand, as it is common to prick one’s finger with a prickly sansho spike.
In this way, I sometimes feel as if I am back in my boyhood when I am relative to flowers and insects. If I had grandchildren, I would teach them many things.
But if my grandchildren are not interested in insects, flowers, and trees, then it would be a very unfulfilling experience…