Bittersweet October －autumn in the Shinjyuku Gyoen Gardens

With each rainfall, autumn deepens. The crisp air is now redolent with the sweet scent of fragrant olive blossoms. Two types of fragrant olive can often be seen in my neighborhood; one blooms with gold-colored blossoms called Kin-mokusei (gold fragrant olives) and the other blooms with cream-colored blossoms called Gin-mokusei (Silver fragrant olives). In the Shinjyuku Gyoen Gardens I found the two types were in full bloom. They were so fragrant!

Seven months have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred. On the day of the quake, many of my blogger friends around the globe kindly asked after my health. I have never forgotten their kind words and I never will. Some of you may wonder what has become of the affected areas since then while reading my easygoing posts about topics such as trips and flower-viewing. I'd like to briefly report to you about the present situation.

fragrant olive blossoms

Thanks to the serious efforts made by the persons involved, water temperatures in the pressure vessels of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are at present all below 100 degrees Celsius, which means that the reactors are nearing a stable condition called "cold shutdown". The government says that the cold shutdown will be achieved by the end of this year, which is earlier than originally scheduled. We are really hoping for this achievement though it is merely the first step toward the overall settlement. IAEA News on the cold shutdown(video).

Huge-scale decontamination operations will soon start by scraping off the surface soil and removing fallen leaves in Fukushima and the surrounding areas. Many sites of schools, public facilities and parks there have already been decontaminated by scraping off the topsoil but the wider-range of clean-up activities, including the clean-up of forests, is considered to be essential. ( news on Sunflowers for nuclear decontamination)

Though the operations would be very tough and challenging and cost a huge amount of money, we think that they should be done as soon as possible in order to restore Fukushima prefecture to its original state.  Hopefully we can once again make it a place where nature is very beautiful with green mountains, lakes, meadows, rice fields and many folks who live by farming and stock raising. * song for Fukushima accompanied with its landscape photos(video).

As for the tsunami-hit regions, it is thought that they may need 5 to 10 years for reconstruction. Many survivors are moving steadily forward; nevertheless their grief for the loss of loved ones and houses is very deep. One of the crucial issues they are facing is what to do with the debris and rubble which have been scattered across three Tohoku prefectures. So far lots of them have already removed it from the residential districts, farmlands, roads, ports and seas, however, how to dispose of the debris is a very difficult problem. At present the measures for the disposals is being discussed.

You can read some related newspaper articles by clicking on the green-colored links in the post.

In the Shinjyuku Gyoen gardens, October cherry blossoms were in bloom, blue skies were reflected in the ponds and autumn flowers were shining in the light of fall.

October cherry blossoms(十月桜）

cockscombs

red spider lilies

ginkgo nuts(left) and acorns(right)

The Shinjuku Gyoen was constructed in the Meiji era on the site where Lord Naito, a daimyo(feudal lord) had one of his private mansions during the Edo period. There are traditional Japanese gardens and Western style gardens along with many ponds on the site.

During the Edo period, the ruling class such as daimyos were given large estates in Edo by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Such estates usually had large strolling gardens for recreation with ponds, artificial islands and hills. Within the heart of Tokyo, there are several other large strolling gardens such as Rikugi-en(六義園）.

＊As I'm very busy, I'll take a break for a while. Friends and readers, enjoy autumn to the fullest!!

If you have experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake in Japan and want to write about your personal experience following the earthquake in English,  please visit Tokyo Room Finder Official Blog. The said blog has asked me if any readers of my blog are interested in sharing their heart-warming experiences following the quake.  Please look at the comment that the said blog has left as well.