March 5 is Keichitsu—the day when insects emerge from their burrows as the earth warms. No need to explain that now, but it means wintering bugs are coming out of their holes. When insects start to appear outdoors, the early-spring flowers they seek are blooming—spring is close at hand. The weather forecast says warmer days lie ahead.
In the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, just south of Palaceside Building in Takebashi, Tokyo, early-blooming plum is at its peak, and flowers such as higanzakura, kawazuzakura, wintersweet, and daphne are opening—many tourists are pointing their lenses. Sanshuyu (Japanese cornel) planted south of the Obansho has also set flower and become a subject for plant photography enthusiasts.
Sanshuyu is known as a flower that heralds spring; the blooms open in vivid yellow clusters. From how they look in bloom, it is also called harukoganebana. In autumn it bears many small, glossy, oval red fruit, likened to coral and called akisango—grateful alternate names in spring and fall. Seeds taken from ripe red fruit and dried are used in Chinese medicine for the kidneys, tonics, virility, and low blood pressure.
Written in kanji, it is 山茱萸 (sanshuyu). Yu (茱萸) is gumi—the oleaster (Elaeagnus)—and the name means gumi that grows in the mountains; the red fruit resembles gumi berries. This gumi has nothing to do with gummy candy made by setting fruit juice in gelatin. The candy is written "Gummy" in English—that word itself. In Germany, as foods that needed chewing became scarce, hard sweets were made to strengthen the bite and prevent dental disease; the name did not come from the feel of eating red gumi fruit.
On the other hand, hearing "sanshu" may bring to mind the opening of the Miyazaki folk song "Hie-tsuki Bushi": "The sanshu tree in the garden, bells ringing..."—but that has nothing to do with sanshuyu either; sanshu in the song is a corruption of sansho (Japanese pepper). Sorry for dragging in two unrelated things.