6月8日に写真集『日本人の知らない美しい日本の見つけ方』が発売されることになりました。
 

現在、発売元のサンマーク出版さんHP内の『サキ読み』にて
この本を一章分、まるごとダウンロードして見ることができます。
https://www.sunmark.co.jp/books/sakiyomi/index.php
まだ約１ヶ月先になりますが、もうお近くの本屋さんなどで
ご予約をしていただくことができます。
もしよろしければ、私の本をお手にとっていただけたら、とてもうれしいです。
I have a book coming out soon. Click the photo below to read about it.

Book Cover Final

近くの里山に行くと今キンランやギンランが咲いています。美しい花ですね。
今日は久しぶりに英語のブログ記事を書いてみました。
This is a Golden Orchid, a beautiful orchid that grows on the forest floors all over Japan.
Called kinran キンラン in Japanese, they emerge from the ground in spring to get a head start on the other forest floor plants that will and grow high and block out all the light when the weather warms up. 

Golden Orchid IMG_8770 done Hanko

               Golden Orchid (cephalanthera falcata)
 

Like all orchids here they are becoming rarer every year because of wild flower collectors (I call them poachers) who want to own every orchid they see and so dig them out of the ground to take home and plant in their own gardens. Also like many Japanese orchids, golden orchids depend on certain bacteria in the ground to grow well and so planting them at home is usually pointless, they just die. This makes the poachers just want them more, and so it becomes a downward spiral for the poor orchids.
 

They are still common enough if you know where to search though, and so last weekend I went and looked for them in a few spots where I have seen them before.
It is pretty hard to see anything in a Japanese forest at this time of year because the blinding greens and yellows send human eyes into overload.

Kinran_8752_Pano Done Hanko

There are two golden orchids in this photo.
 

But if you walk slowly and keep your eyes peeled on the ground, you might be lucky enough to find one. The leaves usually give them way before the flowers. They look like dark green ribbons ribbons poking out of the ground. They like forest floor that is sunny in winter, but shady in summer, so they usually grow underneath large oak trees which provide the prefect environment for them all year.

Kinran IMG_8767 done Hanko
 

Tread carefully though,
because if you have found one golden orchid, then there are probably more close by.
 

Kinran IMG_8723 done Hanko

And if you are really lucky, you might find a Silver Orchid!

IMG_3182

              Golden Orchid (cephalanthera longibrateata) 

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