Putting these three names of the trees together makes the phrase shochikubai, which is the symbolic expression of auspicious matters. These plants are highly valued in winter because they are strong against the cold, and they are used as felicitous decorations for celebratory, events, as with the New Year's pine and bamboo decorations or at weddings. They are also frequently found in the lyrics of melodies for Japanese harp(koto) and long epic songs(nagauta), and there too they are for celebration.
The pine, as the tree that stands for Japan, is often drawn in the background of Japanese paintings. The bamboo is used as raw material for handicrafts and flutes. The plum tree is not only enjoyed for its flowers, but its fruit is used for food, in medicine, and, since ancient times, as an important keepable food.
In autumn, the leaves on most Japanese deciduous trees change color to reds and yellows and coat the mountains in beautiful colors. The Japanese people have admired this--they call it momiji or koyo as a beautiful scene in the same way as with springtime cherry blossoms, and they have expressed that beauty in poems and songs since long ago. In autumn, the people go out to hills and fields to see tinted autumnal leaves. Just as viewing cherry blossoms is called "flower-viewing," going to the hills and fields to see momiji is called "Momiji-hunting." And once all the red and yellow leaves have fallen, the Japanese Islands experience a change of season toward winter. There is a reason for the beauty of Japanese tinted autumnal leaves. It is because with continued clear, good weather, leaf metabolism speeds up, carbohydrates are stored, and anthocyanin that is the cause of tinted leaves increases.
Kinoko reproduce in forests, mostly growing on or beneath trees, thus the Japanese long ago named them "kinoko"(children of trees). An old word for mushroom is take, and this is often added to the Japanese mushroom name as "name + take."
Mushrooms are enjoyed very much for their unique flavor as food. Among the main items for daily dining are mushrooms (shiitake), winter mushrooms(enokidake), champignons(shimeji), Japanese endemic mushrooms(nameko) and maitake, which are grilled, put in soup, fried in oil or put in a steamed custard of vegetables, eggs and meat. As in the saying, "pine mushrooms for aroma, champignons for flavor," the "pine mushroom" are very highly valued for their fragrance; but they do not often appear on the dining tables of ordinary families, because they are so expensive.
Since in Japan there are clear distinctions among the four seasons, there is fruit for each season. Among these seasons, particularly autumn can be said to be the season for fruit. There is an expression, "three years for peaches and chestnuts, eight years for Japanese persimmons," meaning that it takes three years for peaches and chestnuts and eight years for Japanese persimmons to bear fruit after sowing the seeds. These fruits have been popular among the Japanese people since a long time ago, and have often appeared in folktales; for example, peaches appear in "Momotaro" and chestnuts and Japanese persimmons appear in "Saru-Kani Gassen." Other autumn fruits are pears, apples, and grapes. From autumn to winter, mandarin oranges, and in summer, plums and loquats are harvested. Pickled plums are made of the plums, and they have been favored as excellent preserved foods since long ago.
An annual climbing plant originally produced in Asia, asagao blooms from midsummer to early fall. It was brought to Japan for medical purposes by an envoy to China sometime in the 900s and began to be cultivated. In keeping with the meaning of its name in Japanese, "morning face," it blooms in the morning and the blossoms close up immediately. Cultivation flourished in the Edo Period(1603-1867) and many varieties were developed. In the hot, humid Japanese summer, asagao blooming in the cool morning air soften people's hearts. There is even a famous haiku(poems in seventeen-syllables):
For morning glories taking up a well bucket,
I get water from next-door. (by Chiyojo)
In the Shitaya district in Tokyo every year from July 6-8, an asagao market opens for selling potted asagao.
A perennial plant of the eggplant family, its fruit ripens in summer like a round cherry inside a balloon-like, orange-colored pouch. Japanese girls frequently used to play by rubbing the fruit, taking out its softened flesh from a small hole, and inserting it between tongue and teeth as a whistle.
Many people gather every year in July for a hozuki market in the Asakusa district in Tokyo.
Fuji, pronounced the same way as Mt. Fuji, are beautiful pale purple flowers with vines that bloom in late spring. They grow wild in fields and mountains, but, to appreciate their beauty, the vines are trained over a trellis and the flowers are drooped down from it. Each bunch of fuji measures from scores of centimeters to one meter and scores of centimeters in length, and beauty is found in the bunches swaying(like waves) in the wind, which are referred to as fuji waves. A pale purple color is generally called fuji color.
Its roots and stems lay sideways in water, its leaves are long and it blooms in early summer. Its leaves are fragrant and it is believed to get rid of evil; for Boy's Festival, also known as Children's Day, on May 5, baths are taken with shobu leaves and roots added to the hot water. This is called "shobuyu"(sweet-flag baths) and is a custom of long standing that can be enjoyed even at public baths. The manner in which the beautifully-shaped shobu and ayame, an iris which is similar to shobu in shape, open their large, delicate flower petals also has been used as a metaphor to describe beautiful women.
Because yanagi, even in the midst of the greenery announcing springtime, send forth their sprouts before all others and announce the coming of a new season, they have been enjoyed by the Japanese people since ancient times and are often included in poems. Perhaps because they have been so enjoyed and have been planted everywhere throughout Japan, there are many proverbs using yanagi. One can count more than 90 different kinds, with the weeping willow most typical. The streetside yanagi in Tokyo's Ginza district are so famous that they are even sung about in an old popular song.
Chestnuts are one of the most common and beloved tastes of autumn, and together with persimmons they symbolize autumn. The outermost shell covering the fruit of the nut is covered with prickles, like a hedgehog. These nuts can be eaten simply boiled or cooked with rice to make chestnut rice. They are also used as ingredients in Japanese confectionery such as sweet bean jelly(yokan) and buns with a bean-jam filling(manju). In Japan, dark brown color is called chestnut color.