Japanese admire colored leaves in many ways in quiet autumn air

Nov. 30, 2011

Japanese admire colored leaves in many ways in quiet autumn air

One of the pleasures for Japanese to have in the chilly but quiet autumn air is colored leaf viewing. Colored autumn leaves usually mean maple and gingko tree leaves for Japanese today, but residents of a small town in the eastern part of Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture, have long loved “haze” Japanese wax tree leaves, which turn bright red toward the end of autumn.
The haze trees are called so because the seed vessel is rich in wax. Haze wax trees were once seen here and there in the Yanagizaka district, mainly on the riverside and on the corners of fields. “Mokuro” wax extracted from the seed vessel had been used as an ingredient for Japanese candles until early last century. But demand for mokuro wax candles declined sharply around the middle of the century following changes in people’s way of life. As a result, many haze trees had been cut down.
Colored leaf viewing in autumn compares with cherry blossom viewing in spring. “Sakura” flowering cherry trees have been best loved by Japanese people over the centuries. But many Japanese have also been lured by the beauty of autumn tints of various trees that decorate mountains, hills and elsewhere.

It was the day when the first blow of autumn winds was felt.
The top of trees had then begun to turn red
on the peak of Mt. Otowa where I heard the winds.
(A personal translation)

This is a “waka” poem composed by Ki Tsurayuki, a distinguished poet in the Heian period who played a key role in editing the Kokinwakashu poem anthology early in the 10th century.
A row of about 200 old wax trees,　5 to 6 meters high and about one meter around, is one of the few haze tree groups left in Yanagizaka. The trees line a 1.1-kilometer road which used to be the approach to a Buddhist temple at the northern foot of the Minoh Mountains. The Yanagizaka wax tree avenue was designated as a natural monument by Fukuoka Prefecture in 1964.
Wax tree planting started in Yanagizaka and neighboring areas about 250 years ago in the middle of the Edo era as the clan who had ruled the Kurume region recommended planting haze trees and producing mokuro wax to farmers in an effort to promote the local industry and support their livelihood.
Wax production for supply to Japanese candle makers is already over, but wax produced from the remaining haze trees is used mainly as ingredients for cosmetics such as pomade and lipsticks, colored pencils and paints. The wax tree avenue at Yanagizaka becomes a busy street toward the end of November when local people set up roadside stands to welcome visitors hoping to see colored wax tree leaves.
A local elderly man, who was at the avenue to guide visitors, said, “They (the trees) are losing their vigor in recent years.” A group of local high school students "helped us prune and cut undergrowth a few years ago. The trees are so old anyway. That’s why we have to take care of them carefully,” the man said.
Local people’s efforts to restore strength to the haze trees are expected to continue, but the avenue should remain as a treasure for them for many years.