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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Susuki at 生石高原 Oishi Highlands


 Autumn comes from the Sky....


.... to the top of the mountains and gradually descends to the plains.


Mt. Oishi, 870 meters high

Susuki, or Japanese Pampas Grass, spreads out on the sloped grassland with the summit of Mt. Oishi (870 meters high) at the northern Wakayama Prefecture. 



It is about three and a half hours drive from my home in Nara City.



In autumn, the slopes are covered with silver or gold veils of Susuki waving in the wind,  which attracts many visitors each year.


The path to the summit



 
花芒, which literally means "flower of susuki", is the susuki whose ears have formed. Almost all of the heads of susuki were in full ear and the rest will come into ear soon.


glinting silky white


silver


golden brown
with the backfrop of multiple layers of Kii mountain range


When caught in the sunlight, the white cotton-like ears of Susuki shines silky white, silver, or gold according to the weather or the direction of the light coming.




Susuki bend easily and gracefully in the wind, however, when they are downed to the ground, they rise up with resilience eventually.

Wakayama City in front

Landscape for 360 degrees can be enjoyed on the mountaintop and additionally, on fine days, Kobe City with the Rokko mountians and the Akashi channel bridge are visible.




The two flying things in the air are not birds but radio-controlled gliders.


Susuki has been favored as one of the seven autumn wildflowers since the ancient times.  
Its reeds were once used for thatching roofs.  Nowadays its domain is threatened by the invasive Goldenrod from America, but at this mountain, susuki is a dominat plant.




Another post about susuki: Susuki at Mt. Katsuragi

38 comments:

  1. it is beautiful. flowing and soft.

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  2. I like the susuki. It makes a very beautiful scene on the top of your mountains.

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  3. Hello Yoko:
    We have never before seen Pampas Grass growing so splendidly and in such profusion. What a sight. Usually, as you will doubtless be aware, it is, at least in the British Isles, to be seen as a specimen plant. This is wonderful.

    But oh dear, the threat of the invasive Solidago, Golden Rod, which is rampant in Hungary throughout the countryside too.

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  4. Piękne z pewnością jest widok falujących na wietrze traw. Góry zielone, a trawy białe, srebrne i złote, efekt cudowny. Pozdrawiam.
    It is certainly a beautiful view of the rolling grass in the wind. Top green and white grass, silver and gold, the effect is wonderful. Yours.

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  5. Dear Yoko - what a lovely, lovely post. It must be magical to stand on top of those mountains with the pampas grass gently swaying to and fro in the breeze, and you have caught it all so well in your images.

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  6. Charming post, dear Yoko! It fits perfectly to the current season with the calm and soothing atmosphere.
    As far as I know we do not have such a type of Pampas Grass in Central Europe as wild plant, but you certainly find those species in many gardens and parks. But asking a German where Pampas Grass comes from originally, nobody would come up with the idea to put it to Japan. Everybody would answer: It's a plant from South America.
    Looking at the bouncy blades of grass swaying in the wind is certainly like looking at the waves of the open sea - never boring and having a calming influence on the observers mind.
    Autumnal regards, Uwe.

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  7. I love this post of the tall swaying grasses. It gives a real autumn feel and a good prelude to winter. Btw, Yoko why is it that you generally insert the kanji characters instead of Japanese in some of your captions.

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    1. To answer it simple, I use kanji to my caption, because kanji shows meaning clearly as a pictograph. In this post, Oishi Highlands is a proper noun, a name of place, which is mostly written in kanji.

      The writing system of Japanese language would be one of the most complicated ones in the world. It consists of three scripts, kanji (adopted Chinese characters), hiragana (Japanese syllabary), katakana (Japanese syllabary for loan words), or even four when Roman alphabet is included. Japanese sentences contain both kanji and hiragana, and katakana when necessary. If written in hiragana only, those words could be open to a lot of misinterpretations because of homonyms.

      Several thousand kanji are in regular use. Elementary school children learn about 1000 kanji letters. You wouldn’t have no problem if you can read (at least) and write about 3000 kanji.

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  8. They are so beautiful your photos, Yoko.
    Grethe ´)

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  9. ここにもススキの名所があったんですね。すっかり穂先が開いて柔らかな雰囲気が増している感じです。Autumn comes from the skyのcaptionとショットがぴったりですね。厳しい寒さを迎える前の高原の優しい気持ちの良い澄んだ空気が感じられます。

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  10. Dear Yoko, the views are spectacular! We also have feather grass in Russia, I guess "susuki" is the same, isn't it? But the way you show them hypnotizes.

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    1. I checked Feather Grass. Feather Grass and Susuki (Japanese Pampas Grass) look alike but I wonder if they are of the same family. The science name of Susuki is Miscanthus sinensis.

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  11. Hello Stardust!
    Thanks for posting such a kind comment on my blog!
    Yours is also a real wonder, and I will look into it deeply since Japan is a country I will want to visit as soon as we can get to Australia for good!
    All these picture relate a beautiful landscape, but I am not surprised as I believe Japan is one of the most wonderful places in the world!
    I love your lotus, the meaning is so powerful!
    Congratulations and a hug from France!

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  12. Superb pictures of grasses, you have captured them so beautifully.

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  13. Your shots are like from a dream. Truly wonderful in the open skies and open fields. How relaxing to watch a blade of grass blow in the wind....

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  14. What dreamy and beautiful shots!

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  15. こんにちは。秋の空がとても美しいです。 ススキの写真に哀愁と郷愁を感じました。
    オギにノギ無し、ススキにノギ有り。

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  16. Yoko, you've shown some splendid images of a truly beautiful place.It must be wonderful to experience being there watching the grasses swaying in the wind.
    And of course admiring the breathtaking views.
    Thank you for the tour.

    Happy weekend!
    Ruby

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  17. Wonderful wonderful, all this gold and silver swaying in the winds and breezes! Thank you Yoko! Enjoy your weekend! :-)

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  18. What an incredible and stunning place! Love that pampas grass...so silky and delicious! We've got that here, too, and I'll post a picture of it soon. Those mountains are a special delight. It would be wonderful to visit here and allow all this beauty to wash over you.

    Thank you for sharing this spectacular photos!

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  19. Such beautiful grasses. I love the point of view of your first photo. You really have some stunning photos.

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  20. Your photos of the Susuki covered slopes are beautiful scenes, Yoko. I truly appreciate their splendor, we have several stands of ornamental pampas grass in the yard, but nothing to compare to the hillsides there.

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  21. 秋たけなわですね。透き通った光、澄んだ山の気。ひんやりとした道をしばらく歩いた感じがします。

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  22. Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful! The connection of the sky, the mountains and the grass is lovely. I think, the character of the grass teaches us something too- flexibility and a strong will to stand up and fight any obstacle in life... How truly wonderful! Have happy days, Yoko!

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  23. Oh but this is ...

    I don't want to use the word "beautiful", because that's just not adequate enough to describe the scenery and your photos.

    To me, the most iconic image of Japan is multiple layers of blue-grey mountains stretching towards the horizon. Combine it with silver grass, and it's just perfect.

    PS: Your photos of the Kii mountain range make me extra happy because this is where I'm determined to walk the Kumano Kodō one day! :D

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  24. Such lovely pictures! I didn't know that susuki meant this grass: I have known a few people whose last name was Susuki. And I am one who thought pampas grass was from South America! Thanks for the corrections!

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  25. Dear Yoko,
    Thanks for sharing this wonderful landscape with us.
    What a delight it must be to see the mountains covered with suziki, dancing with the wind. I would love to see that!
    Cheers my dear!
    Márcia

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  26. Your photos show how graceful this grass is flowing in the wind with refreshingly subtle colors in contrast to the bolder shades of autumn. I can see how Goldenrod would battle for supremacy, though, as it too is very strong. In my part of the world it tends to take over and is most appreciated when contained separately from all other plants. :)

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  27. Now is the perfect time to go to see Susuki! Your photos are really splendid! I feel embarrassed that my comment is very prosaic and commonplace as usual(grin). I didn't know the Oishi Highlands. I hope the highlands will remain as it is with lots of of susuki forever! Inspired by you and cosmos, I'll write a little about the plant next time.

    PS 前回の記事も拝見しました! ピンクの花、本当にきれいですね。あんなに群生しているところがあるんですね。いつもYokoさんのお花めぐりの記事を楽しみにしています。でもいいなあ!やっぱり関西のほうが花でもなんでもステキだから。だいたい、食べ物がぜんぜんおいしいですよね。

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  28. When I saw susuki in Helsinki botanical garden I didn't even believe at first. There were no mountains behind it or anything else Japanese, so I read the label twice, but it really was susuki :D It was taller than I imagined, very pretty.

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  29. It must be wonderful to see pampas grass growing wild in such quantity, rather different to the clumps we see in European gardens.

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  30. ここの薄もみごとですね。生石高原の名は聞いたことがありますが、こんなにきれいに群生してるとは。曽爾高原は自分ひとりではいけそうもないけど、ここなら和歌山市が近そうだから一人で行けるかな。

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  31. Hi Stardust, I am pleased to nominate you for a Beautiful Blogger Award because I love reading your blog! To accept all you have to do is tell us 7 things about yourself and nominate 15 other bloggers. You can find the BBA thumbnail on my blog for posting it on yours.

    Thanks for educating me on the intricacies of the Japanese written language. Its mind-boggling to say the least. I regret to say that I can only read a limited number of Kanji characters. Regards, STilleTTo

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    1. I’m glad that you love my blog and nominated me for the award. I really appreciate your kindness and support. However, I’d rather be free from any awards like I have held back from accepting in the past. I really enjoy visiting your blog and reading your thoughts and impressions on my posts, which is more than enough. Thank you.

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  32. wonderful blog....the Japanese have the gift of creating and honoring beauty....and introspection!

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  33. How charming! And what a coincidence. Yesterday I was in the Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre in Barnes, London, and I saw some beautiful pampas grass - this exact variety. I looked at it for ages. I remembered a Japanese friend telling me about it last year but I could not remember what she had said. And today, I looked at your blog, and lo and behold, another Japanese friend (virtual friend, this time) is telling me all about beautiful Susuki. I love the name, which sounds like the wind going through the grass.
    I am very sorry that this beautiful grass is being threatened by the coarser Goldenrod.

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  34. Beautiful Pictures and vary informative discription by you Yoko...

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