I write about this every year, but it never ceases to amaze me that the osmanthus in Kamakura really does come out like clockwork in October 1st.
On September 29th I could see and smell inklings : a tinge in the air walking back from the station. On the 30th it was distinctive. As soon as it was officially October, though ( a divine month in Japan – sunny and beautiful ) it was osmanthic mayhem : our front garden tree is the biggest in the area (pictured), and if I open the windows the scent of osmanthus flowers just flood right in to all of the rooms : petallic apricot, coy; concentrated; resplendent. I am drinking it all in today in inhalations of pleasure : a transcendent hope on our bleak and head-hammering horizons.
Our landlord – two doors down – is itching to strictly prune all our foliage as according to him it has turned into an ‘overgrown mess’ ( precisely how I like it), but I asked him kindly to at least wait until the osmanthus, or kinmokusei, has had its dreamy two weeks of glory. He consented, but the ever burgeoning tree is now coming into contact with the telephone wires; protruding into the street now, scraping the occasional delivery truck.
For the time being, though, I am going to revel in this scent. The day and night air is replete with it, and there is no forecast for rain, which usually just washes it all away after a couple of windy days. It is gorgeous.
Shame about the sock though
