Momiji-gari: Japanese Wax Tree (Hazenoki)
The uniqueness of autumn in Japan is the intensity of colour and the delicacy of tree and leaf shape. The ginkgo’s golden yellow and spindly crown entrance the eye. The Japanese maple's lobed leaves are lacy and airy. A young bough, deep red (or a burnished pink in certain light) drooping gracefully over water is particularly affecting.
Trees in their green livery are unobtrusive servants of man. In their fall glory, they demand our worship. One tree ablaze in the afternoon sun commanded our full attention. Bathed by light, it had turned a neon red. Amidst the still-green leaves of other trees, it was a phoenix, drawing everyone to it. We worshipped what we did not know, though, because no one—Japanese and foreigner alike—knew its name.
We asked and asked until we found a gardener tending to the grounds. Only he knew the hazenoki.
