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Object 2012500

Although some types of chrysanthemum begins flowering in the summer, the chrysanthemum is primarily an indication of autumn. Like many autumn motifs the chrysanthemum evokes feelings of melancholy in Japan, as is beautifully expressed in a poem by the 9th-century Ki no Tomonori:

 tsuyu nagara / to wear in my hair

arite kazasamu / I plucked a chrysanthemum

kiku no hana / with dew still clinging to it

aisenu aki no / oh may this present

hisashikarubeku / autumn's youth last forever

(Fitski 2011, p.149)