花磯菊(ハナイソギク) hana-iso-giku (hybrid chrysanthemum)

　ハナイソギクは、イソギクと栽培種のキクの自然交配種です。ハナイソギクの花には、イソギクにはない舌状花を、花の周囲に持っています。この舌状花は通常白か黄色ですが、写真の花では薄い赤色が、特に蕾の状態で目立っています。栽培種のキクの遺伝子を、受け継いでいるのでしょう。

　The "Hana-Iso-Giku" is a natural hybrid of the "Iso-Giku" and a cultivated variety of chrysanthemum. 
　Both "Hana-Iso-Giku" and "Iso-Giku" are Japanese names. Their scientific names are "Chrysanthemum pacificum" and "Chrysanthemum × marginatum," respectively.
　The flowers of the "Hana-Iso-Giku" have ray florets around the flower, which the "Iso-Giku" does not have. These ray florets are usually white or yellow, but in the flower shown in the photo, a pale red color stands out, especially when the flower is still in bud. It must have inherited the genes of cultivated chrysanthemums. 

Japanese silver grass

　ススキは、日本の秋の情緒を代表するイネ科の植物です。
　茅葺き（かやぶき）屋根に使われる材料には、いろいろありますが、ススキがその代表格です。寿命はおよそ15〜30年程度あります。白川郷（岐阜県白川村）の合掌造りの茅葺き屋根には、主にススキが使われており、日本の原風景を残しています。

　Japanese Silver Grass is a grass species that epitomizes the atmosphere of autumn in Japan.
　There are various materials used for thatched roofs, but Japanese Silver Grass is the most common. Its lifespan is approximately 15 to 30 years. The thatched roofs of the gassho-style houses in Shirakawa-go (Shirakawa Village, Gifu Prefecture) are made primarily of Japanese Silver Grass, preserving a traditional Japanese landscape.
　※ Thatched roof: A traditional Japanese roof made by bundling plants such as Japanese Silver Grass and stacking them in thick layers to cover the roof of a building. 

　source: Shirakawa Village Official Website

野朝顔(ノアサガオ) blue morning glory

　ノアサガオの花は、朝は鮮やかな青紫色ですが、時間が経つにつれ、赤紫色へと変化します。アサガオは、午前中に萎んでしまいますが、ノアサガオは、午後も開花しています。人気のある植物ですが、繁殖力が旺盛なため、環境省の「生態系被害防止外来種リスト」では、重点対策外来種に指定されています。

　The flowers of the Blue Morning Glory are a vivid blue-purple in the morning, but as the time goes on, they change to a reddish-purple. While Morning Glories wilt during the morning, the Blue Morning Glory remains in bloom even in the afternoon. Although it is a popular plant, it is highly invasive and has been designated as a priority invasive alien species on the Ministry of the Environment’s "List of Alien Species with Potential to Cause Adverse Effects on Ecosystems in Japan."

地衣類 lichen

　苔のように見える、墓石に張り付いたものは、地衣類です。日本には、約1,800種の地衣類が生育しています。菌類が藻類を体内に住まわせている共生体で、菌類が藻類に生息場所や水分を与え、藻類は菌類に光合成で作った栄養を分け与えます。共生にもいろいろありますが、お互いに利益を与えあう相利共生です。アリとアブラムシ、ヤドカリとイソギンチャク等の関係も同じです。
　この墓石のあるお寺には、浄行菩薩縁起が掲げられており、それには、体の悪い部分を念入りに洗えば、菩薩さまが身代わりになると書かれています。寺務所には、体を洗う「たわし」が用意されています。
　地衣類は、南極圏や北極圏、そしてヒマラヤやアンデス山地などの厳しい環境下でも生育していますが、「たわしがけ」には弱いと思います。

　What looks like moss clinging to the gravestone is lichen. There are approximately 1,800 species of lichen growing in Japan. This is a symbiotic relationship in which a fungus hosts algae within its body; the fungus provides the algae with a place to live and water, and the algae shares with the fungus the nutrients it produces through photosynthesis. There are several forms of symbiosis, though this particular one is called mutualism, where both parties gain from each other. The relationships between ants and aphids, hermit crabs and sea anemones, and so on are also examples of mutualism.
　At the temple where this gravestone stands, there is a plaque detailing the legend of Bodhisattva Pure Practices, which states that if you thoroughly wash the ailing part of your body, the Bodhisattva will take your place. The temple office provides "scrub brushes" for washing your body.
　Lichen grows even in harsh environments such as the Antarctic and Arctic regions, as well as the Himalayas and the Andes, but I think it is vulnerable to being scrubbed with the scrub brush. 

ガマズミの実 berries of viburnum

　ガマズミの赤い実は、背景が、暗い闇でも、緑の葉でも、青い空でも、美しく映えます。

　The red berries of the viburnum look beautiful against any background - whether it’s pitch darkness, green leaves, or a blue sky.

鎌切(カマキリ) mantis

　このカマキリ、こちらを威嚇する様子もなく、元気がなさそうです。産卵を終えれば、いよいよ亡くなるときがきたようです。
　雌は、ブロック塀にも木の枝と同様に卵を産みつけます。
　カマキリの雌は産卵する前に、雄を食べてしまうと言われています。それは事実ですが、餌食になるオスは10%程度だそうです。ほとんどの雄は、逃げおおせていることになります。
　雄は、子孫のために自己犠牲を払うつもりは、ないようです。

　This mantis doesn't seem to be threatening me, and it doesn't look well. It seems that she will lay her eggs and pass away immediately afterward. 
　Females lay their eggs on concrete block walls just as they do on tree branches. 
　It is said that female mantises eat the males before laying their eggs. That's true, but apparently only about 10% of the males end up as prey. This means that most of the males have managed to escape. 
　The males seem unwilling to offer self-sacrifices for their offspring. 

二宮金次郎の像 starue of Ninomiya Kinjiro

　かつて、二宮金次郎（尊徳）の像が、全国の小学校に広く設置されていたのは、勤勉・倹約の道徳教育のシンボルとされていたためです。
　最近は、ほとんど見かけなくなりましたが、たまたま通りかかった小学校のエントランスに、二宮金次郎の像が設置されていました。でもその像は、私の記憶とは異なり、少し様子がおかしいのです。近寄って見ると、左手がありません。また、ひざから下が土台のように太いのです。像の横に設置された碑文を読んで、事情が分かりました。
　1945年4月24日に爆撃機（B-29 101機）の空爆により校舎が全壊し、三名の先生が犠牲になり、像も破壊され、本を持つ手が本とともに砕け散り、膝の部分から本体が折れました。
　爆撃の恐ろしさを後世に伝え、二度と戦争を繰り返さないよう願いを込め、像は復元されました。（復元有志の会代表 豊泉喜一）
　子供たちへの被害は碑文に記載されていませんが、調べたところ、当日は空襲警報が発令され、子供たちは自宅へ帰されていたので、校内で亡くなった子供はいなかったものの、帰宅後亡くなった子供は複数いました。

　In the past, statues of Ninomiya Kinjiro were widely installed in elementary schools across the country because they were regarded as symbols of moral education emphasizing diligence and thrift. 
　Although they’re rarely seen these days, I happened to pass by the entrance of the elementary school where a statue of Ninomiya Kinjiro was on display. But that statue looks a bit off - differing from how I remember it. When I looked closer, I saw that his left hand was missing. Also, the part of the leg below the knee is thick, like a base. I read the inscription next to the statue and understood what had happened. 
　On April 24, 1945, the school building was completely destroyed by an air raid carried out by bombers(Mission 96: 101 B-29); three teachers lost their lives, the statue was destroyed, the hand holding the book was shattered along with the book, and the body of the statue snapped at the knees.
　The statue was restored to convey the horrors of the bombing to future generations and to express the hope that war will never happen again. (Toyoizumi Kiichi, Rep. of the Volunteer Restoration Grp.)
　Although the inscription did not mention the children’s casualties, my investigation revealed that an air raid warning had been issued that day and the children had been sent home.  But although no children died at school, several died after returning home.

　写真中央が国民学校
　the center of the photo is the National People's School.
　source: NPO法人立川教育振興会