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In the last blog, we saw how poetic leaf-related words can be. But don’t let these words lull you into thinking that Japanese is always abstract and dreamy! Far from it. Many leaf-related words have astounding and even crazy degrees of specificity.

For instance, we already saw two words about fallen leaves in the last blog. Here’s yet another term in that vein, this one emphasizing that the fallen leaves have become wet:

濡れ落葉 (nureochiba: wet fallen leaves)
     to get wet + to fall + leaf

With the water radical making a double appearance in the compound, these leaves certainly look wet! The appears inside 落 because 洛 originally meant “falling water,” according to Kenneth Henshall. But meanings change, and nowadays 濡れ落葉 refers figuratively to middle-aged men, particularly those who have retired. They lie around, posing a nuisance to their wives, who find them as difficult to sweep away as wet leaves in the streets.

For Other Highly Specific Leaf Words …

Photo credit: Treve Johnson

Flavorful Foliage

On the subject of craziness with leaves, check out this concept:

朴葉味噌 (hōbamiso: magnolia leaves grilled with miso and onions)     magnolia + leaf + flavor + boisterous

It’s easy to conclude from this that people actually eat magnolia leaves, possibly relishing their “boisterous” flavor! But I’ve found that the magnolia leaves mainly serve as a base for food grilled on top. Still, they do impart some of their flavor to that food. Hmm … doesn’t sound too tempting!

For More Magnolia Dishes …

I’ll shift over to a leaf that seems more appetizing:

葉茶 (hacha: tea leaf)     leaf + tea

I love the repetition of the grass radical at the top and the trees（木) at the bottom. Well, the second kanji doesn’t quite include a tree, but you know what I mean. It does contain a lovely set of sloping lines, almost like the cascading roofs of a pagoda. Such soothing symmetry lies in 茶!

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