Laurel is not a Japanese tree.

[gurdymonkey]

(Referring to the Laurus nobilis or Bay Laurel tree.)  Yet there are laurel wreaths on these sake barrels. As is typical when the universe is messing with me, I thought it would make a nice photographic subject and I didn't even notice the laurel wreaths until I uploaded the photos to my laptop.



(Not that I can read Japanese, but I can compare images.) Further research indicates these kagami biraki, spotted outside a restaurant in Japantown, are the product of Gekkeikan, USA, whose logo features a gold laurel wreath. 


However, there is a shrub (wondering now if it's prickly and hard to eradicate), Aucuba japonica which is indigenous to Japan and China, that is sometimes referred to as "Japanese laurel," "spotted laurel" or "Gold Dust Plant." This last refers to yellow or gold variegations on the leaves. (OK, not so much prickly, but appears hardy if not ineradicable.)

Who knew....

Comments

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Are you saying that you are prickly and hard to eradicate?

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

I've always liked that line from "Master & Commander."

[elmunadi.livejournal.com]

They do look alarmingly Laurel-ly. Could they perhaps be Kelp or some other seaweed instead? they have the leaf+nodule look of giant kelp... ;)

[reynardine.livejournal.com]

月桂冠 is the kanji for Gekkeikan. Which does literally mean "laurel wreath". According to their website, while the brewery was founded in 1637, the company name of Gekkeikan didn't exist until 1905, by which time the Japanese would have had contact with the concept of a laurel wreath.

Have you considered Sakaki leaves? The branches are often used in Shinto ceremonies and the leaves look a lot like laurel leaves. And Sakaki is native to Japan.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

One does not muck with Society Peerage symbology. ;-D