(Background of the poem)
In 2009, the year of Their Majesties' fiftieth wedding anniversary, His Majesty took some seeds from the silver birches, Betula platyphylla var. japonica, planted near the Imperial Residence, and planted the seeds, together with Her Majesty, on the first day of spring according to the lunar calendar. In this poem His Majesty describes how the hot summer sun was shining on the leaves of the seedlings which grew from those seeds.
(Background of the poem)
Witch-hazel, Hamamelis mollis, spends the winter with most dead leaves still on its branches as if to protect the flower buds which will bloom in the spring. In this poem, Her Majesty expresses Her joy at seeing the first yellow blossom bloom on the tree early in the spring.
(Background of the poem)
This poem recalls how several autumns ago when His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince was climbing in the mountains near Tokyo, as the sun shone radiantly through the maples in their fall colors he heard the sound of the wind stirring the leaves of the trees.
(Background of the poem)
This poem calls to mind how, when toward the end of last November Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess visited Gakushuin Primary School which Princess Aiko attends, she was deeply moved by the beautiful sight of the golden leaves of the tall ginkgo tree in the schoolyard fluttering in the breeze as they captured the autumn sun in their fall.