Indigenous plants, grown for the trade

“After the rain the ground hardens.”

“The universe moves on and on, and a stop there is not in the growth of all things around us.”

“Though it appear but a rotten tree in the depths of the mountain, yet, if its core is not dead, flowers would blossom on its branches.”

“Even the streams that pour unto the great sea have passed under leaves and mountains for a while.”

“A hot spring remains hot all the year round without attention, but a bath is kept hot only by constant care, and, when the fire is not fed, it soon becomes cold again. Good land is like a hot spring and poor land is like a bath.”

“A mugwort which grows amidst hemp is straight.”

“Press right on, though thy ways be dark; skies may clear ere thy course is done.”

“In stones there are spirits,
In the waters is a voice heard:
The winds sweep across the firmament.”

“One who climbs a steep hill seldom falls, however laborious the climbing may be, while the man who runs down a hill, easy though the path, often comes to grief.”

“Heaven moves ceaselessly, while the earth is quiet and motionless. Following Heaven’s way, let us work incessantly, and following that of the earth let our hearts be for ever tranquil.”

“All the joy of my existence is concentrated around the pillow which gives me nightly rest, all the hope of my days I find in the beauties of Nature that ever please my eyes.”

“Only after some considerable time has elapsed can one see the results of well-doing! It resembles the action of a slow medicine.”

“The Sunrise Splendour
Broods over Fuji’s Summit.
White Mountain of the Gods.
In looking upward,
Clear as the sky and pure
My heart becomes.”