white higanbana, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Unfortunately they don't get much scarier than the gejigeji, so it might be safe to read this blog with your eyes open for a while ... unless we meet a mukade (Although I think they are less horrifying to look at - the terror stems more from the fact they are actually dangerous).

These spider lilies are spiders in name only. They are also called equinox lilies (higanbana in Japanese), and they are a good week early. The red variety is very common by the roadside, but Zuisenji, our local temple, seems to have gone a bit overbaord on white for this equinox.