A dozen ume trees bloom each February in our small orchard. Their white, single petal flowers glow in the cold misty air, a delicate promise of a forthcoming spring.

Takashi walked in with a handful of fuki, the hollow stems ofthe native Japanese coltsfoot plant, and said, the first time I’ve ever bought fuki. The first time because fuki are a thing to forage, not purchase,

We gather handfuls of warabi, bracken fern, caught before they unfurl. Every year, every wild vegetable we forage is first enjoyed as tempura.

If characterized as rigid notions of etiquette, table manners can feel forced and stringent. But I’ve always found great beauty in the layered gestures of movement at the table.

Alongside beautiful shimeji mushrooms and wild watercress collected just moments ago I layer slices of inoshishi, wild boar hunted by a family friend.

It’s a dish inspired by Yoshiko Iwai, an earnest and dedicated tempura chef who is also a family friend, a dish I ate at his arresting cypress counter in Ginza that perfectly illustrates this time of year.

It was many years ago, now, that I first fell in love with a handsome Spanish radish at the local market. It had a calloused coal-colored rind and smooth snow-white flesh. I was immediately smitten.

There are as many variations as there are people making yubeshi, which may not actually be so many these days. Some are on the sweeter side, a natural confection, while others are on the spicy or savory side.

When I landed in Japan it’s only natural that I latched on to Kuniko’s cooking as a route towards belonging both to the family and culture I had joined, a culture rife with references to something larger and more meaningful than the individual self.

Perhaps persimmon is the only tree that looks better when its leaves have fallen. The fruits are revealed and the tree comes alive. They look downright bejeweled.

 I felt a certain poetry as I watched her hands, rough with age, pluck the delicate florets from the head. Her movements in the kitchen always showed respect and consideration for each ingredient.