arelativenewcomer:

There is much to be said for cherry blossoms, but they seem so flighty. They are so quick to run off and leave you. And then just when your regrets are the strongest the wisteria comes into bloom, and it blooms on into the summer. There is nothing quite like it. Even the colour is somehow companionable and inviting.
(Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji, Chapter 33; transl. E. Seidensticker)

Clinging on to its support, the wisteria could perhaps be considered a weakling. But arenʼt the dazzling beauty of its sheltering branches and its lingering presence when other flowers are long gone signs of deep compassion that only humility can teach?

Wisteria-prompt by the wonderful @todayintokyo​. Thank you! 

Top to bottom, left to right: Utagawa Hiroshige, Inside Kameido Tenjin Shrine, 1856 [source]; Yoshida style, Wisteria at Kameido, 1930s [source]; Hiroshi Yoshida, Wisteria Garden, 1935 [source]; Tsuchiya Koitsu, Wisteria and Half Moon Bridge at Kameido, 1933 [source]; Kawase Hasui, Wisteria at Kameido, 1932 [source].