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Figure 139 The kylin beast as seen on labels of Kirin beer. With kind permission of Kirin Beer Company.
'Kenroku-en-kiku-zakura' Many forms of chrysanthemum-flowered cherries originate from the Noto Peninsula and the neighboring valleys and city of Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture (Kawasaki 1994). Until the mid-nineteeth century the region flourished through a thriving cargo-ship trade along the coasts of the Japanese archipelago, and even with Korea and China. Chrysanthemum-cherry imports from other regions, or maybe even from the continent, cannot be ruled out. A large number of these chrysanthemum cherries can be found in temple compounds, where they were planted long ago as a donation. Their names follow the pattern "The Chrysanthemum-Flowered Cherry of [Name of Temple]." Examples include 'Baigoji-juzukake-zakura', 'Hiuchidani-kiku-zakura', 'Keta-no-shiro-kiku-zakura', 'Raikoji-kiku-zakura', or 'Zenshoji-kiku-zakura'. Though long and cumbersome, these names are necessary to avoid misunderstandings in this group with its difficult classification. Many temples and shrines thus have their unique chrysanthemum-flowered cherry, and it has been suggested that these were distributed in long-forgotten times by village people at marriages and other special occasions. The donation custom could explain the singular, isolated occurrence of chrysanthemum forms throughout mid-Japan. Looking more carefully, one can see that many of them are not unique but rather quite similar, if not