Drawings Featuring Kinmokusei Flowers - Fall is in the Air

If there’s one thing that signals the arrival of fall in Japan, it’s the smell of kinmokusei flowers! Kinmokusei, otherwise known as fragrant olive flowers or sweet osmanthus, are considered one of Japan’s three most distinctly scented flowers, alongside daphnes (jincho-ge) in early spring and the common gardenia (kuchinashi) in early summer. With their signature star-like petals and sweet and heady fragrance, these orange-yellow blossoms dance in the wind, carrying the scent of autumn with them everywhere. You can almost hear the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot and smell the crisp autumnal air through these illustrations, don’t you think?

What scents remind you of autumn the most?