1. Distribution
Distributed in Japan, Korea, Mongolia, central China and the north of the Philippines. In winter observed in southern China and Taiwan. Prefers bamboo thickets. In Russia, it is found on Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands.
2. In culture
The true short-winged warbler, also called the Japanese nightingale, is one of Japan's "three famous songbirds", along with the blue flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana and the Japanese robin Erithacus akahige.
Her song is one of the favorite tunes in Japanese poetry, found in many collections of poems such as "Manyoshu" and "Kokinshu". In haiku and renga, the warbler is one of the kigo words for the beginning of spring. It is also associated with the plum blossom and is depicted together with it on Hanafuda cards. In fact, the song of the warbler can only be heard in Japan in late spring, when the plum flowers are already withering.
In winter, the bird sings a different song, and then it is designated in haiku under the name sasako, and its song is called sasanaki sasako song.
Reed warbler feces have been used for a long time to whiten skin and remove wrinkles. They were also used to remove stains on kimonos. In Japanese shops you can find the so-called "uguisu no fun".
The "nightingale floor" in Japanese castles got its name from the characteristic chirping sound made when passing over it, similar to the singing of a warbler. This form of "burglar alarm" can be found, for example, in Nijo, Chion-in and Kyoto.
