> In Japan it's probably like in English, a reference to fruits that are not ripe yet (=> ao ringo). Dictionaries I've seen say that's the case (or some sugges

> In Japan it's probably like in English, a reference to fruits that are not ripe yet (=> ao ringo). Dictionaries I've seen say that's the case (or some suggest that the "ao" for youth was borrowed in from Chinese). But to clarify, "ao ringo" doesn't mean an unripe apple - the ao just means green there. As for "aonisai", the etymology there is murky but surprisingly it apparently has nothing to do with two year-old babies. The main theory seems to be that it's a corruption of a older phrase with a similar pronunciation but unrelated meaning.