Events

Plum blossoms are severely overlooked. When asked to name the most quintessential  example of Japanese flora, most people immediately name the cherry blossom.  I frequently argue however that  it is perhaps the plum (ume) blossom that should be the more celebrated. Sporting reddish pink or white flowers, they are distinguishable from the sakura by their split ended petals and their strong, sweet smell. Prior to the Nara Period (710-794 AD), it was in fact the blossom of the plum tree that Japanese referred to as hanami (flower viewing), as the flower bloomed in mid-February which more accurately heralded the coming of spring than sakura which blossoms a month later.  To this day there are many great ume matsuri (plum festivals) dedicated to the viewing of the ume blossom in parks and temples all over Tokyo, so why not wrap up warm and take the first picnic of the year under the branches of these beautiful trees as winter winds down?  Bunkyo Ume Matsuri The 300 plum blossom trees of Yusima Tenmangu Shrine (Yushima Tenjin) were so loved by Lord Sugawara no Michizane that, when he was exiled to Kyushu, he wrote a famous poem that read “Let the east wind blow…