Plum Blossoms

Spring is coming!  Finally.  I don't know who came up with the whole winter idea, but it needs re-thinking.

In any case, you've probably heard about how cherry blossoms are a big deal in Japan.  They bloom in the Spring, creating an amazingly beautiful display for about a week or so and then they are gone.  Endless numbers of songs and poems have been written about them (check out Mama Lisa for a couple) and their transient beauty. 

Less celebrated is the plum blossom.  Typically blooming in late February/early March, plum blossoms signal that Spring is coming rather than that Spring has come.  Blooming in shades of pink and white, most plum blossoms have 5 petals (many varieties of cherry blossoms also have five petals, but you are also likely to see cherry blossoms with 10 petals, 50 petals, up to 100 or so). 

People do turn out to view the plum blossoms, just not in the same numbers that the cherry blossoms draw.

This past weekend I went to see the newly blooming plum blossoms in Okurayama, a Yokohama suburb.  Ume Matsuri...Plum Blossom Festival. I got a chance to hear some fantastic traditional Japanese music with shamisen, koto, and shakuhachi players, take a few photos, and celebrate the coming of Spring, finally.  It can't come soon enough!  

Thanks to my friend Taro for telling me about Okurayama's Ume Matsuri.