Week 9 Discussion

More About Japanese Plums (Prunus mume)

Last week, we reviewed Japanese plums (ume) in general and said nothing about what varieties there were except that the focus was to be on hakubai, white ume trees and/or blossoms. All of the photos were of white ume except for a couple of the artwork examples. This week is going to be directed more toward the cultural influence of ume, but photos will be mostly of pink or red ume (kōbai).

Japanese love nature, and especially love to enjoy venturing out to see flowers in bloom. They even have a name for flower viewing; hanami. Beginning with Lady Murasaki's 11th century novel, A Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari), hanami became associated with and synonymous with cherry blossom (sakura) viewing. The practice of hanami began much earlier, however. As early as the Nara period (710–794), hanami was a thing, except the celebration then was primarily focused around ume viewing. Today, the name for that is umemi, plum blossom viewing--and smelling, since ume blossoms have a strong, pleasant aroma.

This photo is from Tōkyō's Yoyogi Park.

Every year, several locations around Japan have an Ume Matsuri (Plum Festival). People turn out in large numbers when ume are in bloom, have picnics and other activities, and simply enjoy the flowers.

One Ume Matsuri takes place in Tōkyō's Yushima Tenmangu Shrine near Ueno Park. Stalls are set up to sell seasonal goods and snacks. The week-long festival attracts over 400,000 visitors annually.

Icons of ume blossoms appear in many places. This is the simplest ume icon.

It is associated with many of the 14,000 Tenmangū Shintō shrines throughout Japan.

Tenmangū shrines are devoted to Tenjin, the Shintō god of education.

Variations of the ume icon are incorporated into many family crests.

When looking at ume blossoms, it is easy to confuse them with sakura (cherry) blossoms.

Ume blossoms appear from February through mid-March. Sakura blossoms generally appear in late March and early April but last from only one to two weeks. Ume blossoms are a little smaller than sakura blossoms and have a stronger aroma. Ume blossom petals tend to be rounded, but most sakura blossom petals have a dimple or cut at the end. Ume blossoms grow off of stems, but sakura blossoms tend to grow in clusters and have their own stems.

It is hard to find sakura blossom photos that show the stems, but if you look at the fruit, it becomes obvious.

Photos like this one taken in the Agricultural Park in Inabe City, with its 100 varieties of 4,500 ume trees, helps one to appreciate the appeal of umemi.

Japanese Bush Warbler (uguisu)

Many Japanese poems (waka) have plums as their subjects. It isn't known why, but very early, a bird commonly known as a Japanese Bush Warbler (uguisu) became associated with ume in poetry. Here is an example written by Minamoto no Sanetomo (1192 – 1219), third Shōgun of the Kamakura period (1185 – 1333).

Minamoto no Sanetomo was known more for his waka than for anything else he did in his life.

This is an uguisu.

Hanafuda is a deck of 48 playing cards popular in several East Asian countries. They are used for several games. One side of the cards is blank. The other side has a variety of pictures of plants, animals, birds, or man-made objects. One of the cards depicts an uguisu.

Artwork

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858)

Bush Warbler on a Plum Branch (1833 - 1836).

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798 – 1861)

Plum Blossoms in the Evening Snow (1846 - 1848)

Hiroshige II (1826 – 1869)

Red Plum at Ômori Yamamoto in Tokyo from the series, Thirty-six Selected Flowers (1866).

Ohara Koson (1877 – 1945)

Blue Bird in Plum Tree (1910)