Plum Trees; a Treasure to the Japanese

When you think of Japan, images of Sakura (cherry blossoms) probably come to mind. However, they are not the only tree that is important to the Japanese. Plum trees, both the flower and fruit (“Ume”), have been treasured in Japanese culture throughout our history.

If you ever come to Japan, you should see and try “Umeboshi onigiri” at least once. Umeboshi is a plum harvested from our plum trees, that is then pickled. It’s one of Japan’s most traditional foods.

Plum trees are not native to Japan but their beginnings here are not certain. There are however a few main theories. One is that they were brought at 3rd century over by Wang Jin, a citizen of Baekje, Korea. Some think ume were brought to Japan by a high priest of Wu, China, during the reign of Emperor Kinmei during the Yamato Period (around 531AD). A third theory say the trees were already in Japan in the third century, but that Chinese medicine (“mubai”) made from their fruit was imported in the fifth century during China’s Sui dynasty. Whatever their origin in Japan, we have been admiring the trees and their fragrant lovely blooms since then. There is evidence of this admiration found even in Japan’s oldest anthology of poems from the 7th century; the Manyoshu.

Plum trees and their flowers have always symbolized very noble traits in Japan. The image of a plum blossom represents elegance, patience, faithfulness, and nobility. The flowers go by several names, such as, "konohana", "harutsugekusa", and "konbunboku". All three of these names herald the coming of Spring! It is said that, “Plum flowers bloom before a hundred flowers”, meaning that they are the earliest of flowers to bloom. They are the first beautiful signs of rebirth you can see after a long cold winter. This arrival of spring also lined up with the Chinese New Year in the old calendar, so the Chinese considered plum flowers to be auspicious. Therefore, we also still call New Year's Day "New Spring" in Japan. On this day, you will see many ornaments and decorations depicting plum flowers! In all these ways, you can see how much China back in old days has influenced Japan with their love of the plum tree.