Red & White Prunus Mume (Japanese Apricot) 紅白梅

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Look at the striking contrast between the red and white Japanese apricot flowers and the blue sky! I saw these Japanese plum blossoms near Kanda Myojin Shrine. A coffee shop at the entrance of the shrine was selling hot amazake, a traditional sweet, non-alcoholic drink made from fermented rice.

 
If you ever have the chance to visit Japan, the Ochanomizu area—home to Kanda Myojin Shrine and Yushima Seido—is definitely recommended. Yushima Seido is just a two-minute walk from Kanda Myojin, and if you time your visit for January or February, you can enjoy red and pink Japanese camellias there, too.

2021/2/1

Weeping Plum Blossoms しだれ梅

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

You can find many Chinese plum trees in Tokyo but not so many when it comes to weeping ones. Usual plum blossoms are beautiful but weeping plum blossoms are more gorgeous and spectacular when in full bloom!

 
Plants make people more talkative. A Hamilton's spindletre tree did so and plum trees did so, too. And thanks to that, I learned about the only weeping Japanese plum tree in my neighborhood (as far as I know) and was able to take these pictures. 

The last three photos were taken three years ago in Ueno, Tokyo on a late afternoon when the Moon started rising in the sky.

2025/2/22

2026/2/8

2026/2/8

2026/2/12

Plants in the Snow 雪の日の花たち

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It's snowing in Central Tokyo, which is unusual and fun!  

2026/2/8 Weeping Japanese apricot 枝垂れ梅

2026/2/8

2026/2/8 Sasanqua camellia 山茶花

2026/2/8 Wintersweet 蝋梅

White Prunus Mume (White Plum Blossoms) 白梅

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Chinese plum/Japanese apricot trees (Prunus mume) are native to China and came to Japan about 1,500 years ago. Since then, Chinese plum trees have been cherished (e.g., blossoms viewed and fruits eaten) by Japanese people. Today, a symbol of spring in Japan is cherry blossoms but during the Nara period (710 to 794), it was definitely Prunus mume blossoms as supported by the fact that Mannyōshū (i.e., the oldest extant collection of Japanese poetry compiled during the Nara period) includes more poems about plum blossoms than those about cherry blossoms. 

Scientifically, there is (or was) no white Prunus mume trees, but red Prunus mume trees have white flowers when they cannot produce enough anthocyanins to make flowers red (or pink). In other words, all the trees in this post tried to turn their flower color from white to pink (or even red) first, but they weren't able to produce enough anthocyanins, ending up creating white flowers. This explains why and how some plum trees have both red (pink) and white flowers. 

2022/2/15

2022/2/15

Pinkish White Plum Blossoms 淡いピンクの梅

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This plum tree should produce pink blossoms, so I've been looking forward to them since last month as I did last year, but so far I've seen only white blossoms. 

Scientifically, white flowering plum trees produce white blossoms while pink flowering plum trees, like this one, produce pink and white blossoms depending on whether they have sufficient anthocyanins to make the flowers red (or pink). Apparently, the tree doesn't have enough anthocyanins.

Because of the mechanism, pink flowering plum trees sometimes produce half and half colored blossoms. (Read this post!). 

Pinkish white plum blossoms　淡いピンクの梅

Pink and White Plum Blossoms on A Tree 源平咲きの梅

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is a Prunus mume tree with pink and white flowers both on it. It started to bloom ten days ago, but at that time, it had only white flowers. Because I know how hard it is for Japanese apricot trees to have pink flowers, I almost gave up on seeing pink plum blossoms on this tree this year. So finding a pink and a white flowers back to back yesterday made me feel relieved. If you're interested in how the color of Japanese apricot flowers is determined, read the passage below. If you want to see a half-pink-half-white plum flower, click HERE! 

Scientifically, there's no white Prunus mume tree, but red Prunus mume trees have white flowers when the trees cannot produce enough anthocyanins to make flowers red (or pink). It means that this tree tries to produce red flowers, but it doesn't have enough anthocyanins to make all the flowers red (or pink). 

P.S. My mom is from Hiroshima and her relatives were killed by the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima. I'm against nuclear weapons and very angry with not only Russia's invasion of Ukraine but also Putin's remark on the potential use of nuclear weapons. I'm also ashamed that Japan hasn't signed yet the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 

 

Pink and white Japanese apricot flowers back-to-back 背中合わせの源平咲き

Prunus Mume cv. Yae Kanko 八重寒紅（ヤエカンコウ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are the flowers of prunus mume cv. "yae kanko" at the Hama Rikyu Garden. It's been a long time since I last saw such colorful flowers.

The flowers are often used for New Year decorations in Japan because they're gorgeous, i.e., double flowered and bright pink, and bloom from mid December to mid January, earlier than other prunus mume, which generally bloom from late January to late April.

The Hama Rikyu Garden, about 62 acres, was built by Tsunashige Tokugawa in 1654 on reclaimed land from Tokyo Bay. The garden was transferred to the Imperial Household Agency in 1870, then to Tokyo in 1945 and opened as a public garden in the following year. You can always enjoy some flowers/plants from cherry blossoms to autumn foliage in the garden. 

Prunus mume cv. yae kanko 八重寒紅

Japanese Plums 梅の実

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I've seen many times Japanese plums in photos, on the internet, or in stores, but it was the first time for me to see such many plums on a tree in person. Their fresh green color and round shape are so pretty!!  

Japanese apricot plums 梅の実

Half & Half Colored Japanese Apricot (White & Pink)! 白とピンクのハーフ＆ハーフの梅？

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I knew that pink and white prunus mume flowers bloom on a tree, but looking at a Japanese apricot tree blooming with not only pink and white flowers but also this "half & half" colored flower in person, was amazing enough to make me run toward the tree.

A half and half colored Japanese apricot flower ハーフ＆ハーフ？

Yushima Tenmangu Shrine Plum Festival 湯島天神梅まつり

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Yushima Tenmangu Shrine holds a plum festival annually from early February to early March. Established in 458, the shrine is known for enshrining Michizane Sugawara (845–903), a famous scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian period. Japan has more than ten thousand tenmangu or tenjin shrines, all of which are dedicated to calming the spirit of this aristocrat—who was said to have caused plagues, droughts, rainstorms, flooding, and lightning across the nation after dying in exile in Dazaifu (in Fukuoka prefecture) following a political defeat.

He was so talented not only politically but poetically that many students from all around Japan now come to the shrine and donate ema (wooden tablets) to pray for success in their entrance exams. Luckily, with no plans to take an exam in the foreseeable future, I just enjoyed the white and pink plum flowers.

Yushima Tenjin Shrine is located:

• 2 minutes on foot from Yushima Station (Chiyoda Line)
• 5 minutes on foot from Ueno-Hirokoji Station (Ginza Line)
• 8 minutes on foot from Okachimachi Station (JR Line)
• 10 minutes on foot from Hongo-sanchome Station (Marunouchi Line)