It's no coincidence that plum blossoms became connected to the enshrined goddess 'Konohanasakuya-hime' (木花咲耶姫), for 'konohana' (此の花) has long been used as an appellation for ume.

Just as at Tenman-gū shrines, ume are considered to be sacred symbols.

It is the goddess of childbirth that we have to thank for the many plum trees growing in the grounds of Umenomiya Taisha.

The word for 'giving birth' (umu 産む) and 'plum' (ume 梅) sound similar, and as ume are some of the first trees to bloom after the winter they have come to symbolise new life.

It was a little wet for an outdoor tea ceremony, but blossoms are so fleeting you have to enjoy them while you can.

On a grey day the pink blossoms really sing

the spring wind
still cold...
with such a scent of plum blossoms
I just cannot close
my windows’ paper sliders

はる風は
まだ寒けれど
梅香に
まどのさうじも
さされざりけり
-Ōtagaki Rengetsu (太田垣蓮月 1791-1875).

'Kokubaimochi' (黒梅餅 'black plum mochi'), sold for a short time by Oimatsu (老松) at Baika-sai (梅花祭), are named after a rare species of plum found at Kitano Tenman-gū.

5)
Sugawara-no-Michizane was likely born at the home and private school ('Sanin-tei' 山陰亭) of his father Koreyoshi.

Known as Kōbai-dono (紅梅殿 'Red Plum Blossom Mansion'), after a beloved ume tree (which flew to Michizane in exile), the villa was later transformed into Kandaijin Tenman-gū (菅大臣天満宮).

4)
Far less well-known than Kitano Tenman-gū, Kisshōin Tenman-gū (吉祥院天満宮) was originally a grand Sugawara mansion called Sugawara-in (菅原院).
Built in 794 by Sugawara-no-Furuhito (菅原古人-great grandfather of Michizane), it was made into a shrine after Michizane's deification.

1)
Kitano Tenman-gū (北野天満宮) is undoubtedly the home of ume blossoms in Kyotō.
Sugawara-no-Michizane (菅原道真 845-903), deified here as the god of scholarship, was passionate about plum blossoms (his favourite tree even flew to him in exile!).
From mid-February the shrine's orchard of ume trees opens.

one branch makes
Kyōto's sky...
plum blossoms
片枝は都の空よむめの花
-Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1802.
Trans. David Lanoue.

This will act as a handy thread if you are wondering about some of the best places to catch ume in Kyōto

#Kyoto #京都 #梅 #plumblossoms #ume #梅の花 #Japan

Do add your own suggestions!

Sweets to start the New Year...prayers for longevity, prosperity, good fortune, and one to celebrate the year of the snake!

The tradition of hanami dates all the way back to the Nara period, when it was plum blossoms the nobility ventured outside to enjoy...a tradition borrowed from the mainland.

It was around this time that the word 'sakura' first appears in the Man'yōshū (万葉集) poetry collection.
The Man'yōshū (万葉集 'Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves') is the oldest extant collection of Japanese waka poetry, compiled during the Nara period.