Plum blossoms in Kenrokuen. 6 April 2012.
I admire plum blossoms more than sakura on principle. Plum blossoms bloom in the last throes of winter, often surviving Ishikawa’s final snow storm. They smell sweeter and are more tenacious. There’s nothing sakura can do in form or shape that a plum can’t: they can be subtly tinged with pink or violently fuchsia; they can hang from delicate weeping boughs or bloom among thick, gnarled branches. But perhaps because of their staying power, taking several weeks to blossom fully, then remaining for another week or so before fading, they don’t induce the same joie de vivre that their more famous cousin, the cherry blossom, does.
Plum blossoms in Kenrokuen. 6 April 2012.
Part of the sakura craze is, of course, weather-related. Plum blossoms tend to bloom in early March, not the ideal season for picnics as the changing fronts toy with the temperature. Cherry blossoms are the signal of true spring and promise weather appropriate for hanami (花見), flower-viewing. Plus, there’s an added element of time–because the blossoms go from buds to full-bloom to a storm of petals within 2 weeks, everyone catches a collective case of sakura fever, needing to go live in the moment and enjoy the hell out of the sakura before they are all gone. Today, I’d like to show a progression of the sakura taken from one spot in Kanazawa, the Kazuemachi tea district in Higashiyama. Kazuemachi is on the opposite side of the bridge from Higashi Chayagai, the most famous of Kanazawa’s tea districts, and has a picturesque lane of machiya, most of which have been converted into museums, galleries, and coffee shops.
This part of town is what really sold me on sakura–the feeling that there could be so much beauty in this world and not to forget to enjoy it to the fullest.
Kazuemachi 10 April 2012.
Kazuemachi 11 April 2012.
Kazuemachi 12 April 2012.
You make a good point about the plum blossoms….i kinda feel like I have a cool affinity for them as well.
Cool Japingu post~
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[…] Sakura Conversion […]
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Yes, the sakura are beautiful, but the main photo (first) that you chose of the ume blossoms is the best. I LOVE the bird sitting right in the middle and how I missed it at first.
I didn’t know ume were more fragrant. It reminds me of an orange orchard when they bloom. White flowers, and a nice smell! 🙂 I’m in Florida, so oranges galore. Haha!
I stumbled on your blog while blog hopping and I’m so glad I did! 🙂 Keep writing!
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Thanks for reading and commenting! I was quite determined to capture that bird in a photo!
This year, I actually noticed a big difference about sakura and ume. Ume smell very strongly if you stick your nose in them. (And I do, frequently.) Sakura don’t smell as much if you smell them this way, but the scent wafts into the air. The street where I took the photos was very fragrant, and it seems like the end of the cycle is when you get the most scent.
The peach blossoms and magnolias are blooming in Kanazawa, but we’re too far north for oranges and mikan. I saw mikan groves in rural Wakayama, though–they’re gorgeous.
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Cute little bird in the photo. What type of bird is it? I just returned from Vancouver, BC where there are many cherry trees all over the place. Less plum trees. Yea, it’s in my blog.
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[…] the Station of the Metro” in a more literal fashion during plum season. The beauty of cherry blossoms lies in their fleeting, delicate nature, but I prefer the plum blossom for its relative hardiness, […]
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