Following our Jan 22 post, more on Mito plums. Last week the Kairaku-en Plum Festival opened (through Mar 31). According to the Ibaraki prefectural urban parks official
site, as of the 24th about 15% of roughly 3,000 trees were in bloom. Kairaku-en boasts "Mito's Six Famous Trees"—Rekko-bai (mid-season, named for 9th lord Tokugawa Nariaki's alias "Rekko," a variety found only in Mito), Konanshomu (late bloom, said to have been brought from China by Confucian scholar Zhu Shunshui, teacher of 2nd lord Mitsukuni), and others. After early-blooming Shironaniwa, Yanagawa-shidare has also begun to flower =photo left, from site above=.
Now a question: "The plum is Ibaraki Prefecture's flower"—YES or NO?
The answer is NO. Surprising, perhaps? Ibaraki's prefectural flower is the rose. "Ibaraki Prefecture," you see. But rest easy—the prefectural tree is the plum. A bit of a trick question—quiz show or middle-school exam material, maybe. (･w･)
Nearly half a century ago, in 1966 (Showa 41), The Mainichi Newspapers launched the "Green Nippon National Campaign" to choose each prefecture's tree. In Ibaraki a selection committee shortlisted red pine, black pine, cedar, zelkova, and plum; public votes made plum the winner. =upper left page= reports the decision in The Mainichi Newspapers morning edition of Nov
12, 1966—on Ibaraki, "Nariaki praised the plum as 'enduring winter's wind, snow and frost, blooming first in spring with pure flowers' and ho
ld it as a model for Mito samurai." =lower left page=.
Mito's city tree is also plum. The spring after I moved to Mito, the city gave me a plum sapling (for household moves and births, they say). I chose Bungo (pale pink) over Shirakaga (white). At first it looked like photo left, but branches spread quickly; from the next spring it blooms in a pot on my apartment balcony. Top photo shows bloom several years ago. This year cold snaps and snow may be why buds stay tight—bloom seems a little way off.
Turning temporary residents into Mito and Ibaraki fans—quite a nice service, I think.(^ω^)