THE MEANINGS WOVEN IN
梅
ume
A wish for hope, and the courage to bloom first.
Plum Blossom
01
Where it comes from
Five round petals make the plum flower. The plum blooms while snow is still on the branch, before most other flowers wake. People have long seen in it patience through the cold, and the quiet courage to open first. It stands with pine and bamboo as one of the three friends of winter, shōchikubai.
02
On the cloth
On obi, plum may bloom as whole branches, or as round five-petalled flowers scattered across the ground. Here red and silver blossoms open on black; on green, plum meets cranes in vermilion, gold, and white; and on another black cloth, red plum joins pine and bamboo.
03
To give
Plum has been given at New Year and at the end of winter. Plum trees also grow at shrines where people pray for success in study, so it suits someone facing an exam or a first step.
A word to keep
梅は百花の魁
ume wa hyakka no sakigake
The plum leads the hundred flowers. It opens before the others.
