Shobai is a Japanese term that refers to the act of enjoying plum blossoms in full bloom. The plum blossom season in Japan ...

Ahead of cherry blossom season, the ume or plum blossoms brighten up the colder months in Japan. This guide introduces the different varieties. This type of ume is close to the original species ...

Japan is currently right in the middle of plum blossom season. Though they don’t get as much attention internationally as cherry blossoms, plum, or ume (as they’re called in Japanese) flowers are also ...

While cherry blossoms are often seen as the quintessential Japanese flower, the plum blossom once signaled the arrival of spring. Introduced from China around 1,500 years ago, plums were already ...

Kairakuen, which is widely regarded as one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan ... still view the pink and white blossoms of the early-blooming types. "Plum ambassadors" promoting ...

A budding plum blossom, photographed on Feb. 15 in Futtsu, in Chiba Prefecture, during one of the 72 microseasons that mark the traditional Japanese calendar: this period, between Feb. 14 and 18 ...