Mito Ume Festival

Mito Ume Festival 水戸の梅まつり is a Plum Festival (from mid-February to mid-March) at Kairakuen Garden 偕楽園.

In Japan, February-March is the blooming season of plums, the less-famous but no less-charming spring friend of the well-known sakura. Unlike the Japanese cherry blossoms, the delicate, gentle plum flowers are not placed so densely on the tree branches, which creates that enchanting moment of “wabi-sabi”, so intrinsic to Japanese traditional culture. https://visit.ibarakiguide.jp/en/news/33037/

The Kairakuen Garden was created by Nariaki Tokugawa, the ninth feudal lord of the Mito domain, during the Edo period. The name “Kairakuen” reflects Nariaki’s wish to make it a place where he and his people could enjoy themselves together. https://ibaraki-kairakuen.jp/en/language/

With my friends we did a day trip to Kairakuen Garden, which located about 120 km north-east from Tokyo, for the Mito Ume Festival.