Ume Matsuri at Yushima Tenmangu

Let’s continue the story about 梅 ume and spring in Tokyo. Over the last weekend, Tokyo was blessed with wonderful weather that couldn’t keep me inside. So, Saturday, I headed to this shrine I have heard of as being famous for its beautiful plum flowers (ume) and for Tenjin, the kami (god, spirit in Shinto) of learning, thus being a popular place for students to come and pray before exams (it was so crowded as now it is the exam season in Japan…). This is the place to go to when you want to pass an exam, hehe.

*First time I saw so many Ema, all with wishes for passing exams*

Yushima Tenmangu Shrine is close to Ueno station and the matsuri lasts for a month, from Feb 8 to Mar 8, 2018. Don’t miss it out if you are in Tokyo or plan to visit soon!

Matsuri, or festival in Japanese, is a popular celebration usually held at Shinto shrines, and its celebrations range from the anniversary of the shrine to celebrating a certain kami or even celebrating autumn leaves or various types of flowers that Japanese people love, like in this case, Ume Matsuri or The Plum Blossoms Festival. Plum blossoms, first to open during the year and announce the coming of spring, used to be Japanese people’s favorite flowers before cherry blossoms gained popularity. They were originally introduced from China and the most important difference between plum blossoms and cherry blossoms, I think it is the sweet fragrance plum blossoms have.

You know it’s a matsuri at a shrine when there are many yatai or food stalls selling all kind of delicacies such as dorayaki, fried squid, takoyaki, okonomiyaki and the list goes on. And besides food, there are traditional performances you can see at such festivals, for example, at Yushima Tenmangu they had taiko show performed by a group of children and Biwa performance was advertised on the festival’s poster but unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to see it while I was there.

However, I got the chance to see a traditional Japanese wedding for the first time and I was really impressed by the gorgeous garments. I think the couple chose really well to have their photos taken with the wonderful white and pink plum blossoms. White blossoms perfectly matched the bride’s dress.