It’s hard to believe but in some places Plum Blossom season is already here! My wife sent me this post from Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in western Japan showing the first blooms of the year:
This is a famous Shinto shrine (homepage here) that venerates the God of Learning, Tenjin (天神), better known in history as Sugawara no Michizane.1 I have visited Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in Kyoto, and Yushima Tenmangu Shrine in Tokyo, but Dazaifu is in western Japan where Michizane died in exile and not easily accessible for me, though my sister-in-law somehow got me a charm from there last year. I’ve always liked Tenjin/Michizane, so if I had to pick a Shinto deity, he gets my vote.
Plum blossoms, which imported from China (unlike native cherry blossoms), were trendy among the elite of Japanese society as far back as the Manyoshu anthology (7th century):
| Original Manyogana | Modern Japanese | Romanization | Rough Translation1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 和何則能尓 | 我が園に | Waga sono ni | Perhaps |
| 宇米能波奈知流 | 梅の花散る | Ume no hana chiru | the plum blossoms will |
| 比佐可多能 | ひさかたの | Hisakata no | scatter in my garden |
| 阿米欲里由吉能 | 天より雪の | Ama yori yuki no | like falling snow |
| 那何久流加母 | 流れ来るかも | Nagarekuru kamo | from the gleaming heavens |
Later, because of Michizane’s devotion to his old plum tree while in exile, plum blossoms became associated with his deified form of Tenjin, and thus Tenmangu shrines typically have some on the sacred grounds.
My own tree2 blooms in early-to-mid February and I look forward to it every year.
I hope you all get a chance to see some plum blossoms in your area too!
1 Elevating historical figures to the status of kami is not that unusual in Shinto religion.
2 Mine are more typical Thundercloud Plum trees (Prunus cerasifera), common here in the US, while Japanese umé (梅) are a somewhat different variety (Prunus mume). But I am happy with what I have.
Discover more from Gleanings in Buddha-Fields
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Gleanings in Buddha-Fields 