Animals and plants, in particular the plum, are recurring motifs in Japanese art (for further information see: Maria Teresa Lattarulo, L’arte figurativa giapponese. Fiori, bellezze, visioni. 1400-2000, Progedit, Bari 2021, https://www.progedit.com/pro…/larte-figurativa-giapponese/ ); Maria Teresa Lattarulo, Luoghi famosi del Giappone. Viaggio attraverso l’arte, Progedit, Bari, 2023, https://www.progedit.com/prodotto/luoghi-famosi-del-giappone/ ).
In Japan, the plum blossom is the first announcement of spring, a sign of hope and renewal. According to tradition, the sweet season began in February – the second month in the Gregorian calendar, the first in the lunisolar one -, with the new year. In fact, the miracle of rebirth causes the bare and knotted branches of the plum tree or ume (belonging to the Prunus mume variety) to cover with round buds between the beginning of February and March. The buds open shortly afterwards until they become small, rounded flowers with many stamens whose shades range from white to pink to dark red. The oval and serrated leaves become a dark red and purple, hold five petals. There are varieties with more petals whose shape is round, this being an element of distinction compared to the cherry or sakura blossom which has petals with split ends. The difference between the dark color of the trunk and the delicate shades of the flowers provides a notable aesthetic pleasure which is improved by the contrast with the white snow. It is also pleasant to perceive the sweet and strong scent that the flowers spread all around them.
It is no wonder that the plum blossom, before the cherry tree, inspired poetry (there are numerous verses dedicated to the former in the Manyōshū) and art and was the subject of hanami among the aristocratic class. Originally from China, the plum tree had become a symbol of beauty in the Nara period (710-794), when the cultural environment was strongly influenced by the Chinese Tang dynasty. Subsequently, in the Heian period (794-1185), attention was shifted to the cherry tree which was seen as an authentic epitome of national culture. If the cherry tree represents the height of spring, the plum blossom, often delicately paired with the uguisu bush warbler, is nevertheless still a touching symbol of the approaching season, when it is only an unexpressed potentiality contained in a bud wrapped in soft snow. It is therefore also a sign of seasonal transition, an emblem of impermanence and perennial transformation, barely perceptible like the melting of snow or the rising of an ethereal fog.
Therefore, in haiku, the kigo, this being the verse containing the seasonal sign, does mention the plum when refers to the beginning of spring. Do not mistake the above for the Chinese courtly tradition which includes the plum, together with the pine and the bamboo, among the “three friends of winter”. In fact, they are tenacious in facing the cold, thus in embodying the Confucian virtue of perseverance in adversity. In this tradition, the plum also appears, with the chrysanthemum, orchid and bamboo, among the “four gentlemen”, that is, plants with qualities that make them an expression of noble spirit.
In the traditional calendar, the beginning of spring coincided with the New Year, which is why the plum tree also symbolized the start of a new year and was therefore frequently depicted in surimono, refined greeting cards, with a talismanic value increased by the association with other auspicious elements.
Even in Japanese culture – and, as mentioned above, in Chinese culture – the plum blossom is considered a noble flower for its dignity and grace in withstanding the cold; it is therefore also a symbol of purity, inner strength and good health, hence, a herald of prosperity and protection against evil. Since the blossom at hand marks a new beginning, it is the emblem of all the most tender news, such as the birth of the feeling of love, spring of the heart. The surprising flowering of that blossom, whose kindness defeats the harshness of winter, is a clear representation of the power and enchantment of love.
We are dealing with the favorite flower of Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), a Japanese poet, scholar and statesman of the Heian period who suffered an unjust exile from the imperial court. He dedicated a poem to the plum tree that he left in Kyōto asking it to send him its perfume. The tree, unable to detach itself from its master, would have reached him in flight to the place of his exile. The intellectual was deified, after his death, as Tenjin, namely as the patron of culture and calligraphy. Today many students pay homage to him in places of worship dedicated to him; this is the case for the Kameido Tenjin and Yushima Tenjin shrines in Tōkyō or Kitano Tenmangū in Kyōto where the blossoming of plum trees is celebrated every year. Plum hanami are still held throughout Japan today, in temple precincts, parks and gardens, with picnics, tea ceremonies, koto performances and frost-defying haiku lessons.
If the fragile and heroic plum blossom is a herald of spring, the fruit of the ume tree is a messenger of summer. In fact, it ripens under the rains of the monsoon season or tsuyu which marks the first part of summer, so much so that these rains are also called “plum rains”. Since many Japanese homes have a plum plant in the garden, it is customary, at this time of year, to put these sour-tasting fruits in salt to make the umeboshi condiment, or to prepare a particular wine called umeshu with them. The fruits of the plum tree have medicinal properties also known to Chinese medicine.
In addition to poetry and art, the plum also appears in the decoration of fabrics and ceramics, in family emblems, in Kabuki theater and nō theater, testifying to the centuries-old appreciation given to this flower by Japanese culture.
The plum tree is also a traditional symbol of the city of Ōsaka.
Perhaps the most iconic image of this plant is depicted in the pair of two-panel screens entitled Red Plum and White Plum by the founder of the Rinpa school Ogata Kōrin (1658-1716), preserved today at the Museum of Art in Tōkyō which holds the image rights.
Kanō Sanboku, Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons, right-hand folding screen from a pair of six-panel folding screens, late 17th century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The delicacy of this screen from the Kanō school is given by the contrast between the twisted antiquity of the trunk of a plum tree and the gracefulness of both the tiny white flowers and the birds perched on the ancient wood. Nightingales, the symbol of spring, and cuckoos, the emblem of summer, are represented together. One of the latter, extending from a thin branch, communicates with another lower down. Depicted on the left are the irises typical of summer, as if in a fusion between the two seasons. Despite the monumentality typical of the Kanō style in representing the plum tree, a sort of essentiality is perceived in response to the choice of soft colors and the presence of emptiness. Spring mists envelop the right side of the image which is set at the onset of spring – in the first lunar month -, the moment of which the blossoming of the plum tree was an omen. And so, the described floral representation becomes a typical example of impermanence.
Itō Jakuchū, White Plum Blossoms and Moon, 1755, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
In the above painting by the eccentric painter Itō Jakuchū, the rough and twisted branches of the plum tree, on which the moss is rendered in blurred spots with the tarashikomi technique, are covered, as if by miracle, with a very minute pattern of white flowers with golden stamens which, with the young the energy of their unfolding, gives new life to the ancient tree. The bright colors and abstract decorativism are notable. The plum blossom is a symbol of what is pure, like its elevation to the moon. In another shade of golden white, that orb appears as if behind a veil in a dream vision. According to Buddhism, living beings can achieve enlightenment and the small plum blossoms in front of the moon are an emblem of this.
Nagasawa Rosetsu, Sparrows in a Plum Tree, second half of the 1790s, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The spring awakening of the flowering plum has exerted an irresistible attraction on crowds of small sparrows who seem to have gathered on its branches. The latter, rendered with a twisted design made in ink and with sharp ends, softened by small white flowers, are intertwined with a rose. This flower, with velvety shades of red and bright green leaves, helps to give a touch of color to the whole. The sparrow is an animal of the peasant tradition, not the courtly one, and it is surprising to find it next to the plum tree and the rose – which is a rare subject – on a fine silk painting intended to be hung as a vertical scroll for prayer. It is a daily and country touch that gives freshness to the whole. The birds are portrayed in slightly different poses. There is a strong impression that the sparrows are talking to each other, and in fact many of them have their beaks open. Almost character nuances are captured in the behavior of the animals, for example in the graceful approach in flight of the three sparrows above, as if they were late for their arboreal appointment; in the complicity of the couple perched on the branch to supervise the meeting; in the querulous and petulant attitude of the last bird at the bottom which, with its beak wide open, tries to attract attention. Some sparrows seem to look at, as if wanting to establish direct contact with, the viewer.
Sakai Hōitsu, Bush Warbler (Uguisu) in a Plum Tree, early 19th century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
This hanging scroll celebrates the arrival of spring with the classic poetic pairing of a white plum tree in bloom with the bush warbler, or uguisu. The soft song of the animal, the sweet scent of the tree and its beauty, together represent an aesthetic pleasure that envelops all the senses. They, dormant by winter, awaken to a new birth. Even in this work, where the profile of the bush warbler is only delicately hinted at, the tender, open buds contrast with the gnarled trunk speckled with moss, this being created, as in the previous work, with the tarashikomi technique typical of the Rinpa school. Love stays aloft in the spring air like a sweet song or a sweet perfume.
Suzuki Harunobu, Woman Admiring Plum Blossoms at Night, ca. 1766, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The atmosphere of dream and mystery of this nocturnal print by Harunobu is a quintessence of the author’s intellectual and poetic sensitivity. Although it is a bijinga, an image of female beauty, the plum takes on a co-protagonist role here. The branch emerging from the stylized clouds in the upper left part of the image is illuminated by a lamp held by a young woman with an enchanted expression. Standing on a foreshortened veranda, she wears a long-sleeved furisode, a symbol of youth. The softness of the slip and tabi socks is rendered with the embossing technique. The delicate flowering of white corollas seems to recall the innocence of the girl. At the same time, the light emanating from the lamp highlights the whiteness of the face, linking it to that of the flowers and giving the impression to evoke spiritual enlightenmen. The plum, which appears like a hint of a twisted trunk cut out of the image, emerges with its flowering branch like a revelation. The novelty that nature continually generates is a counterpoint to the freshness of spirit of the young woman, spring within spring.
Katsushika Hokusai, Plum Blossom and the Moon, from the Book Mount Fuji in Spring (Haru no Fuji), ca. 1803, The Art Institute of Chicago
This artwork, which comes from an illustrated book, is a print in very delicate and extremely elegant colors due to the play of neutral tones, from dove gray to grey, and to various shades of pink that degrade in milky white. In the moonlight, the profile of the branch is outlined on which the faint color of the buds with the characteristic five petals stands out, some closed, others half-open or still completely open. The jagged shape of the branch contrasts with the perfect sphericity of the moon underlined by chiaroscuro, a novelty in Japanese painting which did not know this technique.
In the Japanese culture, the plum blossom (ume) is loved because of the early blossoming, when the land is still covered in snow. For its feature to face bravely the severity of the winter weather, this flower turns out to be a metaphor for all those humans who withstand the difficulties in life or set out on a Zen-type spiritual path. It’s not accidental that the symbol of a circle, present in the painting through the features of a full moon, is rather intended to evoke enlightenment.
Beyond the symbolic meaning of the figured subjects, the artistic work at hand shows, as in other examples such as this, the contemplative attitude of the Japanese spirit for nature. This spirit is able to see, in nature, multifaceted charming graces: sea power, mountain timelessness, waterfall gravitas and the sidereal flare of the heavenly bodies. Even the short-lived delicate flowers and the miracle of their blossoming over the bare, wrinkly branches are accommodated in a wide range of different potential emotions.
Therefore, beauty is intended not only as magnificent splendor and divine perfection, but also as levity, frailty, tenderness. These qualities get almost to talk to each other just like the moon looks as though can talk to and surround with its glow a reaching out plum blossom, the sweet smell of which rises as if it were a prayer.
In the face of the Moon’s lasting majesty, the observer’s mind turns to the delicate blossom and in turn, by analogy, to the short-term human life, often defending itself in a not flashing heroic manner.
Utagawa Hiroshige, Bulbul and Plum (Ume ni uso), 1830s, The Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
In Hiroshige’s vertical scroll-style print, the bulbul poses strutting on an angular plum branch with blooming flowers. Spring, which explodes in the opened buds, is perhaps looked at from the point of view of the pleasure district of Yoshiwara, thus according to the quoted verses: “In some places the Manzai dance comes later with the plum blossoms” (from the museum website). The Manzai dance was traditionally performed on New Year’s Eve, but in some places (perhaps Yoshiwara) it took place later, when the plum blossoms. Therefore, this flowering, not being able to coincide exactly with the first day of the first month, was predictably subject to a delay. In any case, the inhabitants of Yoshiwara also loved plum blossoms, and spring blessed even neglected places with its tenderness.
Utagawa Hiroshige, Long-tailed Bird (probably onagadori cock) and Plum (Ume ni tori), ca. 1830, The Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
In the print under examination here, the plum branch unwinds, dark and angular, with its soft and white flowers which, when they open, adorn it in contrast like snowflakes. Perched on it is an onagadori cock with iridescent blue feathers and a long tail. The animal has a sophisticated, almost coy attitude with its head turned backwards. The tail forms a long-curved line, which cuts through the void in the lower part of the image, almost using the thin and sharp plum branch as a template. Hiroshige pursues an aesthetic elegance in his floral and animal prints. The poem reads: “A lonely early plum blossom / And the whole world has spring” (from teh museum website), and therefore describes the moment when, after a harsh winter, the world awakens with a sweetness.
Utagawa Hiroshige, Bush Warbler and Plum, 1840s, The Art Institute of Chicago
Spring explodes on a thin thorny branch with the happy blooming of pink plum flowers. The slender uguisu nightingale seems to stretch out, with its wings half-closed, its tail outstretched and its beak wide open, to announce to the sleeping world, with its sweet song, the miracle that has occurred. On the empty background, crossed by the rough branch, there is a slight flickering of petals. Here is the image of wabi sabi, the beauty of imperfection, given by the angular branch, and of impermanence, symbolized by the flowers.
Ohara Koson, Sparrows and Snow Plum Tree, 1900-1936, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
The plum blossom, with its fragile beauty, is a symbol of love, and is combined in the above shinhanga print with the two sparrows exchanging sweets in flight. Spring is in fact the season of new beginnings, such as that of the feeling of love, with its aura of hope that seems to spread as the rosy buds open. The image is very tender, and at the same time dynamic thanks to the effect of the wings that cut through the void in sophisticated evolutions. It is probably inspired, on the one hand, by Kanō school paintings on the same poetic theme and, on the other, by Hokusai’s kachōga prints with their sense of movement. The depiction of the couple is enclosed by the blackthorn tree whose thin and linear branch, extending upwards, breaks the empty space, of an opalescent grey. Another poetic element is given by the soft snow, placed on the rough branch, whose whiteness contrasts both with the gray of the branch and with the pink of the flowers. When the tender plum blossom heroically peeps out of the pure cold snow on a wrinkled branch, the lyrical feeling reaches its climax.
Utagawa Hiroshige, Plum Garden at Kameido (Kameido Umeyashiki), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei), 1857, The Art Institute of Chicago
In many Japanese works, the suggestion is fueled by having to observe the scene that attracts curiosity through a visual obstacle. This is an original type of perspective. The print shown above, also by Hiroshige, is a meishoe, that is, an image of a famous place: the plum garden of the Kameido Tenjin sanctuary in Edo, where there was a tree with a peculiar shape, called Garyūbai (“Sleeping Dragon ”). However, the centrality, in the close-up representation, of the plum blossoms makes the work similar to the purely naturalistic genre. The author, depicting a rough-shaped trunk in the foreground as an obstacle that impedes the view, portrayed the consuming desire to enter a garden rather than the garden itself. The reddish sky, rendered with the bokashi technique, takes up the gradations of plum blossoms that fade from red to white. The atmosphere is imbued with spirituality, as if nature were an open-air temple made not of columns, but of flowering branches that visitors contemplate in ecstasy. The gray trunk gives the sense of an exclusion from reality that generates nostalgia. It is no coincidence that the work inspired Van Gogh who, in 1887, made a copy shown below.
Vincent van Gogh, Flowering Plum Orchard (after Hiroshige), 1887, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
The painting highlights the artist’s desire to study and reproduce the novelties in perspective, representation of space and use of color that struck him in Japanese art and which he will use, in a more free and personal way, in his other works.
For those interested in further information on Japanese art, we point out:
Maria Teresa Lattarulo, L’arte figurativa giapponese. Fiori, bellezze, visioni. 1400-2000, Progedit, Bari 2021, acquistabile sul sito https://www.progedit.com/pro…/larte-figurativa-giapponese/ );
Maria Teresa Lattarulo, Luoghi famosi del Giappone. Viaggio attraverso l’arte, Progedit, Bari, 2023, acquistabile su https://www.progedit.com/prodotto/luoghi-famosi-del-giappone/
Both texts can also be found on the main book sales sites and in the main bookstores.
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