“UME” is a sign of Spring!

As you may know, cherry blossoms are the symbol of Japanese spring.

But Ume is also the sign of the spring which bloom even earlier than cherry blossoms.

Ume has very small flowers and the colors are varies such as red, white, yellow and pink. Since it is very pretty, the word “Ume” had been used for girl’s name like “Umeko” or “Umeyo” but not for kids nowadays.

The berry from Ume tree is eatable and popular food of Ume is called UMEBOSHI which is pickled in brine with Japanese basil and it is very very sour.