JOURNAL ・ FIELD NOTES

Red and White Plum at Kairakuen ― Early Spring in One of Japan's Great Gardens

Mito, in Ibaraki. In February, while the wind is still cold, there is a flower that announces spring before any other. This is Kairakuen, one of the three great gardens of Japan. Around 100 varieties and 3,000 plum trees open their branches in red, in white, in the palest pink, filling the grounds with a soft, clear fragrance. Too late for snow, too early for cherry blossoms — only in that in-between season does this place quietly take on its colour.

The fragrance arrives before spring itself

Plum season reaches you through scent before sight. As you pass through the entrance, while your eyes are still searching for the flowers, a sweet and lucid fragrance is already at your nose. Stop, turn, and you notice small lamps of red and white lit here and there along the grey branches. Unlike cherry blossoms, which bloom all at once and fall together, plum varieties open at staggered times — early, mid, and late — so the flowers can be enjoyed over a long stretch from mid-February to the very end of March. It is in the cold air that their fragrance rises most distinctly of all.

A lord who opened the garden to everyone

Kairakuen was conceived by Tokugawa Nariaki, lord of the Mito domain, in the early 1830s and opened in 1842. Its name comes from a wish to take pleasure together with the people. This was not a garden for the lord alone; he planted thousands of plum trees so that the people of the domain could rest here together — an idea that has been carried on for more than 180 years. In the emergency room, I work pursued by time that passes minute by minute. But in this garden of plum, time flows slowly, at the pace of the season. In the taut air of early spring, the quiet resolve of a flower that has chosen to bloom before all others somehow straightens my back.

On a branch still cold, a single lamp of red and white.
Spring begins here.

Planning your visit — season

The plums bloom slowly, unfolding across a long season.

The plum blossoms are generally at their best from around mid-February to mid-March. Because varieties bloom early, mid, and late, each visit through February and March brings different flowers. During this period the Mito Plum Festival is held across Kairakuen and the nearby Kodokan, with evening illuminations and a variety of events. Admission to the main garden is around 300 yen for adults, and during the festival there may be special events or changes to opening hours. Dates and fees vary from year to year, so please check the official Kairakuen website for the latest information.

Getting there

The gateway is Mito Station on the JR Joban Line. From the bus terminal at the north exit, take a bus bound for Kairakuen, about 20 minutes. In some years during the plum festival, JR opens a temporary station, Kairakuen Station, right beside the garden, so you can step off the train and arrive directly. From the Tokyo area, a limited express reaches Mito Station in about an hour and a half — just the right distance for a day's journey into early spring.

Tips for photographers

Plum is a flower that shines in backlight. Held against the soft, slanting light of morning or the low light of late afternoon, the petals glow as if lit from within. To frame red and white plum together, leave a little distance between them and let the red stand out against a white backdrop, so the contrast comes alive. A close composition that draws out the line of a single branch, and a distant one that takes in the whole grove, are both true to Kairakuen. Move in close, as if you mean to capture the fragrance itself.

While you're in the area

On a rise within the garden stands Kobuntei, a wooden pavilion whose design Nariaki himself had a hand in; from the third-floor Rakujuro you can look out over the plum grove and Lake Senba. The lake spread out below is said to have been one of the reasons Nariaki built his garden here, borrowed as scenery beyond its walls. After the plums, a slow walk along the shore — watching the early-spring sky reflected on the water — is well worth your time.

🌸 Early spring at Kairakuen, in a single print

We bring you Mito's early spring, announced by red and white plum, as a silver-halide print on FUJICOLOR's finest photographic paper. Each print is carefully finished and shipped worldwide.

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