The Blooming of the Plums

It's a start!

It's a month until the cherry blossoms erupt into full bloom again. Before long, buds will turn into flowers and the streets will be pink for a few short weeks before going grown. For those who can't wait, though, it's a well-known fact that around here that plum blossoms come around a little earlier, and are set to be in full bloom by now. In theory.
 Actually, they aren't. It got a little colder this year. But hey, they've started blooming and should be perfect by next week or so? I would know because I went and had a look myself, just this Sunday.

A few minutes' walk away from the prestigious Tokyo University (or Todai, short for Tokyo Daigaku) is a shrine called Yushima Tenjin, known for two things: the first is its affiliation with luck when it comes to studies. Hundreds of students who attempt to enter Todai pass by and purchase a wooden tag to inscribe their prayers of success on, and leave them at Yushima Tenjin, so that the awesome Shinto God of Entrance Exams at Tokyo University can read thousands of the same prayer day after day and flip coins on whether to let them enter the college or not. (Kidding, lest I be smitten. There is no such God in Shinto.)

Yushima Tenjin, at a glance.

The second thing the shrine is known for is its grove of plum trees. The "ume-matsuri" plum festival is held between February 7th and March 7th, and is accompanied with many performances of every kind (most of them traditional Japanese) on a small stage in the center of the temple grounds. I was on the site in time to catch a lovely dance performance traditionally from the island of Sado in Niigata, accompanied by the distinctive sound of olden flute and string. It's the kind of thing I like catching, if only because it reminds me of where I am.
It was a nice visit, even though it was brief. I can only imagine what the place would've been like if the plum blossoms were actually full. If you like, though, here's a video of the aforementioned dance. Enjoy!