- Audio Lessons
- Video Lessons
- Reference Materials
- My Tools
- Community
- Help Center
Welcome to the Help Center
Get Started with JapanesePod101First Steps with the System
My Account
How to Download
Basic and Premium iTunes Feed Setup
Innovative Language on your Gadget
Billing and SubscriptionsSubscriptions
Billing
Subscription Info and Pricing
FAQ, Tech Support and MoreMost Frequently Asked Questions
Tech Support
Text User Guide
Video User Guides
More about Innovative Language
The JapanesePod101 SystemLessons and Methodology

5 Most Recent Forum Posts
Sentance construction series
1:42 pm by
drennic6111
Favorite anime?
8:50 pm by
miljana3686
simple question about this greeting
4:04 pm by
sheffieldmuse12145
Missing Newbie Lessons
6:47 am by
mmmason8967
Audio lessons
6:35 am by
mmmason8967
Learn Japanese and about Japanese culture with JapanesePod101.com. When you hear about hanami (flower viewing) one often thinks of cherry blossoms, but before cherry blossoms bloom, there is another flower to be seen! Japanese Plum trees, ume, come into bloom long before cherry blossoms steal the spotlight. So, itune in to find out about these often overlooked plum blossoms.
Audio
|
Play
|
Popup
Bonus Audio
|
Play
|
Popup
Lesson Notes
Kanji Close-Up
Basic Lesson Checklist
About our Printer-friendly lesson notes
Follow along to our award winning lessons with detailed PDF Lesson Notes! These easy to print notes take a closer look at the grammar point and vocabulary words presented in the audio lesson. Plus, read more about language101 cultural topics related to the lesson.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access the PDF Lesson Notes today!
Kanji Close-Up
Take a closer look at the kanji characters used in the lesson Dialogue with the Kanji Close Up Practice Sheets! You'll learn the meaning, readings, and stroke order of each character. Plus, improve your writing with kanji stroke order practice sheets!
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access the Kanji Close Up Practice Sheets today!
About our Review Audio Tracks
Listen and repeat with the Review Track. Hear the lesson vocabulary and main phrases and repeat after the native speaker - it's the best way to perfect your pronunciation!
Upgrade your account to access The Review Track and start perfecting your pronunciation today!
About our Lesson Audio
Our team of Japanese language specialists have been releasing new audio and video lessons weekly since 2005. That's a lot of Japanese language learning! All lessons are free for the first 2 weeks before going into our Basic and Premium Archive.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access every single lesson we've ever created today!
About our Dialog Audio Tracks
The audio lesson is a comprehensive, easy to use lessons that makes learning Japanese fun for anyone. Each audio lesson contains can be downloaded in seconds to your computer, iPod, phone, or mp3 player so that you can learn quickly and be speaking Japanese in no time at all. The audio lesson is your ticket to learning to speak Japanese with confidence and accuracy, and from your very first lesson!
About our Dialog Audio Tracks
Don't have enough time for an entire lesson today? Listen to the Dialogue Only Track to hear the native Dialogue. Listening to a little bit of Japanese everyday, no matter how much, will greatly improve your listening comprehension. Guaranteed!
Upgrade your account to access the Dialogue Only Track and other Premium Tools today!
About our Grammar Audio Tracks
Tackle grammar head on with the lesson Grammar List. We break down the grammar piece by piece so you fully master the structure and formation.
Upgrade your account to access the Grammar List and other Premium lesson tools today!
About our Videocasts
Our team of Japanese language specialists have been releasing new audio and video lessons weekly since 2005. That's a lot of Japanese language learning! All lessons are free for the first 2 weeks before going into our Basic and Premium Archive.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access every single lesson we've ever created today!
About our Learning Center
Listen and read the line-by-line breakdown of the lesson conversation with this Premium Tool. Listen to each line as many times as you need until you fully understand the conversation and pronunciation. Line-By-Line Audio Transcripts are the perfect way to improve your comprehension - fast!
Upgrade your account to access Line-By-Line Audio Transcript and other Premium lesson tools today!
About our Videocasts
Our team of Japanese language specialists have been releasing new audio and video lessons weekly since 2005. That's a lot of Japanese language learning! All lessons are free for the first 2 weeks before going into our Basic and Premium Archive.
Re-activate or upgrade your account to access every single lesson we've ever created today!










This entry was posted on Saturday, March 4th, 2006 at 7:21 am and is filed under Japanese Culture Classes . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
43 Responses to “Japanese Culture Class #9 - Japanese Plum Blossoms”
Saturday at 7:36 am
皆さん、(Mina-san) Apologies for the delay in the release of today’s episode, but…..apparently armadillos hold grudges!!!! The one that caused all the problems last week was not happy about the way he was treated, and he showed up again! This time with friends!!!!


He, rather, they did a number on us! If anyone is experiencing extremely slow down loads with itunes:
please RIGHT click JapanesePod101.com and choose Podcast Update.
This should return the downloads to normal speed.
Yoroshiku o-negai shimasu.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused!
Saturday at 7:43 am
Part II
Pictures coming soon.
Kairakuen:
Created in 1841 by Tokugawa Nariaki, Kairakuen・かいらくえん・偕楽園, located in Mito・みと・水戸 the capital of Ibaraki Prefecture・いばらきけん・茨城県 contains over 3,000 plum tree, and is one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan!!
Mito Ume Matsuri is held during “peak plum season” February 20 to March 31.
Sources: (japan-guide.com)
For more info on the Mito Ume Matsuri:
http://www.mitokoumon.com
Saturday at 8:41 am
I can’t wait to listen to the podcast, I’ve heard about it from anime and manga…
Saturday at 8:56 am
these are the same cherry blossom that can also be found ‘in DC right?..i saw ‘em the last time i was there….how’d they get there?…lol
Saturday at 9:00 am
Heh. That was a good pod
“It’s the end of the fiscal year”
“Ok, now break it down”
…
Yeah, Peter has weird humor… but very funny
And I once tasted umeboshi (was inside an onigiri). Gooooooddddd, that’s so sour!!!! Don’t like it much…… but the onigiri was good
Peace!
Saturday at 9:42 am
I want to make my own onigiri but not sure how. How do you make the rice triangle?? I love nori too btw…
Saturday at 9:54 am
The more I tune into Japanese Pod, the more i find similarities in the Chinese and Japanese cultures. Soured Plums are really popular amongs the pregnant Chinese women. There is like 101 range of sour plums. They have it sweet, salty, sour, ultra sour and loads more.
Interesting similarties !
Saturday at 11:36 am
Completely off-topic here, but has anyone tried any pocket pc based Japanese learning software? I’m looking at Stackz from MindDate software. Can anyone recommend it, or any other flashcard learning software for PDA/Pocket PC?
Saturday at 12:17 pm
Todays Kanji looks a lot like Ushi !
I love Ushi !!
Saturday at 12:26 pm
Great podcast.
I was looking for my friends story about how her daughter brought in an Ume stick with the blossom on it…but sadly I could not find it…I will ask her where it is…or what as happened to it.
I have to say, I really like umeboshi…Pickled plums. It is oishii, and yes, it is goes well with rice. I also really like onigiri
I actually burned all the intermediate lesson on to CD…well actually I had to use 2 CD’s as one could only hold three. I have been listening to them in the car….which means my Coldplay and Gorillaz, Kaiser Chiefs and Killers CD’s have been put to one side…Now it is JapanesePod101 Intermediate lesson and maybe some Japanese music…Possible The Kung Fu Generation, or Triceratops
Going back to the pervious post. There is a female singer from Okinawa whom I really like. I love her voice, her name is Chitose Hajime.
I have also found this site which you buy some CD’s from singers from Okinawa:
http://www.farsidemusic.com/acatalog/index.html?http%3A//www.farsidemusic.com/acatalog/Solo_Female_Modern.html&CatalogBody
The main page is:
http://www.farsidemusic.com/
It also as an interesting section on the History of Japanese music.
Anyway..It was so interesting to know that Hanami was once refering to Plum Blossom viewing.
Ume ochikochi 梅遠近 Plum-blossoms everywhere,
minami subeku 南すべく I should go south,
kita subeku 北すべく I should go north.
Is there a tradtional Japanese song for ume blossom, like there is for Sakura blossom?
I have an idea. I was thinking would it be a good idea to have a small Japanese quiz…say once a month…..Just something a bit fun…not serious but still enough to test ourselves with, then when it is time for the next quiz, you can reveal the answers for last months quiz….Just an idea…thats all.
Oh well, that’s enough from me today.
O-genki de
Steve
Saturday at 7:40 pm
Bryan-san, very funny!
Your post prompted me to look into the issue a bit, and I found some good reading:
http://www.nps.gov/nacc/cherry/history.htm
quite interesting!
Alexander-san, thanks!
Yes, one of the toughest things for many Japanese to understand is Western humor (or at least my definition of it
). One of the main reasons I do this is to show you this “humor gap” as it is one thing you will definately come across.
Ayu-san, we’re going to address that!
They are really great! Starts with the rice, as you need the “sticky” Japanese rice.
Some pictures
http://blog.greggman.com/japan/onigiri/onigiri.htm
Some instructions
http://www.shejapan.com/jtyeholder/jtye/living/onigiri/onigiri1.html
dOw-san, yes, there are many! I think we’ll try to compose a list of them! One of the most unique features about the Japanese is their ability to absorb outside influence, while at the same time give it a Japanese “twang” or twist!
Matthew-san, Jonas-san or Nathan-san will be along shortly!
Gevorg-san, yep, just slide the top part down a bit and you have ushi. Maybe to help remember you can think of noon, at what time the sun is the highest in the sky (give or take an hour or two for all you astronmers out there), and associate noon with the top part being ALL the way at the top. Did that make sense?
Steve-san, as always, thanks for the great post! We’d love to hear the story if you find it! Wow, we’re making the daily trip with you! That’s great! Yes, the intermediate are particularly good to listen to over and over! The stuff in there is the real deal!


Chitose Hajime…I’ll have to check her out. I am a little behind on my JPOP these days.
Blossom song…..not sure, but let’s ask Sakura! I too would like to hear her again!
As for the quizzes, were up to something.
Saturday at 8:06 pm
I lives an hour south of Mito. I lived in Bandou Ibaraki. I used to go to mito all the time with my schools club
Saturday at 8:24 pm
Bryan-san, the cherry trees in Washington DC seem to have been sent from Japan as a gift. As you say, the main kind of cherry (Somei Yoshino) there is the same one that we go and see for cherry hanami
They are very nice!
http://www.nps.gov/cherry/indexB.htm
By the way, the one we introduced is this one. Ume.
Some of the famous ume spots “ume no meisho” are also included.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2013.html
Alexander-san, your umeboshi reaction is so funny!
Some old people put sugar on umeboshi and eat it by itself to go with green tea. Hehehe.
Ayu-san, I found an interesting piece about rice and making onigiri on the Japan Forum’s site. On page 3, they show a photo of the shape of the hands for making it triangle. It’s funny the way everybody’s onigiri triangle is different. Mine tends to be fat and roundish. I wonder what yours are going to be like.
www.tjf.or.jp/eng/ge/gepdf/ge01rice11.pdf
d0w-san, very interesting! Umeboshi used to be extremely popular among Japanese pregnant women, too! Omoshiroi desu ne—.
It’s just that nowadays, doctors are very strict about not taking too much salt when pregnant
I’d love to try those different kinds of Chinese umeboshi!
matane!
Saturday at 8:28 pm
Peter, you’ve beaten me
Hahaha
Saturday at 8:34 pm
Sakura-san, for once I win!
Saturday at 8:42 pm
Sorry, three in a row
Steve-san, I love Chitose Hajime, too! Very exotic and cool.
It’s so perfect for this lesson! Suteki desu ne.
And thank you for Buson’s great haiku
By the way, I don’t know any traditional “ume” song. But we will definitely do the “sakura” song
Saturday at 11:02 pm
Peter-san, Sakura-san: Otsukaresama! Interesting about the sakura in washington
Matthew-san: I use Stackz on my PDA, and I love it! It is by far the best flashcard program out there that I’ve found, both on PPC and PC. I’ve actually been using Stackz for over 2 years now! So I have no problem recommending it.
Jonas
Sunday at 1:45 am
This lesson was great for me! I will be going to Japan in April, so I am sure I will see many cherry blossoms, but now I’ll also have to ask the locals where I can go plum blossom viewing too! Thanks for the great information!
Sunday at 2:06 am
Peter-san.
Has soon as I find the story, I will post it here. Mmmmmm! is there a hint of a quiz on the way
Sakura-san.
I am also pleased you appreciated the Buson’s Haiku.
I am looking for to the sakura song
O-genki de
Steve
Sunday at 6:36 am
RobGillon-san, wow you are coming to Japan at a nice time!
Here is a site that introduces some major “ume no meisho” around Japan (it’s only in Japanese). It also shows when the ume at the spot is usually best for viewing. But I heard that ume is blooming a little bit later than usual this year (and it will also be affected by the weather we will have during March), so I don’t know how much they can be counted. In April, ume in the Kanto region may be over or near to the end, but the Tohoku region will probably be going into the best ume season. 
http://www.jtb.co.jp/season/spring/ume/?AreaCode=02
Sunday at 11:36 am
thank you so much for providing this wonderful service! i download daily, and feel refreshed each time. keep up the good work!
Sunday at 1:06 pm
I love mondays! 3 jpodcasts to catch up on
another great lesson, funny and informative!
Monday at 12:17 am
Sakura-san, thank you for this site, and I’m glad to hear that things are blooming later this year, as according to the calendar, nothing is blooming by the time April comes around, but like you said, if things are blooming later, then I may be in luck!
I hear that the Kyoto area is one of the best for Sakura, and I’m going to meet a friend there for at least one day so hopefully she will be able to point me towards somewhere which is good but not too touristy!
Thank you!
Monday at 10:35 am
Peter-san,
Thank you for another interesting episode of JCC. Omoshiroi kata! I also like umeboshi but not so much for eating. They are very tasty when you put them in a warm glass of sho-chu- oishii desu!
Thank you.
John
Monday at 3:10 pm
Another Song from Japanesepod would be Great!!!
Monday at 3:10 pm
Ohh, How about a lesson/conversation in a Karaoke Bar? I’m sure all of you could sing…
Tuesday at 1:27 pm
John-san,
I think you mean 面白かった, or “omoshirokatta”.
Peter-san,
You can indeed get 梅酒 in the U.S. It’s one of my roommate’s favorite alcoholic beverages - 梅酒 and Sprite
I can’t say I’ve tried it, though!
Tuesday at 1:34 pm
Nathan-san,
Thank you for the correction. My friend had corrected that very point with “oishikatta” this morning. I should have had her edit my Japanese before posting!
Tuesday at 6:28 pm
John-san,
No problem! One of the best ways to learn is by getting out there and making a few mistakes (and then learning from them, of course)
Wednesday at 9:27 am
Hillary-san, thank you for listening!
Please keep the posts coming!
Jay-san, as always, the pleasure is our!
Thanks for understanding our warped sense of humor!
Rob-san, please keep us update on your plans! Perhaps I can finally answer your question face-to-face!
John-san, thanks for the post! Yes, you’re right on that one! You should be writing for us.
Keep the posts coming.
JP-san, we’re working on it.
Nathan-san, 梅酒 and sprite!!
Wow! Sounds interesting.
Wednesday at 1:36 pm
thanks for information about umeshu - it’s a drink I really like, but I never knew up to now how it was properly called in Japanese…:)
Thursday at 1:52 am
I just updated my podcast, and all of the sudden all the podcast that I’ve downloaded all gone….
Why it is like that??And there’s no Lesson #43
*faint*
Monday at 10:21 pm
okay, for one, this is my absolute favorite podcast, but even though you guys are awesome, you made a mistake. In the lesson notes for this one, in the text it says: By: JapanesePod.com.
I checked japanesepod.com, and it redirects you to another site, plannedchildhood.org …….. I’m sure a lot of people make the mistake of typing in japanesepod.com, so maybe you could buy the domain from them, or ask them to not redirect it there and redirect it here.
So, theres two things you might want to fix, just to make it that much better.
Wednesday at 7:53 am
Cris-san: Thanks for pointing this out. This will be fixed first time in the morning.
Jonas
Wednesday at 7:54 am
Should be “thing”, not “time”
Tuesday at 4:27 am
Hello Peter さん、Sakuraさん
Yeah, I am late but still very enjoy the classes. I usually listen to your program on the way to work and home. It becomes very important thing to me, specially when I’m on the MRT(Taipei metro) where I felt boring in.
Also my mother makes 梅酒 sometimes, last month she just gave me one bottle.
Like Japanese, some Taiwanese make the 梅酒 at home too(my grandma also did).

私は台湾の林です。Friends call me Sharon and Lin (林) is my family name. I am so happy that I found this podcasting.
Today I listened to this one and I couldn’t help to repeat the program twice! It is a very pleasant to learn all the words about those花、梅 と 桜 !
I also you mentioned Hokkaido, the BEAUTIFUL north land of Japan. I went there last fall, also my first time in Japan. It was really wonderful. And you know what I got my first time try the 梅干 with rice and お握り in Hokkaido. I like it very much! Well I have to admit that I do like sour flavor.
Ah, the つゆ season in Taiwan is coming. I plan to go Japan in May. I think I’ll miss the season of seeing sakura blossom but I will join the 浅草の三社祭. Guess it’ll be fun!
Thank you for the program, I’ll keep learning. I’ll also introduce my dad this nice program. He can speak some Japanese but always likes keep learning more! I bet he’s going to fall in love with it, haha.
じゃね!
Friday at 11:24 pm
Etymology of “tsuyu”. There are lots of possibilities. Nobody’s really sure:
http://gogen-allguide.com/tu/tsuyu.html
Friday at 1:59 am
“All Time Favorite JPOD Moments”
Time marker 7:40.
S: “It’s the end of the fiscal year”
P:“ah, fiscal, can you break it down”
S: “fiscal year”
P: “Yeah, what does it mean in English”
S: “That’s… that’s the English
I love that one. Peter does it so dead-pan.
John
Friday at 2:07 am
Save Peter Campaign™.
Time Marker 15:25
That is “Humid” not “Yumid” ピーター先生
John
Friday at 1:37 pm
Briggsさん、
I don’t think Peter先生 will understand what you wrote there. It would be like if I wrote to you that is “humid” not “humid”.
Friday at 10:01 pm
Beckさん,
Well I guess we can forgive him because “To Err is Yuman”.
John
Tuesday at 8:16 am
What else do we have?
Friday at 3:25 am
can some1 tell me what’s the title of the song they sang?
Leave a Reply