When talking about “HANAMI (the flower viewing)”, many people think of cherry blossom. It is reasonable, in addition to say that the Japanese has the culture to value the sense of distinct four seasons. UME, the plum, blooms around RISSHUN, which means the first day of the spring in the traditional calendar, in early February.

Red colored, white colored, with drooping branches, single flowered or double flowered… the plum flowers of different appearances color the coming of the spring.

“UME” is a haiku seasonal word in the spring, often composed in Waka poems. It shows the plum is one of the familiar flowers to Japanese people.

It is cultivated in each place of the whole Japan, also used a lot as a garden tree. Flower viewing is one way to enjoy it, and the fruit after the bloom to eat is another. "NANKO-UME" of Wakayama has the largest edible plum production in Japan, famous as a big fruit for UMEBOSHI, pickled plums.

The most famous plum product for Japanese is definitely UMEBOSHI, pickled plum. We still have the custom to make it in many areas in Japan. You may not have experienced it yet, it has the super sour taste. Most Japanese automatically collect the saliva in our mouth when just imagine it. It’s a kind of Pavlov’s Dog!

This sourness is a citric acid. It is said to be effective in preventing and relieving fatigue, most suitable condiments heal the body after the hard work. Rice and pickled plum was a Japanese representative traditional lunch called “Hinomaru Bento” which is taken from the Hinomaru, the Japanese flag, which has a white background with a red circle in the center. UMEBOSHI has been a good partner of Japanese lunch box from the old days for an antiseptic effect.

In addition, it is reported other effects such as Mumefral for smoother blood, suppressing blood pressure elevation and blood sugar level, inhibiting the activity of Helicobacter pylori.

Formerly, there was a restorative that a drug seller whose ancestor is a doctor of Mogami Family, the lord of a castle when Yamagata was most prosperous, passed down. After it had been popular as a folk medicine, it started to sell as a candy easier to eat and better taste named “NOSHIUME” at the beginning of the Meiji period, almost 150 years ago.

There are many companies making snacks made of plum in Yamagata area.

Mito city of Ibaraki prefecture, which has “Kairakuen”, a famous Japanese garden, especially plum flowers is also famous for it.

NOSHIUME is a sophisticated candy of amber transparent color that are made of plum fruits, sugar, and agar boiled in a big pot, thinly expanded and jellified, wrapped with a bamboo-sheath.

SATO-YA is an originator of selling “NOSHIUME” above, the manufacturing method is inherited from generation to generation. They use only fully ripened plum harvested in Yamagata, thinly expanded on the glass plate, the texture is extra fine and smooth compared to other products of another company.

Take some during or after a long flight for refreshment to heal your fatigue, it is one of a recommended souvenir of Japanese healthy and delicious candy.