🍱 Shikinbai

Kairakuen Garden in Mito, one of the three most famous gardens in Japan, is famous for its plum blossoms, with 3,000 ume trees of about 100 varieties. Kairakuen was created by Nariaki Tokugawa, the ninth head of the Tokugawa family of the Mito domain. There are two reasons why Nariaki planted many plum trees. One reason is that the plum tree, as the flower that heralds the arrival of spring, makes people feel positive about the future. And the sour taste of the plum fruit was the best food for the military, as it quenched thirst and fatigue, which led to the planting of many plum trees. In order to make effective use of all the plums harvested at Kairakuen, Prince Nariaki invented the "Shikinbai" plum tree. Clean, undamaged plums are used for umeboshi (pickled plums) and umeshu (plum wine), while damaged or unsightly plums are beaten with a mallet to remove the seeds, and only the flesh is pickled with shiso (a type of perilla). It is also called "Ume-bishio. In addition to Kairakuen, Ibaraki Prefecture has many other famous ume viewing spots, such as Koudoukan in Mito City and Mount Tsukuba. In recent years, however, the Ibaraki Prefecture's brand-name ume, Hitachino-ume, has been gaining popularity, and ume has become a specialty in terms of food as well.