In Japan, there is no officially designated national flower. Besides the chrysanthemum, which is the symbol of the Imperial Family's crest, cherry blossoms are widely considered the de facto national flowers. The Japan national rugby union team, known as the Cherry Blossoms (or the Brave Blossoms), wears jerseys with a cherry blossom emblem.

However, another flowering tree holds significant popularity in Japan. Plum trees, native to China, were introduced to Japan centuries ago. The oldest anthology of Japanese poetry, the Manyoshu, contains numerous waka poems featuring plum blossoms as a subject.

The tradition of appreciating plum blossoms was introduced from China and later incorporated into banquets and plum blossom viewing gatherings with the emergence of garden culture and Zen Buddhism in Japan. Plum trees are frequently cultivated for ornamental purposes in gardens and at Buddhist temples. Influenced by this trend, aristocrats assimilated plum trees into Japan's cultural landscape.

In my area, located in the eastern outskirts of Osaka, plum trees typically bloom from mid-January to mid-March during winter. While the winter weather is generally cold, occasional warm days (especially prevalent this winter due to global warming) punctuate the season. Despite the cold, plum trees unfurl their blossoms in the heart of winter, preceding the cherry blossom season.