TsukuBlog
A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
In Japan, Semi-translucent Ro-bai 蝋梅 Blossoms ( Japanese allspice) are The New Year`s First Tree-based Flowers to Bloom and Fill The Winter Air With a Welcome Fragrance
21 January, 2021
Ro-bai blooming in Tsukuba in January
By Avi Landau
Just a day earlier I had been walking through the woods, and one of my companions excitedly cried out : SO-BAI (早梅) , which in Japanese indicates plum blossoms that bloom earlier in the year than usual.
The next day, with that word, then new to me, still ringing in my ears, I arrived at the farm of a friend of mine who lives up in Hitachi Omiya ( in central Ibaraki Prefecture). As I opened the car door and was stepping out, I was enveloped in a thick, sweet fragrance.