26 Feb Early spring

Every February for the last 13 years, Koganei Park has been celebrating the early coming of spring (早春) with the small and cosy Plum Tree Festival. This year a handful of volunteers, grouped around three organizations, spent two weekends (February 14^th-22^nd) performing, guiding the guests around and offering small tokens of appreciation.

A couple of tents for the volunteers, a koto performance held by Ota-sensei and her 5 or so pupils, an open-air tea ceremony (nodate 野点) and guided tours amongst the plum trees – a simple and tasteful celebration of spring.

The koto performance, held every half an hour

The tour guide explains about the youngest plum tree in the area, received as a present in 2009.

Somewhere under a naked tree, on the side, Xiexie (謝謝) the independent performer is waiting for kids to come and play.

Xie xie, engaging the public.

The 22^nd, when I visited, was an extremely cold and windy day, so there were only a few guests, but I couldn’t have been happier for that. I got to make friends, get presents and be invited to a formal koto performance. A really wonderful experience. All those hours I spent standing in the cold melted away with a hot cup of sake and a warm welcome amongst the koto players.

The first signs of spring on a cold winter’s day.