M002 - Ume 梅

Menuki with leaves and plum flowers 梅 pattern.

Menuki Omote: 40 mm length, 12.5 mm width, 4 mm height

Menuki Ura: 42 mm length, 11.5 mm width, 3.5 mm height

The Ume (梅) or plum tree is native to China. It is actually more closely related to apricot, and the fruit of these trees are sometimes called Japanese apricots.
In the ancient Hanakotoba (the language of flowers), these flowers are a sign of elegance and loyalty to finally become a symbol of beauty and optimism. The first flower to open and to intoxicate us with its perfume in the hardest days of the year, it is the birth of life.
They bloom in the spring just before the cherry trees. In the Edo period, plum blossom became a very auspicious motif: as it still blooms covered with snow, it is a powerful symbol of the strength of life.
Combined with pine and bamboo, you get the shōchikubai (松 竹 梅), symbol of the Japanese New Year.