It is that time of year again my fellow Ibarakians. That time when winter is slowly fading away and spring is just around the corner. We enjoy cold weather in the morning, and warm weather in the afternoon. During this time, all the plum trees start blossoming and all the plum blossom festivals are under way. There are two big ones in Ibaraki, the Mt. Tsukuba Plum Blossom Festival which is absolutely beautiful, and Mito's Kairakuen Plum Blossom Festival, which is full of events and amazing scenery. Today, I will talk about the Kairakuen Plum Blossom Festival and the Plum Wine Festival.
Kairakuen Plum Blossom Festival
The Kairakuen Plum Blossom Festival is on through out the month of March. If you are coming by train, you can stop at Kairakuen station, which is only open during the festival, and go up the steps to the entrance of Kairakuen. The park used to be free to enter, but now it is 300 yen to get in. Once you're in, you can enjoy the many plum blossom trees around the park. You can also check out the bamboo forest, or the Kobuntei, which is the Japanese feudal style house with a tea ceremony room. (There is a separate fee to get into the Kobuntei)
During the first weekend of the Plum Blossom Festival, you can get your drink on with a huge selection of plum wines from all over Japan.
Umeshu Matsuri (Plum Wine Festival)
I have been waiting for three years for this event to come back. I used to go to this plum wine tasting event every year until COVID hit. Now, it is finally back and better than ever. Unfortunately, the plum wine festival is over for this year but you can definitely attend next year.
As I stated before, this event is usually held on the first weekend of the Plum Blossom Festival. The plum wine tasting is in the area of Tokiwa Shrine, which is the shrine near the main entrance of Kairakuen. First, you got to get your ticket. The ticket is about 1,200 yen, unless you get the fast pass which is an extra 500 yen I believe. You can buy your ticket online or at the event.
After you are given your ticket, it is time to wait.
Waiting
After you get your ticket, it is time to wait (unless you got the fast pass). The wait time is usually 10-20 minutes. You wait with your group in one tent. Then you are given a colored badge, and after that you are moved to the entrance tent where the rules are explained. The rules are you have 20 minutes to try as many different plum wines as you can. You are given a small shot cup, which is to be your cup for the entire 20 minutes. You pour your own plum wine the whole time. The staff asks you to only pour a thimble sized pour so everyone can enjoy all the plum wine at the event. Once your time is up, the staff will call your colored badge and you are to exit the tent.
This time around, my wife was unfortunately working, but I went with a few friends and we got to tasting.
That's a lot of plum wine!
140 different plum wines in 20 minutes!? That is insane and impossible. I have been going to this event for years and I have never tried all the plum wine in the tent. The best number I ever got up to was 80. But after 50 different kinds of plum wine, I usually get a little tipsy so that number may not be accurate.
The plum wine categories are: plum wine, fruity plum wine, nihonshu based plum wine, shochu based plum wine, and brandy based plum wine.
This time around I got to try 50 different kinds of plum wine. I won't go into all 50, but I will give you my top three.
Mango Milk Plum Wine
At number 3 we have the mango milk plum wine. This plum wine had a strong taste of mango and it was very thick. Not really strong on the liquor, but something nice to have as a dessert after a meal.
I should also mention that you can buy a bottle of the plum wine you tried after the tasting, at a separate tent. I wanted to buy this mango milk plum wine but alas, I ran out of funds.
Shochu based Plum Wine
At number 2 we have Kishuuroman. This was a shochu based plum wine and it freaked me out when I first saw it. First off, it is completely clear. Most plum wine have a gold or brown color to them, but this looked like a bottle of pure shochu. Second, there were little small pieces of eatable gold in the bottle, like the famous liquor Goldwasser. I don't hate shochu but I am not a huge fan of it. I wasn't sure I was going to like this plum wine but nevertheless I tried it. After trying it, I have to say that it was pretty damn good. It didn't have a strong taste of shochu but you can tell that it was in there. It went down smooth and felt oddly refreshing. I looked for a bottle of this plum wine at the shop, but they were all sold out.
Nihonshu based Plum Wine
Drum roll please. At number 1 we have Psycho. Wait, that's not right. Saiko. There we go. At least I think that's the name. At this point, I wasn't fully sober. Anyway, I love nihonshu, and I love plum wine. Put those two together and you have a match made in heaven. This plum wine blew my mind. It was a perfect mix of hard spicy nihonshu with that sweetness from the plum wine. It was some strong stuff, but it doesn't really show at first. It is one of those "you will feel it later" liquor drinks. That makes this plum wine deliciously dangerous. I absolutely loved it and I am thinking of scouring the internet to buy a bottle.
My 20 minutes were up and it was time to finish. My friends and I stumbled out of the plum wine tent and decided to get something to nibble on.
The food
Now I know this is Ibaraki Eats so I should talk about the food at this festival. The plum wine tasting has no food, except a small bag of kaki no tane, which is nuts and small rice crackers.
For other food, you have two choices: the restaurant outside the entrance of Kairakuen (which I have never tried), or the many yatai's around the festival. It is the usual yatai food; yaki soba, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, etc. Nothing amazing, but nice to have with a beer.
Unfortunately, the Plum Wine Festival is over for this year, but you still have a chance to enjoy the plum trees at the Plum Blossom Festival happening now. I believe the plum trees will be in full bloom this weekend, so this would be a great chance to check out the festival. You can also buy Kairakuen's plum wine, which is called 100 Year Plum Wine. It is very tasty.
So this month, enjoy some great scenery and delicious plum wine at the Kairakuen Plum Blossom Festival. If you are a plum wine connoisseur, then you definitely need to check out the Plum Wine Festival next year. Who knows, you might see me there, trying different plum wines while wondering how many I have tried thus far.
Enjoy!
For more information on Kairakuen and the Plum Blossom Festival, check out the official Kairakuen website:
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