I decorated the room with the plum branches I received.  The room is closed except for the ventilation windows. So the scent of plum blossoms spreads in the rooms, making me feel as if I’m  in a plum garden.  Flowers now mean cherry blossoms, and until the early Heian period, they meant plum blossoms.  For example, the flower that appears most often in the Manyoshu is Hagi, followed by plum blossoms.  Cherry blossoms rarely appear.  I think this transition is an interesting theme in Japanese cultural theory, but I don’t see or hear much about it.  Both plum and cherry blossoms are spring season words in haiku, but the difference is that plum blossoms bloom when it is still cold, but cherry blossoms blossom in the mid-spring.  There is also the difference that plum blossoms are scented flowers and cherry blossoms are flowers seen.  The main character of the flower may have changed due to these differences.

頂いた梅の切り枝を部屋に飾りました。換気窓以外は締め切っている部屋部屋に梅の香りが広がり、まるで梅園にいるかの様です。花と言えば今は桜ですが、平安時代初期の頃までは、花と言えば梅でした。例えば、万葉集で最もよく登場する花は萩で、次が梅。桜はほとんど登場しません。この変遷は日本の文化論として面白いテーマだと思いますが、あまり見聞きしません。梅も桜も俳句では春の季語ですが、梅はまだ寒い頃、桜は春の真っ只中という違い。梅は香りの花で桜は見る花という違い。こんなことから、花の主人公が変わったのかも知れません。