![Photo of Japanese plum blossoms](https://i0.wp.com/lestaylorphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Tiny-Glow-of-Spring.jpg?fit=1024%2C678&ssl=1)
Plum Blossoms at Yushima Tenjin Jinja
Although Japan’s most famous flower is almost certainly the Cherry Blossom, the country also boasts another beautiful floral tree known as Ume [oo-meh], better known in English as the plum blossom. Like most flowers these come in a variety of colors, though primarily visitors will run across two specific colors: pink and white. While these lovely trees are not as numerous as the Cherry Blossoms, there are many great places around Tokyo to enjoy them....
![Photo of komainu](https://i0.wp.com/lestaylorphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Frozen-Protector.jpg?fit=1024%2C678&ssl=1)
Frozen Protector
This is another photo from one of the big snows we had around Japan in February. The statue here is called “komainu” – a lion/dog which is believed by some to protect the nearby shrine from evil spirits. I don’t know about that, but I do know it makes for an interesting photographic subject and I’ve often been interested by this particular angle, but until it snowed I had a hard time getting a shot...