Sugita Plum Festival official website

February 15 (Sat.) – 16 (Sun.), 2025

＜Donation Drive to Continue Sugita Plum Blossom Festival＞
Blessed with fine weather and plum blossoms in full bloom, this year again we had a large number of visitors, 3,915 on Saturday, February 15 and 2,889 on Sunday, February 16, for a total of 6,804 people, who enjoyed viewing the plum blossoms. We would like to thank the many people who donated 562,165 yen over the two days of the festival.　We would like to ask for your continued support and cooperation for the continued holding of the Sugita Ume Festival and for the development of Sugita as a town of plum blossoms.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Chairman of the Sugita Ume Festival Executive Committee

What is the Sugita Plum Festival?

During the Tensho period (1573-92), Lord Nobushige Mamiya, then governor of the territory planted many plums trees in the deserted area of Sugita village where people find no use for farming,

Since then, this place, Sugita became known as popular sightseeing spot for it’s beautiful plum blossoms and was visited by many tourists from all over the country and finally drew the attention of famous Ukiyoe painter, Utagawa Hiroshige and was added to his collection as “Plum Grove in Bushu Sugita”.

However, a few hundreds years from EDO period, the majority of the plum grove got aged and deteriorated by salt or other environmental factors and eventually by the end of the Meiji period, the majority of the original beauty was almost lost.

Bushu-Sugita Plum Grove

Date of production: 1852, Artist’s name/Utagawa Hiroshige (first generation) / Painting by Hiroshige

Sugita’s plum grove no longer retained its original beauty, however at its peak time in EDO Genroku period (1688-1704), 36,000 plum trees were in full bloom in the best season. In the late Edo period (1603-1868), the beauty of Sugita plum grove was often mentioned in books and travel guides which generated more visitors of sightseers, writers and painters. This specific painting displays the scenery of beautiful ladies strolling in the village of Sugita to appreciate plum blossoms in full bloom. In the background, the tip of Honmoku, Kanazawa are partially visible, and the Boso Peninsula is drawn in very far distance.

With the support of the Japan Tourism Agency, the Umemachi Sugita Executive Committee will hold an online live performance in 2022, a plum festival in 2023 for the first time in 100 years, and about 5,000 people in 2024, and this will be the fourth time.
Please come and enjoy the grand view of over 100 plum trees, including the historic beauty of weeping Plum Trees named Sho Sui Bai which was highly appreciated by Empress Shoken and her mother Empress Eisho, who were immediate families of the Meiji Emperor.

Displays of Sugita Plum Grove

Sugita Plum Festival Highlights
（video of February 2024 event）

▲ Ukiyoe prints of Sugita Umebayashi (Source: Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of History)

Introduction of performers

Taiko Live

Mirai Taiko Dojo

Sugita Plum Forest History

Yokohama Geigi Association

Traditional performing arts “Kagura”

Sato Kagura・Kamishiro kagura Association

Drum and Flute Club Performances

Bairin Elementary School

MDS Brass Band Performances

Sugita Elementary School

Brass Band Performance

Koda Junior High School Brass Band Club

Regga Sugita Plum Festival

Chozen Lee、Yota Kobayashi

Pop Songs & Piano Mini Live

Nao Utsumi, Yoshimi Sakurai

Evening Plum Jazz Festival

The night cruisers

Shigin with commentary by Sugita Ume

Keio University Keiginkai

Tsugaru Shamisen

Akira Esashiya

Enka Mini Live

Yukiko Sakuraba

Guitar Playing

Actor, Masahiro Murota

Small performance
“Plum Wine Drinking Child,
Poem of Umeboshi”

Troupe “Yokozuna chu chu”

Finale “Plum Town Sugita” Praying for reconstruction

Uchiwa Taiko

Event schedule

9:45

Opening Taiko Live

10:00

Opening ceremony

10:30

Songs and dances of the Yokohama Geisha