Chikyu Greetings - Japanese Card - Plum Blossom

Chikyu Greetings - Japanese Card - Plum Blossom

A Japanese folded greeting card, published by Chikyu Greetings, with a red and white plum tree in blossom and a bird perched among the branches, set against a gold-leaf background.

The ume (梅), the Japanese plum, flowers in the depth of winter, while it is still cold and no other tree has dared. That is why in Japan it stands for endurance and for the announcement of spring, and why it is the flower that presides over New Year celebrations. Here it appears in its most festive version, kōhaku — the red-and-white pairing reserved for occasions of celebration — with the flowers set directly on dark, bare branches.

The bird is the uguisu (鶯), the Japanese bush warbler, whose song is taken as the first sign that winter is ending. Plum and uguisu is one of the classic pairings of Japanese art: it has appeared in poetry for more than a thousand years, on folding screens, on kimono, and even in hanafuda playing cards, where the two share the month of February.

The background is worked with square metallic foils applied in a regular grid, imitating the technique of the old gold-leaf folding screens. This is what gives the card its sumptuous look: as the light moves, the golden lattice shifts in brightness behind the flowers.

The card is folded, opening like a book, and comes with an inner sheet printed with a message and a standard envelope cut to size. The format is designed precisely for sending greetings abroad: the manufacturer itself recommends it for writing to people outside Japan.

Ideal as a New Year card, to accompany a gift, or to frame and keep as a small decorative print once it has been read.

About Chikyu Greetings. Chikyu Greetings, based in Asakusabashi (Tokyo), is a Japanese stationery publisher whose "Chikyu" brand goes back to the Meiji era, around 130 years ago. It specialises in greeting cards and paper goods — envelopes, letter paper, pochibukuro, stickers and Japanese-style bookmarks — with a style the company itself describes as basic, warm designs with a touch of whimsy.