Photo/Illutration An ume blossom on a cloned Japanese apricot tree at the Kitano Tenmangu shrine in Kyoto’s Kamigyo Ward on March 4 (Kenta Sujino)

KYOTO—An ume blossom that sprouted at the Kitano Tenmangu shrine here in early March is a world first that bloomed on a cloned Japanese apricot tree using tissue culture technology.

The dark pink flower emerged on a nearly 3-meter-tall tree, the biggest of five clones of the sacred ume tree that stands outside the main shrine, shrine officials said March 4.

“I am happy because the ume tree that means more to our shrine than anything else will be passed down still through many more generations,” said Kusuhiko Higashikawa, a priest with the Shinto shrine. “We hope to draw on this method to preserve our other ume trees as well.”

More blossoms appeared on this and other cloned trees, which are planted in the shrine’s famed ume orchard. The garden closed for the season on March 21.

Kitano Tenmangu is said to have been built in 947 to enshrine the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), a noted scholar and politician of the Heian Period (794-1185) who died in exile in Dazaifu in present-day Fukuoka Prefecture.

According to legend, an ume tree Michizane nurtured at his Kyoto estate flew all the way to Dazaifu and took root in the regional seat of government in the remote west of Japan, where he was demoted.

The sacred ume tree outside Kitano Tenmangu’s main shrine is said to be descended from the same “Maya Kobai” strain as the “flying” Japanese apricot of legend.

The tree, estimated to be approximately 350 to 400 years old, still blossoms annually, but the color of the petals has been fading with each passing year due to its great age.

In 2009, Kitano Tenmangu enlisted the help of Sumitomo Forestry Co. to begin culturing tissue from the sacred tree.

Six seedlings were bred in 2015. Five were planted in the shrine grounds, while the remaining one is kept at the housing company’s offices for further research.

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