Winter flowers in Japan: wintersweet (robai)

Wintersweet, which is also known as Japanese Allspice, is a deciduous shrub that flowers, as the name suggests, in winter. In Japanese it is called roubai / robai / rōbai / ロウバイ /蝋梅. The rou of Roubai is the kanji for wax and bai is the kanji for plum blossom. Therefore, sometimes they are called wax plum blossoms or Wax Japanese apricot, as plum blossoms were once called Japanese apricot.

Wintersweet is a beautiful shade of yellow and has the most divine sweet smell. You can often smell the wintersweet before you see them. Right now they are scenting the air around the Kanto plain. By and large they bloom at some point in January. But it is not uncommon for them to start to bloom as early as mid December. They often bloom right up until the end of February. It will depend on their location (flatlands vs mountain), the variety and the weather, among other things.

There are several places you can see wintersweet, such as parks and along hiking courses. Some displays are larger than others. In Saitama Prefecture, there is a wintersweet grove on Mt Hodo (Nagatoro / Minano). There is no entry charge. They have a wintersweet festival each year and, in 2025, it starts next week. Information for the grove on City-cost reviews here.

Have you seen any nice wintersweet groves? Any to recommend?