It is the beginning of July and we have just had the big season for plum wine (umeshu - 梅酒) making here in Japan. If you like the taste of plum wine you can even try to make your own, as starter kits are available in almost any of the bigger grocery stores here.

It is actually quite easy to make your own umeshu even without a kit, and it is said that it is hard to fail at making it, so even if you have any experience making drinks you could easily give it a try.


Below I'll give an easy explanation about how to make your own plum wine.

What you need:

●Plums　1kg
●Sugar　Around 700g
●White liquor　1.8L
●A clean container (For instance a 5L bottle)

① First you leave the plums in a bowl of water for a couple of hours before cleaning them. It is important to remove all dirt from the plums to avoid any fungus developing during the period the plum wine is left to mature.

②Dry the plums & remove the plum stems

④Fill the jar with plums and sugar in layers one after the other. Be careful so that the plums don't get crushed.

⑤Pour the liquor carefully into the jar

⑥Once you have filled up the jar, leave it in a dark place. From time to time you can shake the jar carefully to make sure that the sugar is evenly mixed.

...And that's it! Now you only have to wait a year or so before the umeshu is ready (it is drinkable after three months or so, but the longer you wait the better it gets!)

Step 4: Plums and sugar

When can I make plum wine?

If you find yourself in Japan the best season for making plum wine is around May-June. This is also when you can find equipment and ingredients prepared for you in the stores. Apparently the best timing to use plum for wine making is 3 months after the plum flowers have bloomed, so you can time it depending on when the plums bloom in your country.

Plum wine ready to be stored

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below
Anette

In Japan it is very common to make a so-called Wedding Profile Video (プロフィールビデオ) that shortly introduces the happy couple and shows how they got together. Apparently as many as 71.9% of couples in Japan show Wedding Profile videos in their weddings, and among them 56.9% of the videos are made by the couple themselves. If you're interested in making a Wedding Profile Video for your big day you can check out some tips here:


7 tips for making a great Wedding Profile Video:
1. Focus on making a movie that guests won't get tired of watching
2. At the same time both the bride and groom should have a chance to show the pictures they want
3. Make a movie that contains comments and/or messages
4. ...That are shown at a speed where it's possible to read what is written
5. Even if the video doesn't have a clear development it should stick to its form
6. Give the video variation by using two to three songs
7. Make a video that doesn't disturb the progression of the wedding reception


There are some general guidelines for making a wedding profile video. First of all the video should be well balanced, and is usually divided into 3 parts; the background of the childhood of the groom, the bride and finally a section with the the happy couple together. Adding music is also an important part of the process, and most people choose between 1 to 3 songs for their video.

Part 1 & 2:
From baby to school age: Around 5-10 photos each
School age (from elementary school & up):
Around 10-15 photos each
Recent years: Around 5-10 photos each
Length: Approximately 2:30 min each

Part 3:
30+ photos (depending on your storyline, editing style & length of the song)
Length: Approximately 3 min

Total length of video: Around 6-8 minutes

As mentioned, one important thing to keep in mind is that it would be boring for guests if all the photos contained pictures of the bride/groom only. Adding photos that also include friends and family will make it a more interesting experience for the people that are watching.

My darling Yuma and I recently celebrated our wedding together, and I prepared this very, very simple homemade wedding profile video just using iMovie, the default movie editing program on Mac. Even though the quality might not be super top notch or anything we got a lot of positive feedback from our guests, who seemed to enjoy both the homemade style of the video as well as getting to know more about both our backgrounds and common story. If you have access to a regular video editing program and some time on your hands this type of video could be a great way to spice up your wedding ceremony.!

If you have any questions or comments feel free to drop a note below! Thanks for reading :) -Anette

• All blogposts about wedding
• How to make a Japanese Wedding Profile Video (プロフィールビデオ)
• Happy Wedding: Reusing my Mom's Old Wedding Dress
• White Pigeon Wedding Modeling in Kyoto! 
• Modeling for Kyoto Weddings: My Japanese Wedding, or the day I (Almost) Married a Stranger

Recently there has been a lot of online sites with interesting craft projects for wine corks. If you, like me, tend to end up with a larger number of wine corks that you somehow never end up throwing away, this might be a good chance to use the corks for something useful. Here is some pictures from my recent craft project making magnetic cork planters: