Baikoan Located in Tsukigase, Nara, Baikoan is Japan’s sole maker of karoubai (processed plum) that has preserved a production method passed down there for about seven hundred years without alteration. Karoubai refers to processed ume fruit, introduced to Nara as a medicine some 1,300 years ago by envoys to Sui and Tang China. Around seven hundred years ago, during the Nanbokucho period, it reached Tsukigase as a mordant for safflower dyeing. From the late Edo period through the early Meiji era, karoubai reached its heyday as a mordant for cosmetic red dye, and some 400 karoubai workshops operated, but demand plunged after the invention of chemical dyes. By the early Showa era only a few producers remained; after the war Baikoan became the sole manufacturer and continues to this day. Baikoan cultivates plums, rice, and vegetables and processes food across 30,000 square meters of verdant land and rich nature. Although the plums in Tsukigase were originally planted to make karoubai, the sight of plum trees in full bloom reflected on the valley and river of the Satsukigawa captivated people and made this area Japan’s first officially designated scenic spot. During the plum festival from February through the end of March, our shop offers dining and hanami from scenic box seats filled with the scent of plum. In Reiwa 6 (2024) we built the Nara Beni Workshop. This Japanese-style building incorporates traditional Japanese craftsmanship throughout. Inside the workshop, where you can feel delicate, advanced techniques and Japanese aesthetics, visitors can experience safflower dyeing using karoubai. We hope the experience becomes an opportunity to rediscover the wonders of Japanese culture. Watching the ever-changing colors of nature and the early-morning sea of clouds spreading across the Tsukigase valley can create the illusion of being in a plum paradise. Early spring light, tranquil fresh greens, the bounty of autumn, the scents of winter. We live and work with the seasons in the strict yet warm nature of Tsukigase.