Sweets Making at Oimatsu（和菓子教室）

Kyoto is famous not only for temples & shrines, but also for Japanese sweets! When you walk around, you'd find so many sweets shops there.

There are so many kinds of Japanese sweets, but we shouldn't forget Kyoto is the centre of sweets for tea ceremony. Most of sweets for tea ceremony are made from beans & sugar. So even vegetarians can eat them without any problems.



I went to Oimatsu in Arashiyama area to attend a sweets-making class. You need to apply it in advance to have a private class. (3 people or more is required to hold a class.) Oimatsu (Sorry, but only in Japanese) is one of the prestigious sweets shops in Kyoto with nearly 100-year history. It's main shop is near Kitano Tanmangu Shrine, but only their Arashiyama shop holds the sweets class.



When we arrived at the class, all the materials and tools were already prepared. Unfortunately, I couldn't take photos while I was making sweets because it's like making ceramics and I could touch nothing but the bean paste.




But hey!! They look OK, don't they?


The brown ones are leaves... hope you agree with it.
The green ones are Camellia japonica.



These ones are models made by an instructor.


She showed us how to make them in front of us, so even I, the Queen of Clumsiness, could make them!
(＞▽＜)b




After making sweets following the instructor's examples, you can do freely.


Our instructor made them in front of us on a whim ∑o(*'o'*)o

And here's my work!


A Christmas Tree~~~♪

The colours of materials, green, yellow & pink, gave inspiration to me(*'-'*)　You can have one of the sweets with green tea (Maccha) there after the class.

Tea Festival in Uji (宇治の茶まつり)

Hiya! It's been ages since I wrote the last post. I finally have time to sit down in front of my PC & update my blog♪ I've visited lot of places since then and now I have so many things to update. Let me go back to October today.

Every year, Tea Festival in Uji is held on the first Sunday of October. Uji is one of the two main producing areas of green tea in Japan. (The other is Shizuoka.)

This festival began after the World War II to express our appreciation to people who established & worked for tea ceremony. Expecially Zennist Eisai, Monk Myo-e and a tea ceremony master Sen-no Rikyu are important. In the beginning of 12th century, Zennist Eisai brought tea from China to Japan, and Monk Myo-e made the first tea farm in Uji. Sen-no Rikyu is the one who established tea ceremony in 15th century.



In thanks for their works, green tea, using this year's new tea leaf, is made & served in this festival. But first of all, what they do is to draw water from Uji river.

This tea must be very special(ё_ё)

Then the water is carried to Kosho-ji Temple where tea ceremony is held.












The water arrived at the temple,
then the ceremony began.

But they didn't just make a cup of tea.
First, they grinded fresh green leaf
with a stone mill.

You see, it's special!



Master Horinouchi, a tea master from Omote-sen school, makes a cup of tea for three great men. Even a tea master wears a mask when he makes tea at a temple or a shrine as he's making it for Gods, Budda and our forerunners.


In the end of the festival, tea masters visit the monument of tea whisks to show their gratitude. It's a memorial service for tea whisks. Does it sound strange? But the Japanese have thought that even tools have spirits. This idea is vanishing from the modern society, and I do wish it remain for many, many years to come.

The Japan folk crafts museum, Osaka

Now The Japan folk crafts museum, Osaka (大阪日本民芸館) (Sorry, but only in Japanese) is now holding the special exhibition of Shoji Hamada (浜田庄司), a famous folk-art ceramist, in commemoration of the 30th year since his passing.




Shoji Hamada (1894 - 1978) was one of the main members of Mingei Movement started by Muneyoshi (or Soetsu) Yanagi. Mingei means 'folk crafts,' and this word was coined by Yanagi, too. .

"Yanagi Soetsu discovered beauty in everyday ordinary and utilitarian objects created by nameless and unknown craftsmen. According to Yanagi, utilitarian objects made by the common people are “beyond beauty and ugliness”." -From Wikipedia
More about Mingei movement, refer to HP of The Japan folk crafts museum (日本民芸館) in Tokyo.

.

The Japan folk crafts museum, Osaka was established as one of the exhibitions of Japan World Exposition in 1970. And it stayed in the Expo park as a museum after the Expo.

The Expo park is between Kyoto and Osaka, on the way to Osaka International Airport (Itami Airport) marked with orange. The green cirle shows the place of Osaka city. To get to the museum, you can take Hanshin Line from the city center of both Osaka and Kyoto to Ibaraki Station, then take a bus to the Expo Land. From Itami Airport, you can directly get there by monorail.

I have been surprised that many foreign tourists to Japan showed their interests in Mingei Movement. (I'm afraid many Japanese kids don't know about this movement though..) Oh, another good place to meet Mingei is Kawai Kanjiro Museun in Kyoto.


If you have a chance & interst, please do visit them(*'-')b !!

Indigo dyeing （藍染体験） Part 2

So now, let's start indigo dyeing! The liquid in the barrels is colorant for dyeing. It has anmonical order...



First, we got to make a design on cloth. I chose a handkerchief, but you can choose it from a stole, a bag, a towel as well as a handkerchief('-'*)


They are the tools for making a design: clothespins, film canisters, small stones, rubber band, etc.


The places where the tools touch or nip wouldn't be dyed.

Are you ready? Then go for dyeing! The liquid with more bubbles is younger, meaning stronger. So if you prefer deep color, you'd better use younger one.



Souse the cloth in the colorant for about a minute, then rinse it with water. And repeat those works 3 or 4 times.



Do you think the color is deep enough? Then take the tools off.







And then,　dunk it in vinegar water.

Acid restores the color of indigo.




This one is my friend, Miya's work.

She's smart and always full of ideas.

Don't you feel it?




This one is Yuki's.

She's very organized,

and I can tell it from her design.





And this is mine!

(Sorry I'm not showing the whole design... I'm not artistic.)

They gave me a plastic bag & a seal to wrap.

It was fun, and I enjoyed it a lot(≧∇≦)b


By the way, Yamato-Koriyama is one of the best places for cherry-blossom viewing in Nara prefecture.

The ruin of Yamato-Koriyama castle is now a park with lots of cherry trees.

The season of cherry flower in Nara is in the beginning of April.


Why don't you come to Yamato-Koriyama to enjoy indigo dyeing, goldfish catching & cherry blossoms?
I may see you then(ﾟ∇^*)

Indigo dyeing （藍染体験） Part 1

It's been cold in Kyoto & Osaka these days, but we are expecting to have hot days from tomorrow. What a strange weather!

Today I introduce a craft center called 'Kon-ya（紺屋）'where we can experience 'indigo dyeing.' But I must explain where Kon-ya is. It's in Yamato-Koriyama city in Nara prefecture. It takes about 50 minutes from Kyoto and 20 minutes from Nara city by train.



In this map, red one in the north is Kyoto city, one in south is Yamato-Koriyama, and green on is Nara. (Blue one is Osaka city.)





Yamato-koriyama is a city famous for indigo dyeing & goldfish. You'd see goldfish everywhere. Why don't you try goldfish catching with the local kids ;)?


And here's Kon-ya.





Kon-ya(紺屋) used to be a tradesmen's house, and renovated by the city.

Now Kon-ya is managed by the tourist association of the city.


Once you enter, you'd see pieces of work of indio dyeing. You may feel you are in a different time... maybe in Edo period.


　

In the next article, I'm going to talk & show photos of indigo dyeing experience. See you soon♪(*￣ー￣)ｖ

Genko-an （源光庵）

Oh, my goodness!
I haven't posted a blog for more than a month<("0")>!!
What a terrible blogger I am!!

Anyway, hope everyone is all right☆*~ﾟ⌒('-'*)⌒ﾟ~*☆





I visited a temple called Genko-an (源光庵) a few days ago. Let me talk about it today.



This temple belongs to So-tou sect of the Zen Buddhism, and it's famous for two window called 'Mayoi no mado(迷いの窓)' and 'Satori no mado(悟りの窓)'.



Mado means 'window'. I would translate that 'Mayoi no mado(迷いの窓)' is 'the Window of Illusion or Anxiety' and 'Satori no mado(悟りの窓)' is 'the Window of Enlightenment or Nirvana'.


This square window is 'the Window of Illusion' and it expresses human being. We face with four sufferings, 生老病死(to be born, to get old, to be sick and to die) and cannot run away from them.

Also, I have another idea. A square has 4 corners, and they are sharpen. So they may symbolize bad points in people's minds. That's why we, human beings, have always had conflicts with the others in the history.


On the other hand, a circle has no corner. So no conflicts with the others. Once our mind becomes like a circle, we would be satisfied and serene. That's why, I think, this circle window may be called 'Satori no mado(悟りの窓)' meaning 'the Window of Enlightenment or Nirvana'.




In addition, the circle is emblematic of the space. So it's opposite of the human being. 'Circle' is an important factor in Zen Buddhism.

Sometimes I see a hanging scroll of '○' in a tea ceremony room where Zen Buddhism has given a strong influence.

Water festivel in Kifune （貴船の水まつり）

Water festival is held at Kufune shrine on July 7th every year.

The origin of this festival is rain-making rituals.
Now is more like for showing our gratitude to water.


The festival consists of offering tea ceremony, dancing and cooking ceremony in front of the Gods. Tea cremony, of course, cannot be done without water, so it's the symbolic ceremony of this festival. And the cooking ceremony is offered by the special cooking school called Ikuma school. (sorry, but only in Japanese.)


Ancestors of the Ikuma school used to be cookers for the Imperial family. It is said that the current master is 29th-generation of the family.


At the ceremony, he cooks a fish in front of the god without touching it by his hands at all. (The fish is altarage for Gods, so it shouldn't be touched by men.)

We know we cannot survive without water. However, we hardly thank it.Attending this festival was a good oppurnity to think about water.


Plus, kifune is a famous spot for Kawayuka (川床= on-river restaurant.) As it's in the middle of the mountain, the temprature in Kifune is about 3C (5F?) lower than that in the downtown Kyoto. Kyoto people know how to enjoy hot & humid summer!

Noh mask (能面)

Hello, I'm Mariko♡

Ha-ha! Am I scary?

I'm wearing a Noh mask.


Noh is Japan's oldest form theatrical art with performance, dance & music. It was listed for UNESCO world heritage with Kyogen in 2001. Most Noh repertoires have stories in them, but some only do abstract plots such as admiring beauty of iris flowers or thanking or praying for rich harvest.



It's formally played on the special Noh stage with a roof.

A main role or main roles of Noh wear special masks made of wood. Fortunately I had a chance to visit an atelier of Noh mask artist, Ms. Nakamura. (Sorry, but Japanese only.)





Wow∑o(*'o'*)o!!

Many masks welcomed me,

but some of them seemed

to have agony and

some to be sad.





Ms. Nakamura showed the process.

The Noh performers do not change their masks during the play. So a mask must not have only a kind of emotion with it.


It changes the expression when a performer moves, and it's possible because Noh masks are stereoscopic.




She looks

smiling to me.

What do you

think?