Lantern Festival @Kasuga Shrine, Nara

I visited Kasuga shrine in Nara on Feb 3rd. In Japan, we consider that this day is one of the days before changes in seasons. As ancient people were afraid spirits or ghosts mess around on seasonal watersheds , festivals and prayers have held throughout Japan for many, many years. As Maybe the idea is similar to Halloween.



Here at Kasuga shrine, Lantern Festival is held every year. This shrine is famous for nearly 3,000 lanterns donated by people since 12th century. This custom was begun by noble men, but later on it became popular among ordinary people, especially merchants.


Poeple donated lanterns praying for a wish (or wishes?) to come true. The oldest stone lantern was donated by a chief adviser to the Emperor, Tadamichi Fujiwara in 1137. But you know, it's not easy to fint it among 3000 lanterns.






Sacred & serene



By paying an admission fee (500yen), you can enter the inner shrine and see ambulatories with famous hanging lanterns. The oldest hanging lantern in this shrine was donated in 1038 by another chief adviser to the Emperor Yorimichi Fujiwara, known for estabilishing Phenix Hall in Uji, Kyoto.










Here, you totally forget your daily life & feel religious devotion of people succeed for nearly 1000 years.


If you have ever visited Nara, you would know why this lantern is special.

Deers, the symbol of Nara;P!!

A Happy New Year, 2009!!

Long time no see...
Wish you had or are having wonderful winter holidays!

I went back to my hometown during my New Year holiday. Soon after Year 2009 began, one of my friends came to pick me up and we went to see the rising sun.

In Japan, there is a custom to see the rising sun on the New Year's day. The origin is a court function that the emperor say a prayer to the important Gods of Shinto and his ancestors around 5:30 am on Jan 1st. (This is an ongoing function.) Also, the main god of Shingo, Amaterasu Omikami is the God of Sun. So we still have an idea that the sun has the special energy as an avatar of the god.



Many people go to the seaside or some people even climb up Mt. Fuji to see it at a better spot. My friend I have sticked at the same cape on the Pacific coast for 3 years. Approx. 6:40, we went out of the car.... deadly cold!!



Aren't the clouds beautiful?




Yes, now I can see her head!!



Many people make prayers to it.
(-人-)




Although it is said that we, the Japanese, are not religious any more, we still cannot help feeling the god seeing this scenery.

Wishing Year 2009 be full of happiness & love to you all!!

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