Ikebana with Dried Materials
Happy Thanksgiving to you! Normally I travel during the Thanksgiving week, but this year I’m
Ikebana with Dried Materials
Happy Thanksgiving to you! Normally I travel during the Thanksgiving week, but this year I’m stuck at home. Why not decorate our house with long-lasting arrangements during the holiday? Dried materials come in handy. Cut
Practicing Tea Ceremony Online
First Ikebana flower arrangement, and then tea ceremony… Now my two main practices are both conducted online. I use my old iPhone as an external webcam. I connect the webcam to my computer so that
What is Shichi Go San
November 15 is a holiday called Shichi Go San in Japan. Shichi means 7, Go means 5, and San means 3. When a girl becomes 3 and 7, and a boy becomes 5 years old,
Bunka no Hi Goes Virtual
November 3rd is a national holiday in Japan called Bunka no Hi (文化の日). It literally means Cultural Day in Japanese. Every year around this day, Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington (JCCCW) has held
4 Useful Tips for Using Kenzan for Ikebana
What is Kenzan? It’ s a useful tool to place flowers when making Ikebana arrangement. Western flower arrangements use green floral foams. I sometimes use them, too. One thing I don’t like about the floral
Reimagining Tea Ceremony
This old Japanology video on NHK made me almost cry… It’s a rather long video, but I hope at least you watch the part starting at 19:00 and 26:26. Please let me know what you
How Gold is Woven into Obi
In my previous blog post “Wearing Gold – Japanese Way”, I mentioned about my obi that is woven with 24K gold thread. It is not easy to imagine how that is possible with only still
