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Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto

Mar 24, 2022 • 16 tweets • 23 min read • Read on X

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CHERRY BLOSSOMS🌸

cherry blossoms-
over there an edge
of Old Japan
花さくやあれが大和の小口哉
-Issa (小林一茶), 1798.

This weekend marks the start of sakura season here in Kyōto, and the crisp weather suggests the trees will be putting on a special show this year.
#Japan #桜

It's often difficult to gauge when to start celebrating the various blossoms...but this isn't a problem inside the teahouse😋🌸

a bevy of teahouses
suddenly!
cherry blossoms
茶屋村の出現したるさくらかな
-Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1819.
#wagashi #和菓子 #Kyoto #Japan #blossoms

Incredibly it's been 2 years since Miho-san performed tea ceremony beneath the (now gone!) weeping cherry tree😱

Nodate (野点)⬇️
🌸
🌸 (overhead)

Introducing 'Chabako' (茶箱)⬇️
🌸
🌸

jeopardized
by drunkards
the cherry tree at the well🌸
井戸ばたの桜あぶなし酒の酔
-Ōme Shūshiki (秋色女 1668-1725).
Trans. Ad G. Blankestijn

(another translation - trans. unknown)
be careful be careful!
of the cherry tree by the well
you're drunk with saké🍶

#桜 #cherryblossoms

🌸MARUYAMA'S WEEPING BEAUTY🤗
Maruyama-kōen's (円山公園) famous 70-year old shidare-zakura (枝垂桜 'weeping cherry') is one of the city's most recognizable trees. It's a short walk from our Camellia Flower teahouse.
The original tree was 200 years old when it withered in 1947.

In 1949 the 15th head of Uetō Zōen landscapers (植藤造園), Sano Tōemon (佐野藤右衛門), planted the 2nd generation tree...the cherry tree we see today.
Sadly, in recent years the tree’s vigor has seriously declined.
#Kyoto #sakura #Japan

Photo thanks🙏- hyoto.jp/blog_kyotohont…

Covering 86641m2, Maruyama-kōen (円山公園) is the oldest and most popular of Kyōto’s parks.
Officially opened in 1886, from 1912 Ogawa Jihei (小川治兵衛 d.1933) landscaped the park into a pond & stroll garden (池泉回遊式庭園) over 3 years.
#Kyoto #京都 #Japan #sakura #hanami #桜

🌸SAKURA SUCCESS🍀

divine providence-
throughout Japan gods
guarding blossoms
冥加あれや日本の花惣鎮守
-Issa (小林一茶), 1795.

The rather shrewd Heian-jingū (平安神宮) capitalizes on cherry blossom season with 'sakura omikuji' (桜おみくじ), fortune slips in a shade of pink.

Unrolling the sacred lots reveals 1 of 12(ish) general blessings, from best 'dai-kichi' (桜おみくじ great blessing) to the worst 'dai-kyō' (大凶 great curse).

You can find out all about omikuji (おみくじ) and cute omikuji holders here🧵⬇️

https://twitter.com/camelliakyoto/status/1443004604019404801?s=20&t=4IvotHZ7s7613Buf6wapFw

#おみくじ #Kyoto

Ninna-ji (仁和寺) has a unique type of omikuji, with the sacred lots concealed in clay blossoms (available all year).

Reaching their peak around April 20th, the temple's sakura are the last to bloom in Kyōto. Known as Omuro-zakura (御室桜), the trees are uniquely stunted.
#京都

Squirrels are the divine messengers of Hirano-jinja (平野神社). They once populated the shrine's pine forest, & over time became associated with the enshrined gods.
Since Edo times Hirano-jinja has become better known for its sakura & April 10th cherry blossom festival (桜花祭).

☯️THE GARDEN OF LIGHT AND DARK (陰陽の庭)🌸

scattered along
mountain ridges
the clouds
which do not rise
must be cherry blossoms.
山のはの
このもかのもに
ゐるくもの
立のぼらぬや
さくらなるらん
-Ōtagaki Rengetsu (太田垣蓮月 1791-1875).

#Kyoto #Japan #退蔵院

Taizō-in, a short walk from our teahouse, has 3 famed gardens: Inyō-no-niwa (陰陽の庭 'Garden of Yin & Yang'), Motonobu-no-niwa (元信の庭 'Garden of Kanō Motonobu'), & Yokō-en (余香苑 'Garden of Lingering Fragrance').

Photo thanks to the wonderful🙇‍♂️-kyotomoyou.jp

In spring, thanks to a great weeping cherry that sheds its petals in even the slightest breeze, the 'Inyō-no-niwa' is particularly beautiful.
The garden is divided into two parts: the 'Garden of Yin' (陰の庭 'In-no-niwa') & the 'Garden of Yang' (陽の庭 'Yō-no-niwa').
#sakura #桜

Together they represent Buddhism uniting the dual aspects of the universe.
The gardens feature only sand, rocks, moss and cherry trees. The Yang Garden (S) utilizes white Shirakawa sand (白川砂), while the Yin Garden (N) uses black sand from the Ado River (安曇川の砂) in Shiga.

@panda_nosanpo

😋PANDANGO🍡
I'm looking forward to seeing what delights will be on offer at Panda-no-Sanpo (ぱんだの散歩) for sakura season. The last few years' designs have been soooooo cute🥰🌸

➡️pandanosanpo.com/english/home/
➡️@panda_nosanpo
#みたらし団子 #pandango #パンダんご #Kyoto #京都 #Japan

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May 28

🔔🪨😭THE GREAT BUDDHA'S WONDERS🐂💢👂

Kyōto was once home to the greatest statue of Buddha in all Japan.
4m taller than Tōdai-ji's Daibutsu, the statue stood in an immense hall in precincts now taken up by Toyokuni-jinja and Hōkō-ji (remnant of the original Buddha's home).

The great hall and last (vastly smaller) incarnation of Kyōto's Daibutsu are sadly lost, but within the neighbourhood (where once the temple precincts sprawled) are a series of wonders.
They include a great bell that brought down a ruling clan, an exploding cow, & a tomb of ears.

1) THE CHIMES OF DOOM🔔

Having seized control of the country after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu calmly waited for an excuse to destroy the rival Toyotomi clan.
His chance came with the forging of a new bell and an inscription that could be read as a threat.

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Aug 21, 2023

🙊THE MONKEY'S SLIDE🛝
At first glance the teahouse garden appears to be made up of mostly moss, pine & camellia...but if you look more closely the borders are packed thick with dozens of varieties of plants.
One of the most beautiful at this time of year is the "Monkey's Slide".

More commonly known as crape myrtle (百日紅), older generations in Japan fondly call the tree 'saru suberi' (サルスベリ the "monkey's slide").
The bark of the tree is so smooth that even monkeys struggle to get a foothold!

#Kyoto #京都 #Japan #百日紅 #サルスベリ #IwataMonkeyPark

Crape (also crepe) myrtle gets its name from the appearance of its flowers, which look very much like crepe paper.
Blooming from mid-summer through to autumn, the flowers (commonly bright pink) are also known in Japan as 'hyakujitsukō' (百日紅 'red for 100 days').

#Japan #百日紅

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Jun 19, 2023

🎨A MODERN TOUCH🖌️

One of the Shōren-in's (青蓮院) most striking features greets you as you enter the drawing room...a series of bold coloured lotuses, blooming across 60 panels.
Begun in 2005, the work was created by the artist 'Ki-yan' (キーヤン/Kimura Hideki 木村英輝).
#Japan

When visiting Shōren-in, Kimura was suddenly inspired to fill the drawing room's plain fusuma with colour.

It took him two years to complete the 3 sets of lotus paintings (蓮三部作)...
🪷"Blue Illusion" (青の幻想)
🪷"Amitabha's Pure Land" (極楽浄土)
🪷"Hymn of Life" (生命賛歌)

twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Why all the blue lotuses?🤔

Shōren-in was originally constructed atop Mt Hiei as a lodging facility for monks serving at Enryaku-ji.

Shōren-bō was named after a nearby pond in which blue lotus flowers bloomed ('shōrenge'). Many famous monks, such as Saichō & Ennin, lived here. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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May 11, 2023

🚪😱HAUNTED GATES & DANCING CATS😼👻

It's been a while since I've done a #folklorethursday, so here's some local, rather less well-known tales.

Demizu was once home to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's lavish palace 'Jurakudai' (聚樂第), and the area has many strange wonders.
#Kyoto #京都

Kannon-ji's 'Gate of 100 Lashings' (観音寺百叩きの門) belonged originally to the prison at Fushimi Castle (伏見城). When the castle was dismantled the doorway was gifted to the temple🏯🚪🩸😰👋

The gate is just 1 of the '7 Wonders of Demizu' (出水の七不思議).
#Kyoto #京都 #出水

Before prisoners were set free they underwent a final punishment at the prison gate...a warning to stay on the straight & narrow.
They were lashed 100 times with a piece of split bamboo across the back. It was agonizing, & sometimes deadly!

Image thanks🙇‍♂️-bakumatsuya.com

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May 10, 2023

'May Sickness' (五月病 'gogatsu-byō') is a term for a seasonal disorder that strikes just as Golden Week comes to an end.
After the flurry of changes that take place each April, it may seem like May should be smooth sailing, but returning to work/school after the break is tough.

It may seem like a small thing, but sweets absolutely help lift a gloomy mood...

🌫️🌩️☁️😶‍🌫️🌥️🌤️🌞

Kameya Yoshinaga (亀屋良長) has done the impossible and perfectly captured the blue skies & cotton puff clouds of May in sweet form☺️

The wonderful 'hikōki-gumo' (ひこうき雲)✨

twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

While 'May Blues' doesn't sound particularly serious, in some cases it can lead to depression, anxiety & insomnia.
In April the new school/work year begins, and there's a feeling that Golden Week only helps exacerbate feelings of disorientation, mental exhaustion, & apprehension. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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Apr 20, 2023

Astonishingly the temperature will soar close to 30 degrees today...the hottest day of the year so far😓

As this heat is a little unexpected we swooped on Ishidatami (石畳) for their famous matcha soft serve (抹茶ソフトクリーム). Fresh matcha is kneaded into the ice-cream🍵🍨🙌

Fresh matcha as an ingredient in cooking and baking tends to lose its flavour quickly, and so Ishidatami doesn't serve ice-cream older than 3 hours, preferring instead to make new batches throughout the day😮

#Kyoto #京都 #matcha #抹茶 #icecream #Ninenzaka #二年坂

Another favourite (though much pricier) way to cool down is with Oimatsu's (老松) cheerful 'natsukan-tō' (夏柑糖 'sugared Chinese citron')🍊🥰

#Kyoto #京都 #夏柑糖 #老松 #oimatsu #Japan #citron #chinesecitron #orange