Camellia Tea Ceremony Profile picture
Jun 12, 2022 21 tweets 30 min read Read on X
👣LOTUS LOVE😇
In Kyōto 'kanrensetsu' (観蓮節), 'lotus flower viewing', coincides with the culmination of the Gion Matsuri, when the gods of Yasaka-jinja arrive at their temporary holiday abode in the city.
Temple ponds offer a welcome distraction from the sweltering summer days. ImageImageImageImage
this world
bristles with thorns...
yet there are lotuses
世の中よ針だらけでも蓮の花
-Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1815.

The mesmerizing, ultrahydrophobic surface of lotus leaves😵‍💫👏😊
#Japan #Kyoto #京都 #Yakushiji #薬師寺 #Nara #奈良 #lotus #蓮
Lotus flowers in many ways perfectly compliment spring's cherry blossoms: sakura (桜) have become a symbol of life's impermanence in Japan, whereas the lotus (蓮 'hasu') offers a more hopeful message of enlightenment and rebirth.

#Kyoto #京都 #Japan #lotus #蓮 #ハス #観蓮節 ImageImageImageImage
Growing from muddy pond beds into beautiful flowers, lotuses have long been symbols of wisdom and renewal.

It is said that Buddha could walk from birth, and everywhere he went lotus flowers bloomed from his footprints👣

There are over 800 varieties of the plant😇
#Japan #Kyoto ImageImageImageImage
The wonderful Ōgi-ya's (御菓子処 扇屋) delicate lotus leaves (蓮の葉) and lotus flowers (蓮の花)
🪷➡️@ougiya_wagashi

in a big swamp
just one bloom...
but it's a lotus!
大沼や一つ咲ても蓮の花
-Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1804.

Photo thanks🙇‍♂️- oogiya.co.jp
#和菓子 #蓮 ImageImageImageImage
Murakami Mondo (村上主水) has kindly shared some of his recent creations. As flower arranging is very seasonal, lotus flowers will soon be featuring prominently.

Please do check out 'Mondo Channel', Murakami-san's YouTube channel⬇️
youtube.com/channel/UC1-x_…

🐦@mondo100kyoto ImageImageImageImage
One of the most influential & popular Buddhist scriptures is named after the humble lotus.
The Lotus Sūtra (妙法蓮華経 'Myōhō Renge Kyō') influenced the creation of the Tendai & Nichiren schools of Buddhism.

It teaches that 'all beings have the potential to become buddhas'🪷😇 ImageImageImageImage
In the language of flowers, lotuses unsurprisingly symbolise 'pure-heartedness' and 'sacredness', representing Buddha's compassion and wisdom.
Some Buddhist teachings describe the flowers growing in the 'Pure Land' (浄土), where those who have achieved enlightenment dwell.
#lotus ImageImageImageImage
Lotuses are also associated with 'estranged love' and 'separated lovers'. This may seem odd, but the connection emerged because the flowers only bloom for a short period in the morning.
As they are difficult to keep 'fresh', lotuses are rarely used in bouquets or as gifts.
#Japan ImageImageImageImage
🪷THE LOTUS TEMPLE📿
One of the best places to see lotus flowers in Kyōto is at a small temple not too far from our Garden Teahouse. Hōkongō-in is better known as 'Hasu-no-dera' (蓮の寺).
Over the years many kinds of lotuses have been collected from all over the world.
#Kyoto ImageImageImageImage
Hōkongō-in (法金剛院) is affiliated with Tōshōdai-ji (唐招提寺) in Nara, and is one of the few Ritsu sect (律宗) temples in Kyōto.
The large pond, empty for most of the year, is utterly transformed in June and July, with umbrella-sized lotus leaves creating an alien landscape. ImageImageImageImage
First known as Narabigaoka-dera (双丘寺), Hōkongō-in was created from the villa of Kiyohara-no-Natsuno (清原夏野 782-837) after his death in 837.
During his lifetime Natsuno filled the gardens with many rare plants, and covered the nearby hillsides with bush-clover.
#Kyoto #Japan ImageImageImageImage
Over time the area around the temple became known as 'Hanazono' (花園 'Flower Garden').
The gardens we see today are a remnant of the beautiful grounds created by Empress Taikenmon-in (待賢門院 1101-45), when she transformed the ruined site into a new temple called Hōkongō-in. ImageImageImageImage
As with hydrangeas, different colour lotuses represent different things...

💙wisdom & knowledge (symbol of the Bodhisattva of Wisdom 文殊菩薩)
❤️compassion & feelings of the heart (symbol of the Bodhisattva of Compassion 観音菩薩)
💜mysticism (symbol of some esoteric sects) ImageImageImageImage
🪷The pink lotus flower is most commonly associated with Buddhism, representing one's spiritual path (closed bud) & enlightenment (open flower)
🤍perfection of spirit and mind, beauty and grace
💛joy, intellectual curiosity and hospitality

#Kyoto #京都 #lotus #蓮 #ハス #Japan ImageImageImageImage
Although hana-chōzu have gained in popularity over the last few years, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū (鶴岡八幡宮) in Kamakura is one of only a few places to make use of lotuses in their displays.

Gorgeous images from...
🪷@0467NakamuraAn
🪷@yuyutatsuYuko
🪷@wolfy466 &
🪷@kiistar225🙇‍♂️ ImageImageImageImage
lotus blossom-
a dragon once rode you
people say
蓮の花辰上りしと人のいふ
-Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1805.

It is thought this haiku was influenced by Bai Juyi's (白居易 772–846) poem 'Chang Hen Ge' (長恨歌 the 'Song of Everlasting Regret').

🐦➡️@mondo100kyoto
#ikebana #生花 ImageImageImageImage
More luscious, lotus-inspired morsels🙌😋

🪷Sannō Hiroyuki (和菓子職人 三納寛之)
@wagashi_sanchan
🪷Happō-dō (上的 八宝堂 - photos 2 & 3)
@happoudou
🪷Takaki (御菓子所高木)
@Takaki_info

#wagashi #和菓子 #lotus #蓮 #Japan ImageImageImageImage
Renkon (レンコン/蓮根 'lotus root'), the underground stem of the lotus plant, is a popular ingredient in Japanese cuisine.
Because you can look through the many holes that run through the renkon, people associate the vegetable with a problem free future & eat it at celebrations. ImageImageImageImage
🪷LOTUS STRAWS🥤
On July 10th Mimuroto-ji (三室戸寺) hosts one of Kyōto's more interesting events, the 'Hasuzake o Tanoshimu-kai' (ハス酒を楽しむ会 'Meeting to Enjoy Lotus Saké').

Saké is poured onto lotus leaves & sipped through the stem!

Photo thanks🙇‍♂️-kyoto-tabiya.com ImageImageImageImage
It is said that drinking from a lotus leaf stem is good for your health and helps with a long life.

Up to 300 people are typically served at the event, though numbers are likely to be strictly controlled this year.

The lotuses are raised in 250 pots within the temple grounds. ImageImageImageImage

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More from @camelliakyoto

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).


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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.


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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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Read 24 tweets
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".


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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


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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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Read 6 tweets
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 ImageImageImageImage
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) ImageImageImageImage
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… Image
Read 8 tweets
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 ImageImageImageImage
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 ImageImageImageImage
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 ImageImageImageImage
Read 23 tweets
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. ImageImageImageImage
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)✨ ImageImageImageImage
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…
Read 4 tweets
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🍵🍨🙌 ImageImageImageImage
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 ImageImageImageImage
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
Read 4 tweets

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