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Jun 14, 2022 13 tweets 18 min read Read on X
🍵HUNTING FIREFLIES✨

Each year Shimogamo-jinja (下鴨神社) holds a special tea gathering called 'Hotarubi-no-Chakai' (蛍火の茶会). Over 600 fireflies are released beside the Mitarashi-gawa (御手洗川) as evening falls, bringing an otherworldly feel to the tea ceremony.
#Japan
What better way to celebrate firefly season than with Kameya Yoshinaga's (亀屋良長) cooling 'hotaru-no-yoru' (蛍の夜 'evening fireflies').
The sweet is a type of 'kingyoku' (錦玉), a jelly made from boiling agar and sugar...particularly popular in summer.

➡️@YuikoYoshimura
#京都
In the traditional calendar June 11th-15th is known as 'kusaretaru kusa hotaru to naru' (腐草為螢), 'rotten grass becomes fireflies'. There was a belief, imported from the mainland, that fireflies were born from grass decaying in the humid early summer heat.
#Japan #fireflies
The proverb "fusō ka shite hotaru to naru" (腐草化して蛍となる) also comes from this old belief. It can be translated as "the impossible happens".

#Japan #京都 #Kyoto #蛍 #fireflies #proverb #graveofthefireflies #火垂るの墓
Wakuden Sakaimachi's (和久傳堺町店) beautiful, dark green 'sasahotaru' (笹ほたる 'fireflies in the bamboo grass').
The sweet is a matcha flavoured mizu yōkan (水羊羹), a refreshing snack for a humid evening of firefly hunting.

➡️wakuden.kyoto/store/sakaimac…
➡️wakuden.kyoto/store/sakaimac…
Tea amongst the fireflies was an old tradition at Shimogamo-jinja that disappeared at the end of the 19thC. Revived in 1991, the event has been scaled back during the pandemic.
Although the tea ceremony returned after a 3 year absence, attendance was determined by lottery.
#Kyoto
'Hotarubi-no-Chakai' is more than just tea. It's also an opportunity to watch a performance of 'gagaku' (雅楽), classical music once commonly performed at the imperial court.
The dancer was dressed in a traditional 12-layered kimono called a 'jūnihitoe' (十二単).
#雅楽 #十二単
The 'jūnihitoe' (十二単 lit. 'twelve layers') was a formal kimono first worn by aristocratic women at court in the Heian period.
Silk, kimono-like robes of different shades are placed one upon the other, creating a layered effect in which the colours beneath can be glimpsed.
hazy night-
people listening
to heavenly music
朧夜や天の音楽聞し人
-Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1819

Developed as court music of the Heian-kyū (平安宮 the 'Heian Palace'), 'gagaku' (雅楽) has changed little since it first emerged in the 10thC.
#gagaku #雅楽 #Kyoto #Japan #京都
Oimatsu (老松) set up a temporary store on the approach to Shimogamo-jinja, selling limited edition confections.

'Sawabe-no-hotaru' (沢辺の蛍) depicts a firefly hovering beside swampland.

#wagashi #和菓子 #Kyoto #京都 #老松 #下鴨神社 #Japan #firefly #蛍
On the 1st of each month Tawaraya Yoshitomi's Karasuma store (俵屋吉富) sells a limited edition box of sweets based on the traditional calendar (二十四節気).

June's box was inspired by 'bōshu' (芒種 'grain beards and seeds 6/6-20) & 'geshi' (夏至 'summer solstice' 6/21-7/6).
🍀Sticking with the firefly theme, one of the stand out sweets from June's box is 'kusa-botaru' (草蛍 'fireflies in the grass').

💍'nagoshi-no-harae' (夏越の祓 'summer purification rites').
💜'ayame hanasaku' (菖蒲華 'blooming iris').
💠'ajisai' (あじさい 'hydrangea').
#和菓子
Nao-san stops by Tatsumi Bridge (巽橋) in Gion Shirakawa (祇園白川) to see the fireflies. Although they are difficult to make out in the photo, there were a few flitting over the waters.

@itotatsu's sweet firefly inspiration is 'sode-hikaru' (袖光る 'shining sleeves').
#和菓子

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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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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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