Late September update — A midorikai interlude

Karla viewing the moon

The high heat of summer is tapering off and we are starting to get cooler nights. It’s pleasant to be outside again and ride my bike around Kyoto. If you look up in the sky on a clear night during the middle of September, you could see the rabbit in the moon pounding away on his mortar making mochi. Unlike “the man in the moon,” the Japanese see a hard-working rabbit. If you google “rabbit in the moon,” you can find some amazingly cute illustrations of this folktale along with some overlays of the moon to help you see this for yourselves.

On the day of the full-moon, we had a tea offering in Nara at Toshodaiji temple. This was our first field trip that we have done at night, and so we departed school at around 3 pm to make sure that we would catch the trains and be at the right place at the right time. It was an unusual tea offering in the sense that it was open to the general public and many people were talking during the procedure. The nephew of O’Iemoto-sama did the tea offering and he did a nice job. By the time he finished, it was dark and the moon kept winking in and out between the clouds while we enjoyed our matcha and mochi sweet. Thank you hardworking Moon Bunny! You can see me admiring the moon in my kimono in the picture attached 🙂

The second and third year gakuen students invited us to attend their moon viewing chakai. It was well thought out and they really worked hard with serving so many people and being such gracious and thoughtful hosts. Unfortunately, this was the first time a sensei was unable to attend, so I missed a lot of the helpful explanations that follow because of my inability to understand most of what’s going on in Japanese.

The kohai are continuing to settle in and we are finding ways to balance our time together in this new group. I am busily preparing things for my keiko chakai, which will be on Oct 22. I’m selecting the tea utensils around my theme, practicing to make the sweets, and practicing the procedures I will need to have mastered to hopefully make a smoothly-run gathering. I say “hopefully” because undoubtably something will go unexpectedly (I don’t want to say “wrongly” because there is no “wrong”) and I just will need to practice self-care along with practicing everything else. In the mean time, I have a volleyball tournament to play in, a few tea events to attend and help at, and just “normal” seasonality here in Kyoto. The leaves on the trees are starting to look a little withered, so the autumn color may just be around the corner. I expect my ability to write every two weeks is going to wain for a bit, but just know that I’m busy and happy. Maybe I’m happy because I’m busy? In either case, time is flying by and it feels like just yesterday I arrived in Kyoto even though September marked the half-way point. I should say it WOULD feel like it was just yesterday however I’ve gained so much information that my brain tells me it’s been much longer. No one could have possibly learned as much as they teach us here in just a few days! That would be impossible. I’m also learning so much about myself too. It’s truly a miraculous opportunity I’ve been given.

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Flying geese signal Autumn has come

single-cry-of-gooseThis is the scroll hanging in the tokonoma today. It is written by the priest Fujii Kaido (1898-1984) of Daitokuji Sangen in.  It reads shuku-issei

Shu ku issei no kari – Autumn sky, a single cry of the wild goose

Suddenly it is no longer summer in the Pacific Northwest.  We have been hearing the geese migrating South for  the winter. Small groups of geese in their distinctive V formation fly over head.  Since we live near a large open field and wetlands, flocks of geese stop to rest near our house and we can hear them honking as they fly close over the house.

I did some research about the geese and why they travel in V formation:

Geese fly in a V formation because it conserves their energy. Each bird flies slightly above the bird in front of him, resulting in a reduction of wind resistance. The birds take turns being in the front, falling back when they get tired. In this way, the geese can fly for a long time before they must stop for rest.

When geese fly together, each goose provides additional lift and reduces air resistance for the goose flying behind it. Consequently, by flying together in a v-formation, scientists estimate that the whole flock can fly about 70% farther with the same amount of energy than if each goose flew alone. Geese have discovered that they can reach their destination more quickly and with less energy expended when they fly together in formation.

When a goose drops out of the v-formation it quickly discovers that it requires a great deal more effort and energy to fly. Consequently, that goose will quickly return to the formation to take advantage of the lifting power that comes from flying together.

Geese rotate leadership. When the goose flying in the front of the formation has to expend the most energy because it is the first to break up the flow of air that provides the additional lift for all of the geese who follow behind the leader. Consequently, when the lead goose gets tired, it drops out of the front position and moves to the rear of the formation, where the resistance is lightest, and another goose moves to the leadership position. This rotation of position happens many times in the course of the long journey to warmer climates.

Geese honk at each other. They also frequently make loud honking sounds as they fly together. Scientists speculate that this honking is their way of communicating with each other during their long flight.

Geese help each other. Scientists also discovered that when one goose becomes ill, is shot or injured, and drops out of the formation, two other geese will fall out of formation and remain with the weakened goose. They will stay with and protect the injured goose from predators until it is able to fly again or dies.

One late night a few years ago, my husband was taking out the garbage.  It was a dark foggy night in Autumn.  As he was standing in the driveway, he heard a single goose honking, as if he was trying to find his way in the fog at night. It was a plaintive, lonely sound.   A single “honk,”  Where are you guys?  a few seconds later “honk,”  I am here, “honk,” I am alone.  He stood listening to that lone goose who had lost his companions in the night, and was moved by that forlorn, melancholy sound in the Autumn sky, a single cry of the wild goose.

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Moon viewing at Portland Japanese Garden

img_1043Every year, we participate in the Portland Japanese Garden Moon viewing event.  Over three nights the Garden hosts members in the evening to watch the moon rise in September.  Usually we do not have access to the Japanese Garden at night, but for this event they set out chairs facing the moon, there are performances of shakuhachi, koto and poetry reading.  Food, sake, green tea, and beer are served.  The lanterns are lit to the tea house and we make tea by candle light.  rainy-gateFor the first two nights of this year’s moon viewing, we had perfect weather.  The sky clear or just a little cloudy, the temperature perfect.  The final day of the event, it rained all morning and afternoon.  It was just a drizzle by the evening. But we are in Oregon and after a dry summer, the rain was a welcome and refreshing relief.

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Even though we did not see the moon, in the tea house we had three.  The scroll reads, “Seifu meigetsu wo harau”  The pure breeze cleans the bright moon.  And we had a white manju sweet with pampas grass branded on it.   And finally we had a futaoki with 3 rabbits pounding mochi, the image on the full moon.seifu-meigetsu-wo-harau

There were 4 students assisting me and everyone got to play different roles: teishu, kyaku and mizuya.  I think it is always a good experience for students to participate in tea demonstrations especially at the Japanese Garden tea house.  They get the experience of making tea in front of an audience without sensei sitting there and prompting every move.  They get to set up for temae on their own and they get to be guest and eat the sweet.  img_1055

When presenting tea in a public demonstration, it is different than making tea in class.  Before the presentations, we had time to go over the temae, and it always seems different when it comes time to actually make tea. Even if we know the temae, without the teacher, somehow mistakes you would never make in class overwhelm you.  When we make tea for the public, you want to do it perfectly, but it seldom comes out that way.  Your mind goes blank and I have actually had out-of-body experiences where I looked down on myself making tea and being totally lost as to what to do.  img_1050

This is what my husband calls working without a net..  You are on your own as to how to keep going, make tea and finish the temae.  But this is what we train for.  This is the time rely on your training and your body memory.  The best thing is to take a few deep breaths and move forward.  If you forget to rinse the chasen, it will be okay.  Nobody died because the chasen was not rinsed.  (At least we don’t live in Samurai times.  The most important thing is to make good tea for your guests.  If you can get the tea in bowl and hot water, you can whisk up an excellent bowl of matcha for your guest.

Sensei says, “If you are going to make a mistake, make it beautifully.”

Sensei also says, “In class you can do nothing right.  But in a chakai (or presentation) you can do nothing wrong.”

So here are a few photos taken the night before.  It was a beautiful moon.september-moon pine-moon

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School has started again — Back to Midorikai

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Hello folks!

Sorry for not writing over the last month. I had a wonderful summer holiday back in the states for about four weeks visiting my husband and other family members. Some highlights from August included seeing a black bear in Big Bend National Park, going for a beautiful swim in one of Austin’s many swimming holes and of course all the time remembering and seeing family. Surprisingly, it was cooler in Austin than Kyoto when I left, so that was also refreshing. Japan is still what Portlanders would consider VERY humid but it is so much better now in early September than what it was during the height of summer!

I arrived back in Japan on September 1 and the four new kohai arrived on September 2 and 3. I was a little nervous to meet them at first but everyone is friendly and settling in well to the routines! We have students from Bulgaria, Belgium, Finland and south Florida. This is with our group from Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Portland. Since our group of four is officially sempai now, our focus has to shift not only on what we are doing ourselves but also to assist the other students in learning about the program, the school, the neighborhood and Kyoto. Luckily there are 16 new students in other gakuen programs, so there is a push from the whole school to incorporate the new students as quickly as possible. The older students at the school are working diligently to be as helpful and welcoming as possible.

I received preliminary notice that my keiko chakai as host will be at the end of October. I’m beginning to brain storm various themes and ideas. I’m very excited since October is the most “wabi” month. Wabi is a deep concept that I won’t get in to now, but roughly the idea can be initially thought of as “imperfect beauty.” I will be the first guest for the mid-November chakai of my classmate. Part of learning chado, the way of tea, is being able to create harmony between hosts and guests, and this is done in hosting events like chakai or chaji. Daisosho-sama often doesn’t like the English phrase “tea ceremony” because it sort of sterilzes the “-do”concept of chado. The “-do” is the path of enlightenment through doing something. (see other examples like kendo, aikido, shodo, etc.) Those of you who have experienced the inbetween space when you do something (whether it’s gardening, or art, or music, etc.) and your mind is quiet. The point when your self or mind’s voice disappears and you have to live completely in the present and all that exists is you and this thing that you are doing. When you are so engrossed in happily or contentedly doing something and you don’t realize that hours have passed since you last came up for air. This feeling takes us a littler further toward enlightenment. The term “enlightenment” can be quite daunting and hippy-sounding to Westerners, so one could also say the path to peace and joy and gratitude and contentment. Hard things to find for any person! So that’s why you must practice how to find that feeling. Thus, “-do.”

I’m attaching two pretty pictures from my trip back to Texas. One taken at Big Bend National Park and the other from Terlingua’s ghost town.

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Mending broken pieces

p1030518This year I have been practicing my kintsugi, or mending ceramics with gold and lacquer. I had a lot of broken pieces for practice. I bought a kit here, and it came with written instructions with lots of photos.

For a little over $100 I was able to repair 2 bowls that were literally in pieces, one bowl broken in half, several chipped rims on bowls, a chakin tsutsu in about 12 pieces (two were missing or dust when it shattered), two futaoki, two teacups, a mizusashi lid, a chaire and a meimeizara. That’s more than 12 pieces that I would have thrown out.  I think the investment was well worth it.

The hardest part of doing this work is reconstructing pieces that are literally in pieces.  The lacquer mixed with flour is initially soft and it is challenging to hold the pieces together until it hardens.  Using tape, rubber bands and props to keep it from collapsing, fitting the pieces as close as you can without making a mess was difficult.  These pieces are hard to clean up nicely, too.

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p1030519 p1030520p1030508When there are voids or missing pieces, you need to fill in the hole with a mixture of powdered clay and lacquer.  Then sand it smooth and add layers of lacquer to fill in the texture of the mixture to make it smooth. Sand carefully, smooth, paint another layer of lacquer.  It takes a couple of days between coats, so you need patience.

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If you are doing a bowl, you need to do both the inside and the outside.  I recommend doing the inside first and then the outside. After filling the voids and cracks, I put a final thin line of lacquer over the crack and carefully dusted the wet lacquer with gold powder (in my case economy brass powder ground to a fineness for kintsugi).  Even if the piece is just cracked, you can repair it and prevent it from further cracking or breaking.

p1030998 p1030502 p1030503At first I was afraid that the lacquer would have a bad taste in the bowls, or that the hot water would crack the lacquer and leak.  But after two weeks of thorough drying, a careful wash, I am happy to say that none of the bowls leak when making tea in them, and there was never any bad taste.

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You can sometimes clean up your mistakes with lacquer thinner, but I used it sparingly.  Please use gloves because lacquer is allergic (like poison oak) if it gets on your skin.  Use a respirator because the fumes are terrible and do it in a well ventilated space.

I got these done in time to use for October when we bring out our broken and mended dogu.

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