June 11: Hotaru Chakai
We had the honor of attending the Hotaru Chakai at Shimogamo Shrine. The natural beauty of this Shinto shrine with it’s proximity to the creeks and rivers makes it a great habitat for fireflies. Midorikai was invited to attend since Urasenke was putting it on and some of us went in …
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June 3- Kaiseki cooking class We had a one-star michelin chef named Yamamoto Masanu of Sanyukyo come to teach us kaiseki cooking. We learned how to make rice in the old-style typical rice pot, daishi broth, miso and about five or so other things. This time he cooked and spoke while we watched and frantically …
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May 19
We had our first chashaku carving practicum today. The guy who taught it made it look so easy. We got out our blades and began slowly shaving away small pieces of the bamboo strips to make the bent tea scoop that we use when we lift tea from the tea container and put …
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May 10 We had the annual tea plantation and manufacturing process field trip to Uji today. All the Midorikai students and second-year Japanese students woke up early to catch the train from Kuramaguchi station to Uji. We started at Marukyu Koyama-en for a tea plantation tour and fresh tea tasting. I’ve had their koicha before …
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May 7 We have had some days off several public holidays on Friday April 29 and May 3-5. Since last I wrote I’ve done quite a lot. Some of us on Saturday, April 30 went to an Art of Zen exhibit at the Kyoto National Art Museum. I learned the story of Daruma (the little …
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