Hello friends :)
Another exciting week has passed by and even though I wanted to write this post a bit earlier to avoid too much content at once, it was quite difficult to find time to do so. That's why I decided to split it up in two posts, since there are so many different experiences I want to share with you. The first one will be about the last weekend, which has been intense in terms of cultural experience. Although you may have already seen some of the photos, here I will go a bit more into detail... Enjoy! :)
A day full of Japanese culture
Last Saturday, Essi, Alizée and I headed for the Hamarikyu gardens to attend the Grand Tea Ceremony - a weekend festival full of cultural events in a beautiful, traditional Japanese garden next to the Shiodome area.
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| High buildings in Shiodome - we've been there before when we wanted to go to the 28 bar |
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| And here is the perfect harmony... |
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| ...of old and new |
We went there early in the morning to secure tickets for the tea ceremony conducted in English. Little did we know that the festival also offered lots of other events such as a trying on a kimono and an ikebana workshop. We have been made aware of those, as soon as we ented the park, by the eager workers at some of the numerous event booths.
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| Tea houses and office buildings |
On this day, we were incredibly lucky: First, with the sunny weather, which started to feel like summer again; Then, we were the last three people (for the whole day!) allowed to sign up for the kimono thing, and we could even secure a place at the ikebana workshop.
Having registered for these free (!) events held later in the day, we made our way to buy our ticket for the outdoor tea ceremony (which was only 300 yen for 25 minutes - sadly, the indoor tickets had been booked out at least several weeks before the festival). Then, we took our seats in the waiting area until the next slot started. From our chairs located directly at the place where the ceremony was held, we could watch the entire event from further away, before being called to our actual places as guests of our very first tea ceremony.
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| Waiting for our tea ceremony |
We were lucky (again :P) to sit in the "VIP row" right next to the "stage" where the tea master prepared our matcha. A speaker commented on the process into her microphone. First, we were handed these sweets called wagashi:
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| Filled with red bean paste - yummy! |
It should be said that the colour and content of the sweets varies according to the seasons. So do the tools used by the tea master and the tea box (this one has autumn leaves on it). We were allowed to eat the sweets as soon as the tea master told us to.
Then, we could observe the tea making process. We were told to draw attention to the smooth, elegant movements the tea master made, their slow pace corresponding to the traditional Japanese patience and mindfulness of the moment.
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| Tea master working magic |
As soon as the tea was prepared, the assistants dressed in kimonos brought it to us in a beatifully ornamented, probably handcrafted bowl. Again, their design depends on the current season. Having received the tea, we had to turn it counterclockwise twice to avoid touching the precious ornaments with our mouth.
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| Enjoying matcha - Photo by Essi |
It was probably the best matcha I ever had: It has been whisked with the bamboo brush called chasen, until it got a foamy consistence which made it nice to drink. It was not too strong either, indicating that it has been the thinner version of tea, usucha, in contrast to koicha, the thick brew.
The paper we got together with the wagashi was then to be used to wipe the part of the bowl our mouth has touched. Once we finished the tea and complimented the assistant on its good quality, they took the bowl back. With a word of thanks, the tea ceremony was over. We then had the opportunity to marvel at the elaborate tools and the matcha powder used in it.
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| The tools and seasonal flower decoration |
However, this was a very short version of a tea ceremony for curious tourists, and I still want to attend a "real" one some day. :) Many of them are held in tea houses, involve only few participants and require a knowledge of specific rules.
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| Another tea ceremony going on - there were lots of variations: Japanese, English, indoors, beginners... |
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| I believe it's Rainbow Bridge in the background |
Our next stop was the ikebana workshop. This was a one-hour event where we received a warm welcome and an introduction to the art of flower arrangement. The organisers' English was quite good (something that I'm not used to in Japan), and they took their time to explain that ikebana was around since the 6th century, originally having served as offerings to the Buddhist and Shinto gods. The form varied through the time, and today, there is even a mixture between Japanese and Western flower art. The interesting thing is that Japanese don't distinguish between flowers and other greenery - trees, grass and other plants deserve to be called flowers, too. That's why flowers are only part of the material used for ikebana.
The ikebana master showed us how to arrange the greenery which was stuck into the kenzan, a round spiked platform, swimming in a bowl filled with water. We then had to try to arrange our own flowers similar to his model.
In contrast to the Western aesthetic, the plants are not standing upright, but should be slightly stick out to the side. Starting with the green things (I don't know how to call them), they had to be chopped to different sizes so that they corresponded to the 9:7:3 formula. This means that the longest part is stuck in first, then the second-longest has to be two thirds of the first one, then the third has to be half the size of the second one. Sounds complicated? It definitely was!
The same process had then to be done with the yellow plants, which needed to be half the size of the green ones; Then with the roses added in the middle. The assistants were very helpful, so that we could finish our first flower arrangement pretty fast. We could then even take it home with us!
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| Tadaaa! My first ikebana |
But the kimono part was definitely our highlight of the day. The dressing up took around 10-15 minutes, and we were then allowed to walk around like this for an hour. It was, in fact, difficult: We could barely breathe under the tight obi belt, and only take small steps in the geta shoes (socks included!).
To observe people's reactions made up for it all. While we had been walking through the park as normal tourists before our "make-over", suddenly, everyone started to compliment us and especially Japanese women, dressed in stunning kimonos themselves, looked impressed. Several tourists wanted to take photos with us, which we found surprising because we were clearly not Japanese. But we must have looked kind of exotic to them... Anyway, was a very interesting experience. Too bad that we did not have time to attend another tea ceremony because it would have been perfect :)
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| You could even see Tokyo Tower |
Beer and chopsticks
Our program on Sunday was very contrary, as we shifted from Japanese to... German culture! Yokohama was celebrating the last day of the Oktoberfest, so Laurien, Essi, Alex (Canadian student, also living in our dorm) and I just had to take the opportunity.
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| On our way from Yokohama station - isn't it gorgeous? A view of the Cosmoworld amusement park from Yokohama |
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| Here we are! |
It was truly an authentic miniature version of the real thing, only without the rides (and the clothes, unfortunately). They even had a German band there playing original Oktoberfest songs (Ein Prosit, ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit!):
It just felt very weird to see all this in Japan, and as we walked through the rows, I noticed visitors trying to eat their German sausage with chopsticks. Is this what culture shock feels like?
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| They seemed to have every sort of German beer there |
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| This looks so much like Hamburg to me |
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| The largest (and only) beer hall |
As to food and drinks: We did not try the beer - but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be different from the one in Munich ;) only that the price was a lot higher. They had nice pretzels, and I had very German Spätzle (egg noodles) with a very un-German sauce (sorry, I forgot to take a photo).
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| Same places, different lights |
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| My favourite picture |
So long for the weekend post - I will make sure to tell you about Tokyo's hipsters and cafés with lots of cute cats very soon! Thank you for reading and enjoy your weekend :)
