Camellia Tea Ceremony

Look at this beautyberry bonsai!🥰💜 #ムラサキシキブ #コムラサキ #Japan #beautyberry #bonsai #盆栽 #Kyoto #京都

Nao-san was a little disappointed that the buns didn't rise enough to squish together, but I think they look fantastic. Amazing for a first bake!🙌🤏🐥😋 #ちぎりパン #matcha #抹茶 #Japan #chigiripan #Kyoto #京都 #bread #chickbread

🍵🥯BAKED BEAUTIES🦆🧁 What do you do with leftover matcha close to its expiry date? If you're Nao-san, you get baking!😋 For the first time she tried making the popular 'chigiri-pan' (抹茶ちぎりパン)...a simple, sweet, squishy, cute pull-apart bread. #ちぎりパン #matcha #抹茶

In the language of flowers 'murasaki-shikibu' symbolises elegance. At this time of year a very similar plant called 'komurasaki' (コムラサキ 'purple beautyberry'/'early amethyst') appears. Many people mistake this for 'murasaki-shikibu', but they are slightly different🙄😮‍💨 #Japan #紫式部 #Kyoto

'Seppei' (雪平/せっぺい) is a 'snow like' mochi dough made by kneading rice flour with sugar, meringue, and white bean paste. It is far lighter and softer than usual mochi, and melts easily in the mouth✨ Itotatsu's dessert is available only on the 1st, 10th, 20th and 30th of each month.

🥁....Ta-da!!!🤣 🐣🐤🦆🐥🐣🐤🦆🐥🐣🐤🦆🐥🐣🐤🦆🐥🐣🐤🦆🐥🐣 🤔 #ちぎりパン #matcha #抹茶 #Japan #chigiripan #Kyoto #京都 #bread #chickbread

Typhoon season brings with it unsettled weather, and late August to October in Japan is known as 'aki-same' (秋雨), 'autumn Rain'. Itotatsu's 'nowake' (野わけ) depicts the blustering wind that can suddenly appear at this time of year. #Kyoto #京都 #typhoon #秋雨 #野わけ

Chapter 28 of 'The Tale of Genji' is called 'Nowaki' (野分), 'Autumn Tempest'. It describes the aftermath of a storm that strikes the capital one August day. More specifically the term refers to typhoons that tend to blow from the 210th to the 220th day of the year! #typhoon

🫐MURASAKI SHIKIBU💜 No-one is quite sure when the plant 'murasaki-shikibu' (紫式部/ムラサキシキブ) got its name. Known in English as 'East Asian beautyberry' or 'Japanese beautyberry', originally it was called 'murasaki shikimi' (ムラサキシキミ/紫敷き実 'clusters of purple').

Teatime, but hold the tea! 🫸☕️🫷 Itotatsu's (いと達) delightfully soft 'seppei' dumplings (雪平) float in a moreish 'warabimochi-anko' (わらび餅の餡子). The teacup dessert comes with a small bag of salted kinako for sprinkling (naturally I emptied it all)🤗 #あんと塩きなこ

Possibly because the name 'shikimi' was close to 'shikibu', or maybe because the bright purple flowers recalled the vivid colours of the kimono worn in 'The Tale of Genji', but over time the plant was renamed in honour of Murasaki Shikibu (紫式部 ?973-1014?). #Japan #Kyoto #京都

A note left on my desk from Nao-san. I'm not sure if this is a threat, or if a new mascot icon has been born😳 #misspickle #mascot #pickles #Japan #Kyoto

Everyone inside the Promotion Hall, which was almost at the epicenter of the blast, was killed instantly. Following the city's destruction the hall was scheduled for demolition, but in 1966 it was decided that the renamed 'Atomic Bomb Dome' (原爆ドーム) would become a memorial.

Another day, another celebration. August 5th is 'Box Day' (ハコの日)!🤔 Established by the Tōkyō Paperware Industry Association (東京紙器工業組合) in 1991, as you might expect the date is a play on words. ハコ 'hako' = box 📦ハ = 8 📦コ = 5 #ハコの日 #boxday #Japan #blackcats

"Japan learned from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that the tragedy wrought by nuclear weapons must never be repeated and that humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist." -Daisaku Ikeda (池田大作 1928-2023). #Hiroshima #HiroshimaPeaceMemorialMuseum #広島 #HiroshimaDay

all alone in silence at the dome, Hiroshima Day 黙然とひとりドームにヒロシマ忌 -Shigemoto Yasuhiko (重本泰彦). Perhaps the most iconic anti-nuclear symbol of our times, the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall was built in 1915 and was immortalized on August 6th 1945.

The Atomic Bomb Dome and Peace Flame -which will burn until nuclear disarmament- as seen through the Memorial Cenotaph (慰霊碑). The epitaph reads: 安らかに眠って下さい 過ちは 繰返しませぬから 'Rest in Peace, for the error shall not be repeated' -Saika Tadayoshi (雑賀忠義).

Kyōto is getting very close to 40 degrees as the week drags on. There’s only one thing for it…🙈 #Kyoto #京都 #Japan #monkeypark #Arashiyama #嵐山 #Iwatayama #ArashiyamaMonkeyPark #嵐山モンキーパーク #summer #kyotosummer

Hiroshima-jō (広島城), also known as Ri-jō (鯉城 'Carp Castle'), was built between 1592-1599 by Mōri Terumoto (毛利輝元). Mōri sided against Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康) at the Battle of Sekigahara (関ヶ原の戦い), and having lost, abandoned the castle in 1600. #Hiroshima #広島

Fukushima Masanori (福島正則) became lord, but was replaced by Asano Nagaakira (浅野長晟) when he repaired the castle (after a flood) without bakufu permission in 1619. The atomic blast likely destroyed the original castle's lower pillars and it collapsed. It was rebuilt in 1958.

'Tōtekiko' is just 1 of 5 gardens at Ryōgen-in. For a brief time each day it is illuminated completely by the noon sun. The temple's 'Ryōgin-tei' is believed to be the oldest in the Daitoku-ji (大徳寺) complex, and may well have been created by Sōami (相阿弥 ?-1525). #Daitokuji

📢On a side note, when Kinkaku-ji was rebuilt in 1960 2kg of gold leaf was used (100,000 sheets). From 1984 repairs were undertaken for 3 years and gold leaf 5 times thicker, much closer to the gold leaf used in Muromachi times, was applied. It cost 740 million yen ($5 million).

Founded in 1502 by Tōkei Sōboku (東渓宗牧), 72nd head of Daitoku-ji, Ryōgen-in's main hall (originally the abbot's residence) is thought to be the complex's oldest building. 5 Gardens: 🪨Koda-tei (滹沱底) 🪨Isshi-dan (一枝坦) 🌿Kaiso-dō garden (開祖堂) 🌿Ryōgin-tei 🪨Tōtekiko

2) A PRIZED PILLAR🪧 The Sekka-tei (夕佳亭) teahouse has a pillar made from nanten (南天 'Nandina domestica'). 'Heavenly bamboo' is a very slow growing shrub, so to have a piece of wood large enough to act as pillar is extremely rare and thus considered priceless. #Kyoto #京都

This beautiful waterwheel and pond belongs to Yamanaka Abura-ten (山中油店), an 'oil shop' first established between 1818-29. In the Heian period the original imperial palace's 'one book store' (一本御書所 'Ippon-no-Goshodokoro') would have stood here. #waterwheel #Kyoto

autumn deepens- camphor wood ceiling eight mats wide at Kinkaku-ji 秋ふるや楠八畳の金閣寺 -Yosa no Buson (与謝蕪村 1716-84). The original ceiling was lost to fire in 1950, and replacing the single span of camphor wood proved impossible. #Kyoto #京都 #Kinkakuji #金閣寺 #Japan

3) THE CAMPHOR CEILING🌳 The 3rd floor of Kinkaku-ji was famed for its ceiling, made from a single, huge piece of camphor wood. A wonder of the age, the 'Ichimai Tenjō' (一枚天井/楠の一枚板) was crafted from an immense tree shipped from Shimotoba, south east of the city. #金閣寺

Each floor of Kinkaku-ji uses a different architectural style: 1) 'Hōsui-in' (法水院 'Chamber of Dharma Waters')= shinden/palatial style (寝殿造) 2) 'Chōon-dō' (潮音洞 'The Sound of Waves Tower')= buke/warrior style (武家造) 3) 'Kukkyō-chō' (究竟頂 'Cupola of the Ultimate')= zen-style (禅宗様)

The pavilion's newly installed fire alarm was not working at the time😩 After failing to kill himself, Yōken (林養賢) was caught and imprisoned. The incident became inspiration for Mishima Yukio's (三島由紀夫 1925-70) book 'The Temple of the Golden Pavilion'. #Kyoto #京都 #金閣寺

Kinkaku-ji, the reliquary hall of Rokuon-ji (鹿苑寺), was the last remaining piece of Yoshimitsu's sprawling 'Kitayama-dono' (北山殿). Massive in scale, the villa complex included a Northern Palace (北御所), Southern Palace (南御所) and home for Emperor Go-En'yū's mother (崇賢門院).

✨THE 7 WONDERS OF ROKUON-JI🪙 Like many temples and shrines in Kyōto, Rokuon-ji (鹿苑寺) has a list of 'wonders'... 1) Gold😎 Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺) is covered in 200,000 sheets of gold leaf (weighing 20kg in total)! Each gold leaf is 10cm by 10cm. #Kinkakuji #金閣寺 #Kyoto #京都

In 1397 Ashikaga Yoshimitsu purchased the old home of the Saionji family. Once a sprawling villa and lavish temple (after which the Saionji took their name), in 1335 Saionji Kinmune (西園寺公宗) rebelled against the emperor, lost, and the complex burnt in the struggle. #Kyoto

Kinkaku (金閣), the reliquary hall, was finished in 1398. It was connected to Yoshimitsu's main residence by a 2-story covered walkway. For 10 years Kitayama-dono was the political and cultural heart of the country. Yoshimitsu retired in 1394, but held power until his death.

Between 1402-07 Yoshimitsu received envoys from the Ming and Joseon courts 6 times. After 30 years establishing trade links with China (he was rebuffed in 1374 & 1380), in 1402 the 'Yongle Emperor' (永樂帝 1360-1424) recognised Yoshimitsu in official documents as 'King of Japan'.

Kameya Yoshinaga (亀屋良長) created a special 'ubatama mizu manjū' (烏羽玉水まんじゅう) for 'TEA SALON TANK', a mobile-café run by 'TANK' (株式会社TANK)😋 Typical ubatama are made from red bean paste mixed with dark sugar, rolled into balls and then covered with agar jelly😋 #実相院 #岩倉 #Kyoto #京都

🥤LAZY DAY LIBATIONS🍧 Venturing out in the languorous Kyōto heat is always a chore in the summertime, so it's important to pepper your day with cool rewards. Thus Nao-san made a short trip into the foothills to try out a pop-up cafe at the imperial temple of Jissō-in (実相院).

Preparing a fresh matcha latte! 🍵🌪️😋🥛🧊🙌✨

4) THE MYSTIC'S GRAVE🪦 It is said that Jōzō Kisho (浄蔵貴所), a monk said to have brought his father (temporarily) back to life and righted the leaning Yasaka Pagoda, is buried at Rokuon-ji.

The Minami-gosho (南御所) was completed first, in 1398, and became the home of Yoshimitsu's wife, Hino Yasuko (日野康子 1369-1419). Next came a palace for Sukenmon-in (崇賢門院), mother Emperor Go-En'yū (後円融天皇). Yoshimitsu's home, Kita-gosho (北御所), was finished in 1407.

During one of Go-Daigo's outings to Shimogamo-jinja, 5 bubbles appeared in the water as he purified his hands. Interpreted as the human body (五体-head, arms and legs), it was taken as a fortuitous sign. The emperor offered 5 rice dumplings (4 big & 1 small) to the shrine gods.

What we know as mitarashi dango originated at the Kamo Mitarashi Chaya 'Tea House' (加茂みたらし茶屋), situated to the west of the shrine grounds. It became tradition at Shimogamo-jinja to symbolically offer dumplings to the gods before eating them for luck. #Kyoto #みたらし茶屋

In its traditional form, mitarashi dango is made up of 5 small rice dumplings...skewered, grilled, and served with a sweet soy sauce glaze. Legend has it that the inspiration for the snack came from a miraculous incident involving Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 1288-1339). #Kyoto

Not intended as a library, it isn't clear if the 'one book shop' was for storing rare single copies of books, or if it held a preserved copy of all books in circulation. Emperor Go-Shirakawa (後白河天皇) was confined to this building during the Heiji Rebellion (平治の乱) in 1159.

🙏🔔THE DEAD RETURN🪦👋 For a few days in August, with the simple ringing of a temple bell, our ancestors are once again invited back to the world of the living for a brief vacation. It is a happy reunion of remembrance, lanterns, dance and (in Kyōto) giant mountain bonfires.