Oishii Japan 2018

I wore kimono for tea ceremony presentation at a local event today. I chose a purple iromuji, cream taiko gara fukuro obi with karabana design, pink obijime, dark purple and blue obiage, and pink zori. (I've been playing with a new selfie stick/tripod/bluetooth remote, so the posing isn't quite on point yet.)

More photos of the event were captured by Frank Chin, a talented local photographer. There's a few of us performing tea ceremony during the event. Please click here to see them!

NYE Tea Ceremony

I got invited to a last-minute New Year's Eve tea ceremony at a dear friend's house. It was a casual affair, and since a few of us have babies, they were invited as well. :) They both behaved surprisingly well for the most part (although they both got a little fussy during usucha). It was such a lovely time, and I hope I get more opportunities like this in the future.

Memphis Japan Festival 2018

After a few years hiatus, the Memphis Japan Festival returned! I had two coordinations for the festival as I did dance as well as tea ceremony. I wore a lilac summer iromuji for my sadō presentation, which was first in the morning, and then I switched to my handmade yukata for bon odori. 

I don't have the pictures here, but the baby got to wear his "yukata" one last time before he outgrew it. I guess I'll need bigger sizes for him soon!

First Tea Ceremony Presentation of 2016

Even though our tea ceremony group is much more casual than others in the USA, we still try to have hatsugama every year. Due to our sensei's schedule, we were unable to hold the event this year unfortunately. (For those who don't know, our sensei moved to the east coast a few years ago and has been flying back about once per month to teach us.) However, we were asked to do a presentation for the Oishii Japan food event. Sensei had originally planned to fly in and lead the presentation, but with the blizzard last week, his flight was cancelled. I was asked to lead in his place.

I have done several of these kinds of presentations in the past, so I wasn't too nervous from a stage-fright standpoint. But since I had surgery back in December, I have not been able to practice very much. I felt rusty, and that's what actually made me nervous. Despite my fears, the presentation went very well. My husband provided narration (since this group was unfamiliar with tea ceremony) and one of our other members was my main guest. Two other members assisted some in the background.

And now on to the pictures! I was really excited to wear this iromuji. I bought it last year, but I was waiting for the perfect time to wear it. This event fit the bill in my opinion. The colors in my own crappy iPhone pictures are very washed out, but the two of the actual presentation taken by Frank Chin are very true-to-life.

Coordination for Halloween Tea Ceremony Class

In keeping with the spirit of Halloween, I wanted to wear kimono with the traditional colors to tea ceremony class. I didn't want it to look too out of place, so I wore my orange iromuji, the black and grey bokashi nagoya obi, a deep purple obiage, and a bright green obijime.

Photos from Special Tea Ceremony

As a member of our local chado (tea ceremony) group, The Way of Tea in Tennessee, we usually do practice and demonstrations, with only one formal tea gathering in January. Another member built her own chashitsu (tea room) and held a smaller private gathering - a rare treat for us! The occasion was not only to celebrate the chashitsu but also to welcome a special guest - our sensei's mother. Please read my other post about the weekend we spent with her.

I was finally able to get some pictures from the event. There are only a few, but here is what I have to share.

As our normal practice space does not have a tea garden, we never get to practice this part. Here, sensei's mother is showing me how to use the tsukubai.

Ichigo Kyoyaki Chawan

As many of you know, I have been practicing chado (tea ceremony) for several years now. Like my kimono collection, my collection of chadogu (tea implements) is ever-growing. I tend to favor more earthy designs for my chawan and rarely delve into the realm of Kyoyaki, since I feel many of the designs are outlandish and gaudy. That being said, I absolutely fell head-over-heels in love with this ichigo design chawan:

It's such a unique motif! And of course, very modern. It was made by potter Tozan of Kyoto.

Being a modern motif, I'm not 100% sure when it would be best to use it. My thinking is that because strawberries are one of the first fruits to ripen in late spring and early summer, it would probably be best to use it slightly before that time.

Tea ceremony with Dr. Sachiko Matsushita

On Saturday, we had a special tea ceremony class led by Urasenke master Dr. Sachiko Matsushita. Matsushita-sensei actually founded our group (The Way of Tea in Tennessee) back in 2008. She returned for a visit this past week. I was so lucky to be able to learn from her! I wish I had a better picture of Sachiko-sensei's kimono and obi. She is currently living in China and could not bring her own kimono with her, so she borrowed these from another member - but that other person did not have any undergarments - so Sachiko-sensei wore the kimono without a nagajuban. The kimono itself is one that the untrained eye may not recognize as beautiful - or expensive. It's an asa komon with a kasuri weave - truly a splendid piece! The obi is a bingata dyed design - gorgeous! Even without proper undergarments, she wore it with the elegance that I can only hope to attain with as many years of wearing kimono as she has!

Kentaro-sensei, Sachiko-sensei, and myself

Ichigo daifuku and blueberry daifuku prepared by Kentaro-sensei's wife

I will hopefully have some other pictures to add to this post later!

UPDATE 7/21 - Finally, I have more pictures! There's a few kitsuke pictures and then just ones of tea ceremony. (My husband took these from the chair where he was propped up; he had surgery only a few days before but was determined to make it to the class!)

May and June Kitsuke Dump

I haven't posted any kitsuke pictures for a while, but I have been taking them! (Note: some of these pictures are sideways. While I righted the images before I uploaded them, Blogger keeps putting them the wrong direction. Go figure...)

At the very end of May, I wore this ensemble: a grey hitoe komon with water design and raspberry susuki and dewdrop design nagoya obi. I chose blue accessories to play on the water theme:

In the middle of June, we did one of our monthly "basic" tea ceremony classes. (We do demonstrations of tea ceremony for beginners, and if time allows, we do extra practice to hone our skills for our next class with our sensei.) I wore a green sha komon with ivy leaves and a cream fukuro obi with kikyo design. I used pink accessories in this kitsuke.

 My husband took some pictures of me while I was performing (these are from later in the ceremony):

Picking up the second chawan (tea bowl)

Cleaning the chawan

Adding matcha to the chawan

Putting extra water back in the kama (kettle)

Whisking the matcha

At the end of June, I was a guest at Anime Blues Con with my group Tsuki no Ie Okiya. We had a VIP meet and greet to attend, so we all wore yukata. I chose my favorite one, black with kingyo design, and a cream sha hanhaba obi with silver lamé.

It's not in the pictures, but I also wore a tonbo obikazari. In the musubi picture, you can also see the uchiwa I carried.

I will try to upload more kitsuke pictures from this summer!