Miyako's demonstration at St. Mary's University last February was featured in "Sō" (「草」) magazine, Oct 2014 edition. "Sō" is the official publication for the Sogetsu Teachers' Association. Thank you!
In the photo, (L-R) Dr. J. Colin Dodds, President of St. Mary's University; Miyako Ballesteros, ikebana artist; and Mr. Tatsuo Arai, Consul General of Japan at Montreal.
The demonstration was part of Japanesque, an event showcasing Japanese culture at St. Mary's University, Halifax NS.
We are happy to see our work featured in "Sō" (「草」) magazine, the official publication for the Sogetsu Teachers' Association. Thank you!
The event was our exhibit during the Nocturne Halifax Art At Night last October, 2013. Please click here to see more about the exhibit.
Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation will comes into effect on July 1, 2014. The spirit of this law is promote a safer online environment and to protect Canadians from scams and disruptive/unwanted emails. We are all for that!
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has outlined 3 rules that must be followed when sending out a commercial electronic message (CEM).
To be clear, we do not send out spam. We also do not "harvest" or purchase email addresses.
However, we do send out the following unsolicited messages to an email list:
These messages can be technically categorized as CEM and therefore subject to the Anti-Spam Law. The email addresses in our mailing lists have been painstakingly collected through the years from people with whom we have had direct contact. They have expressed interest in our activities. It is unfortunate that we did not keep any kind of proof of consent. Some email addresses were given to us by phone, by little slips of memo paper, by a business card, etc. None were archived in any organized way.
Sooooo, we're going to push the re-set button. We will delete our mailing lists and start with a clean slate.
If you would like to continue (or begin) receiving our ikebana lesson schedule updates and/or our origami & other workshop announcements, please send us an email saying:
I subscribe to your ikebana / origami & other workshops [choose one or both] mailing list.
In the same way, you will be able to un-subscribe by sending us another email to tell us to remove you from the mailing list(s)....and we will do so promptly (as we have always done till now).
Thank you very much for your understanding.
Halifax and the city of Hakodate in Hokkaido, Japan, have been sister cities since 1982. As a symbol of friendship, Halifax has been sending a Christmas tree to Hakodate annually. This tree is the main attraction for the annual "Christmas Fantasy" event in Hakodate. Many, many people appreciate this tree from Halifax.
Many volunteers in Hakodate work hard to make this event happen. We thought we'd give them a small gift from Nova Scotia. So, we took some Nova Scotia tartan and some Nova Scotia lavender...
...and made little Christmas trees out of them!
(Photo courtesy of Mr. Masao Oikawa.)
Through the good offices of the Hokkaido International Foundation, we shipped a box of about 50 of these lovely-smelling lavender Christmas trees to our friends in Hakodate.
Below on the right is Mr. Fumio Yamazaki, representative director of the Hokkaido International Foundation, presenting our little sachets to two directors of the Christmas Fantasy Executive Committee.
(Photo courtesy of Mr. Masao Oikawa.)
The little trees were distributed to members of the Halifax-Hakodate Friendship Association and volunteer staff of the Christmas Fantasy Executive Committee. Plus, the Hakodate City Mayor, Tourist Department Chief and International Department Chief all got one each too. Wow...our little bit of Nova Scotia went a long way! Thank you very much Mr. Yamazaki!
We would also like to thank Mr. Masao Oikawa, a professional photographer and a director of the Halifax-Hakodate Friendship Association for graciously providing us with some of the photographs. He is also the photographer responsible for the beautiful Christmas Fantasy poster.
We hope the friendship between our two cities will continue. We work in our own little way to contribute to this objective!
Enjoy some scenes of Christmas Fantasy in Hakodate...
In collaboration with Peter Nowlan of New Edge Sharpening, we are pleased to offer blade sharpening workshops at our studio here in Halifax.
We did a dry-run last week and the result was good! How do we know that? Here is an excerpt from a letter from Patrick after doing the workshop.
...I worked with Peter on this for about 2.5 hrs, Pete said I had it down to a fine science in under an hour as I have been taking lessons from him off and on for over a year now, but wanted to refine my technique using all Japanese stones. I took this knife up to 8000 Grit and she is some fine knife. The selection of Japanese water stone Peter Nowlan has for teaching and for use in his own shop is unreal, he is a perfectionist and every aspect of doing it right but at the same time his teaching methods is laid back comfortable and most enjoyable.
Peter had Japanese flute music going and treated me to very nice Japanese tea, I think it was green tea but very nice indeed The shop is on Quinpool Road and is all about Japanese culture, lots of books on cooking, sushi cook books are stunning, many nice crafts and best if you want to learn the art of Ikenana [sic], Flower arrangement then this is the place not to mention my Favorite is working with a Master at his craft of knife sharpening Mr Peter Nowlan to whom I would recommend lessons or having your own kitchen / Chef knife sharpen by in a heartbeat.
Mr. Nowlan thank you for the wonderful time at your knife sharpening seminar and for imparting your knowledge on proper care and techniques to acquire the sharpest edge knife I have ever had to date from your lessons.
Patrick
Thank you, Patrick!
We don't have pre-scheduled workshops. Please contact us if you (or your group) want to arrange one. More details here.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces Training Squadron will make a port call on Halifax, July 8-11, 2013.
There are some events that are open to the general public!
Schedule of activities:
Please drop by and say "Hello!" See you there!
Poster is courtesy of the Consulate General of Japan at Montreal.
All photos by the ikebana shop. All rights reserved.
Do you like our lucky cat? The words (招福) on the coin is inviting good luck to come.
We're going to put it outside on sunny days for you to enjoy! Visit us soon!
PS It's hand-painted in-house!
(Photo by the ikebana shop. All rights reserved.)
We are pleased to introduce our blade sharpening service!
Getting frustrated with dull clippers and knives? Don't throw them away just yet! We've teamed up with Peter Nowlan, owner of New Edge Sharpening. He will sharpen your clippers/knives in the free-hand traditional way and make your blades sharper than new! Just bring your knives/clippers to the shop! (Not here in Halifax? We might still be able to help. Email us!)
Click here to find out how to get the edge back on your blades!
(All photos by the ikebana shop. All rights reserved.)
Online shopping just got a little bit easier for facebook users. Now you can check out our products without leaving facebook! Just click on the "Shop" tab.
2013 ISKF Canada National Karate Championships will be held in Halifax May 18th~19th. We are a proud sponsor! Osu!
