A neighbour had been pruning his garden and offered us some of these very fine and thin branches. This calls for a “light” arrangement, where the material is floating out of the container and could be carried away by the wind at any moment!
I hope you like it. —Miyako
The "Nagoshi no Oo-harae" 夏越の大祓 (Summer Purification) is a Shinto event held near the end of June. It is a sort of a mid-year reset where all of one's bad luck and impurities are driven out, getting us ready for the 2nd half of the year.
The Shinto priest waves around this wand called "oo-nusa" (大麻) to drive away bad luck, illness and calamity. The wand is made from a branch of the sakaki (榊) tree [cleyera japonica] with "shide" (紙垂) paper streamers attached.
"Chinowa Kuguri" 茅の輪くぐり
At the entrance of the shrine, there is a ring made of entwined thatch. You walk through this 3 times before moving onward into the shrine. This action drives out the bad luck and illnesses that have attached to you. Before stepping through, you bow each time. First, walk through, then turn left and back out. Second, turn right and out. Third, turn left and out. Fourth, walk straight through and into the shrine. Notice that by doing these steps, you drew a number "8" or infinity symbol.
"Kata-shiro" 形代
At the shrine, you can get these paper dolls called "hitokata-shiro" (人形代). They work like reverse voodoo dolls. 😊 You write your name on it; blow a breathe into it; and rub it gently on your body. Then you offer it up to the shrine. They will be burned later. What's happening is that you are transferring all your bad luck, illnesses and impurities onto the paper doll and leaving them for the gods to sort out!
Now, you're ready to face the 2nd half of the year!
Photos are from Hikawa Jinja (氷川神社）in Omiya, Saitama Prefecture.
If you’ve ever visited a sake brewery in Japan, you would have seen these spheres of leaves hanging by the entrance. They are called sugidama (杉玉) and are made with the leaves of the sugi tree (commonly called “Japanese cedar” but more correctly, “cryptomeria”).
Sake brewery entrance.
The sign says: “God of Sake, Miwa-Myojin.
Traditionally, the sugidama leaves come from the cryptomeria trees growing in the Oomiwa Shrine (大神神社) in Nara Prefecture. The shrine is located on Mt. Miwa, the sacred mountain where Miwa-Myojin (三輪明神), the god of sake, resides. Sake breweries display the fresh sugidama when the first batch of sake is pressed. So, a green sugidama announces that fresh sake (like shiboritate) is coming. In time, they will turn brown…and that may be the sign that the aged sake (like hiyaoroshi) are ready!
Nowadays, when you see a sugidama outside an establishment, it means sake is brewed, sold, or served there!
Niigata Prefecture is one of the places in Japan famous for its sake. You can visit a brewery for a guided tour. One place that gives brewery tours (and tasting in the end!) is the Imayo Tsukasa Sake Brewery (今代司). This brewery was founded in 1767. Guided tours in Japanese are free. The English tour costs 400 JPY (as of Jun 25, 2023). More info here.
Imayo Tsukasa Sake Brewery
The traditional vats are also made from sugi wood.
Bonus pics. A display of Niigata sake at Nagaoka Station.
Sake barrels.
Our ikebana exhibition at the Halifax Central Library last May, 2022 is featured in the June, 2023 edition of "Sō" (「草」) magazine, the official publication of the Sogetsu Teachers' Association.
Last weekend (Jun 2-4, 2023) was the annual convention of the Nova Scotia Association of Garden Clubs. Members from all over the province gather together to make friends, share ideas, and learn about the latest in gardening. The venue for the convention rotates around the different regions and this year, it was held in Halifax.
On the first day, we were happy to present an ikebana workshop to introduce the basic principles of ikebana to interested members.
We also presented a demonstration of ikebana where arrangements were created live.
We thank everyone for the their warm welcome. We hope you enjoyed!
Dissambled pine branches. The needles are used to create mass while the bare branches form the line.
I hope you like it. —Miyako
Our welcome ikebana arrangement for the 2022 Atlantic Canada Japanese Language Speech Contest at St. Mary's University is featured in the April, 2023 edition of "Sō" (「草」) magazine, the official publication of the Sogetsu Teachers' Association.
It’s not like we’re pioneers or anything like that. Of course many people here own Japanese knives…and most probably appreciate their quality. It’s just that Japanese knives have a reputation of being on the expensive side of the price spectrum…and in most cases, justifiably so. But we thought: there must be a Japanese knife out there whose quality would satisfy the discerning home cook or amateur chef without breaking the budget. And so we found Nagao, a hidden gem!
The Nagao knives are affordably priced but punches way above its weight class. These knives are produced in Tsubame-Sanjo in Niigata Prefecture. For those who are not familiar, Tsubame-Sanjo is famous for its metal craft and edged tools, including, of course, knives! Our shop has a strong bond with Tsubame-Sanjo. It is also the place where our kenzans and ikebana clippers are produced.
Though mass-produced, these knives are hand-sharpened (as opposed to machine-sharpened) by craftsmen. They are sharp and ready to work once out of the box! Molybdenum vanadium stainless steel is strong, durable, and rust resistant.
Our lineup consists of 3 types of all-purpose knives: gyuto, santoku, and petty knife.
Gyuto
The gyuto (牛刀), shaped like a chef’s knife, is the shape that people in the West would be most familiar with. The name literally translates to “cow’s sword” because apparently it was originally meant to cut up pieces of beef.
Gyuto
Santoku
The name santoku (三徳) translates to “three virtues”. It is said that it’s because this knife can be used for (1) meat, (2) fish, and (3) vegetables. Others say it’s because it can be used for (1) chopping, (2) dicing, and (3) mincing. It is the most popular knife in Japanese households.
Santoku
Petty Knife
The so-called petty knife (ペティナイフ) actually got its name from the French word “petit” (“small”). It is a shorter blade and is often used as a utility knife used for cutting fruit, etc.
Petty Knife
We asked our friend and master knife sharpener, Peter Nowlan, to take a look at the Nagao knives. Here’s what he had to say about them.
“These are very nice knives at a ridiculously low price. I was quite pleasantly surprised at how sharp they are as well. I hope folks take advantage of this, it’s hard to beat this deal on knives like this.
I’m always asked if I sell knives, I don’t but I steer people in a certain direction. Many don’t like to buy a knife online and also they fear the cost of a Japanese knife. They want a Japanese knife of course but that’s often not enough for them to pull the trigger. Well I’ve found a solution. I visited @theikebanashop today on Quinpool Rd and was surprised to see these Japanese knives for sale. It’s a Japanese store but they didn’t carry knives until now that is. Keep in mind that this beautiful little store has been a knife drop off location for me for 10 years so I’m quite familiar with the store and the owners. I was shocked at the price of this knife, I was also quite surprised by how sharp it was.… Also, these knives are hand sharpened with explains the level of sharpness out of the box. So how much are these knives? $59.50, I couldn’t believe it.”
So we hope to introduce the Nagao knife to Halifax…and maybe North America. (They are avaialbe on our online shop too.)
The 2023 Atlantic Canada Japanese Language Speech Contest was held last Mar 11, 2023 at St. Mary’s University. We prepared an ikebana arrangement to brighten up the podium.
Congratulations to all the winners!
Branches are like treasure for the ikebana practitioner. So it is always a great joy when we receive branches from thoughtful people who know how valuable they are to us! Last month a friend came all the way from Chester NS (about an hour’s drive from Halifax) to bring us branches that she had cut from her yard. We were truly touched!
Here are a couple of arrangements using the assortment of spruce and cypress branches.
Our warmest thanks to Myra for the branches.
