April 25-26
Apr. 26th, 2011 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
radhardenedApril 25
Yesterday morning started with erratic weather and a weekly quiz; the topic for us newer students was ryakubon temae. We got our graded quizzes back today and I missed two question: one on the term for the folding of the fukusa for usucha (which I'm pretty sure we were not taught in full), which is so no fukusa sabaki 草の帛紗捌き, and another on when the teishu moves the natsume back to its original position in the center of the tray, which is done after placing the wiped chashaku on the tea bowl and before placing the kettle lid slightly ajar. On last week's quiz, I turned out to have missed three: the material of the peg from which the scroll is hung (bamboo), the mizusashi water level for hakobidemae (80%), and the mizusashi water level for tana temae (90%), the latter two of which I underestimated.
Following the quiz was our first lecture by Imagawa-sensei, who had previously only taught us in jitsugi. He talked about furo (braziers used from May through October in the northern hemisphere) and the shikiita that go with them, with a tangent into kanji radicals. This was the first lecture directed to us (Midorikai students) that was given only in Japanese with no interpretation, but Imagawa-sensei makes it easier for those of us not yet fluent in Japanese by speaking slowly and clearly, using simple vocabulary, and making use of the chalkboard for writing and drawing. So I'd say I understood most of the lecture.
In jitsugi, we continued to practice chitosebon, this time adding haiken, under the direction of Hamana-sensei. We used my haigata, and to my surprise it was not judged terrible, though Hamana-sensei was fairly astonished that I'd spent 3.5 hours on it. Our teachers and senpai insist that after about one hour spending more time on haigata does not improve it. But it's so hard to look at something so obviously flawed after an hour's work and put down your tools instead of trying to fix it!
We used an interesting natsume, a Gengensai-gonomi akebono natsume utsushi 玄々斎好写 曙棗 (pictured at right). The day's wagashi was chogoromochi 長五郎餅 from Chogoromochi Honpo, which we're told sets up a booth on the 25th of each month at Tenjin-san (Market) 天神さん at Kitano Tenmangu 北野天満宮. It's a very simple wagashi with no particularly interesting color, design, shape, or flavor, so I had a hard time getting excited about it. But Hamana-sensei noted that traditionally, the role of wagashi in chanoyu is to enhance the tea, not to take attention away from it.
April 26
This morning's first lecture was by Gary-sensei on Senke Jusshoku, the ten families of craft-makers upon whom the Senke schools of chanoyu rely for the very best utensils. The second "lecture" was a guided tour through about half of the current Urasenke Center gallery exhibition, "Eighty-eight Years of My Life with Tea: Sen Genshitsu (Soshitsu XV)". I forgot to mention in my previous post that last Tuesday, April 19, was Hōunsai Daisosho's 88th birthday. Since 88 is considered to be an auspicious number, it had been planned as a big celebratory bash, but what with the recent earthquakes and tsunami in northern Japan, it was considerably toned down. We current Midorikai students—and some former ones—wrote birthday cards to him, but the day wasn't marked by any birthday events that included us, so the most noticeable marker of the birthday from our viewpoint are the lavish bouquets of orchids and roses that now adorn the Gakuen building. But I digress. This exhibition included chanoyu utensils made and/or preferred by Daisosho, often accompanied by photos of the events they were associated with, a last-minute tweak to the exhibit that I think adds a lot to the context of the items on display. To me, the most jaw-dropping utensil was a chashaku (tea scoop, usually carved from bamboo) with five nodes within a few inches of each other; does bamboo do that naturally? Was it somehow coerced into growing that way? I've never seen anything like it. There were many utensils featuring a phoenix (the "Hō" in Daisosho's Zen name Hōunsai 鵬雲斎). We learned the source of the tsubo-tsubo motif, which is the crest worn on formal kimono by people who attain the level at which they receive a chamei (tea name) and the right to wear the crest in Urasenke. I was interested in a red raku tea bowl that had a flaming jewel painted on it in white; I don't often see raku pieces with deliberately painted designs, and my understanding is that such tea bowls cannot be used for drinking koicha, but rather only usucha. I'd be interested in learning more about the "flaming jewel" in Buddhism; some cursory Googling didn't enlighten me. This tour and the Senke Jusshoku lecture that preceded it dovetailed nicely since so many of the utensils we saw in the gallery were made by craftspeople of those families. All in all, it was a fascinating tour, and I hope we'll have a chance to hear about the rest of the pieces that we didn't have time to get to.
Today's jitsugi was our last chitosebon practice. A gyotei-sensei (one of the high-level tea practitioners who work directly under the Iemoto and serve the Sen household) was guest-teaching our senpai in the adjacent room, so we were on our best behavior. One of the tea bowls we used had a contemplative mountain scene painted on it and two kanji inscribed inside, one of which was jaku 寂 (tranquility), one of the four principles of the discipline of Tea.
Today's wagashi was Kyo no Yama 京の山 "Mountain(s) of Kyoto", pictured at left.
After dinner and evening chores June and I went to Hinodeya to buy kimono raincoats, ensuring that our recent rainy weather will soon come to an end. :) Still, the rainy season is coming up.
The Midorikai men are submitting their applications to help carry a float in this year's Gion Matsuri. Apparently women aren't allowed to, despite the fact that my female senpai, an aikido practitioner, is stronger than many of the men. :(
Yesterday morning started with erratic weather and a weekly quiz; the topic for us newer students was ryakubon temae. We got our graded quizzes back today and I missed two question: one on the term for the folding of the fukusa for usucha (which I'm pretty sure we were not taught in full), which is so no fukusa sabaki 草の帛紗捌き, and another on when the teishu moves the natsume back to its original position in the center of the tray, which is done after placing the wiped chashaku on the tea bowl and before placing the kettle lid slightly ajar. On last week's quiz, I turned out to have missed three: the material of the peg from which the scroll is hung (bamboo), the mizusashi water level for hakobidemae (80%), and the mizusashi water level for tana temae (90%), the latter two of which I underestimated.
Following the quiz was our first lecture by Imagawa-sensei, who had previously only taught us in jitsugi. He talked about furo (braziers used from May through October in the northern hemisphere) and the shikiita that go with them, with a tangent into kanji radicals. This was the first lecture directed to us (Midorikai students) that was given only in Japanese with no interpretation, but Imagawa-sensei makes it easier for those of us not yet fluent in Japanese by speaking slowly and clearly, using simple vocabulary, and making use of the chalkboard for writing and drawing. So I'd say I understood most of the lecture.
In jitsugi, we continued to practice chitosebon, this time adding haiken, under the direction of Hamana-sensei. We used my haigata, and to my surprise it was not judged terrible, though Hamana-sensei was fairly astonished that I'd spent 3.5 hours on it. Our teachers and senpai insist that after about one hour spending more time on haigata does not improve it. But it's so hard to look at something so obviously flawed after an hour's work and put down your tools instead of trying to fix it!
We used an interesting natsume, a Gengensai-gonomi akebono natsume utsushi 玄々斎好写 曙棗 (pictured at right). The day's wagashi was chogoromochi 長五郎餅 from Chogoromochi Honpo, which we're told sets up a booth on the 25th of each month at Tenjin-san (Market) 天神さん at Kitano Tenmangu 北野天満宮. It's a very simple wagashi with no particularly interesting color, design, shape, or flavor, so I had a hard time getting excited about it. But Hamana-sensei noted that traditionally, the role of wagashi in chanoyu is to enhance the tea, not to take attention away from it.April 26
This morning's first lecture was by Gary-sensei on Senke Jusshoku, the ten families of craft-makers upon whom the Senke schools of chanoyu rely for the very best utensils. The second "lecture" was a guided tour through about half of the current Urasenke Center gallery exhibition, "Eighty-eight Years of My Life with Tea: Sen Genshitsu (Soshitsu XV)". I forgot to mention in my previous post that last Tuesday, April 19, was Hōunsai Daisosho's 88th birthday. Since 88 is considered to be an auspicious number, it had been planned as a big celebratory bash, but what with the recent earthquakes and tsunami in northern Japan, it was considerably toned down. We current Midorikai students—and some former ones—wrote birthday cards to him, but the day wasn't marked by any birthday events that included us, so the most noticeable marker of the birthday from our viewpoint are the lavish bouquets of orchids and roses that now adorn the Gakuen building. But I digress. This exhibition included chanoyu utensils made and/or preferred by Daisosho, often accompanied by photos of the events they were associated with, a last-minute tweak to the exhibit that I think adds a lot to the context of the items on display. To me, the most jaw-dropping utensil was a chashaku (tea scoop, usually carved from bamboo) with five nodes within a few inches of each other; does bamboo do that naturally? Was it somehow coerced into growing that way? I've never seen anything like it. There were many utensils featuring a phoenix (the "Hō" in Daisosho's Zen name Hōunsai 鵬雲斎). We learned the source of the tsubo-tsubo motif, which is the crest worn on formal kimono by people who attain the level at which they receive a chamei (tea name) and the right to wear the crest in Urasenke. I was interested in a red raku tea bowl that had a flaming jewel painted on it in white; I don't often see raku pieces with deliberately painted designs, and my understanding is that such tea bowls cannot be used for drinking koicha, but rather only usucha. I'd be interested in learning more about the "flaming jewel" in Buddhism; some cursory Googling didn't enlighten me. This tour and the Senke Jusshoku lecture that preceded it dovetailed nicely since so many of the utensils we saw in the gallery were made by craftspeople of those families. All in all, it was a fascinating tour, and I hope we'll have a chance to hear about the rest of the pieces that we didn't have time to get to.
Today's jitsugi was our last chitosebon practice. A gyotei-sensei (one of the high-level tea practitioners who work directly under the Iemoto and serve the Sen household) was guest-teaching our senpai in the adjacent room, so we were on our best behavior. One of the tea bowls we used had a contemplative mountain scene painted on it and two kanji inscribed inside, one of which was jaku 寂 (tranquility), one of the four principles of the discipline of Tea.
Today's wagashi was Kyo no Yama 京の山 "Mountain(s) of Kyoto", pictured at left.After dinner and evening chores June and I went to Hinodeya to buy kimono raincoats, ensuring that our recent rainy weather will soon come to an end. :) Still, the rainy season is coming up.
The Midorikai men are submitting their applications to help carry a float in this year's Gion Matsuri. Apparently women aren't allowed to, despite the fact that my female senpai, an aikido practitioner, is stronger than many of the men. :(
nodes in bamboo
Date: 2011-05-09 09:37 pm (UTC)BTW we're chopping down all the bamboo, too invasive. I'll look for one of these rare instances.