Sugoi! Japanese fireworks in July

Bam! Bam! Bam! Who doesn't like a good fireworks show?! Or hanabi, as it is called in Japan. The Japanese know their hanabi, real artisans are at work here. From hearts, smileys and all kinds of 'fire flowers' the professionals know what they're doing and keep innovating their art. As most fireworks in Japan take place during the hottest period of the year, August, I was lucky to find two firework shows in the Kansai area that took place in July. On the 22nd, a festival was organized in Ashiya, Osaka.
Because the Japanese won't only lit a few fire crackers, you can easily spend a good part of the day celebrating the matsuri with food stalls, little games and short performances from dancers, singers and even theater shows. Unfortunately the 22nd it was dreary weather. Not the kind of festival weather everyone had hoped for. Although my head was spinning with all the amazingly beautiful yukata (unlined summer kimono) I saw, there was no way to take pictures in the rain. So it was wonderful luck when the rain stopped at the start of the fireworks show!

A good thing I had bought a ¥ 2000 ticket for a seat that I could 'reserve' before walking around the festival grounds. In Japan is not strange to come early at an event and 'reserve' yourself (and your friends!) a good seat by placing personal items on a chair and come back hours later. These items could be fans, drinks, magazines, towels or even a handbag. No one will touch your stuff and your seat is there for you, and your personal belongings, when you get back. There's a positive side and maybe a negative side to this 'reserving' system that everyone respects. The best part of course is that everyone leaves your stuff alone (I ❤ Japan!).

It seemed me and my friends had claimed some great seats, and we could see the show perfectly. The fireworks were lit from the water, in the bay. Many people had taken their place on the beach on blankets and we had seats at the edge of the beach, a little elevated, with free sight on the spectacle. The most spectacular thing was an all-red fireworks piece with a lot of hearts in it after which someone asked his girlfriend to marry him. And she said yes! Aaaaaah, romantic!
After this, the organization took the time to educate the public a little bit with hanabi bingo. Every time just one arrow was shot in the air which you could find on your bingo card. With each new shot it was told what kind of firework you had just seen. But then the real fireworks started and it was amazing! Next year I should maybe plan to visit Japan in August to see more firework shows!

And what could be more festive on your birthday than to see a fireworks show? Osaka obliged and organized another festival on July 25th on the Okawa river. This 'matsuri' was even more extensive. Lots of boats were navigating the river by motor or by oarsmen. Many of the boats sported dancers, singers, musicians and other performers, some even traditional treasures. And all clapped the same simple rhythm to each other and to the people on the bridges: clap clap, clap clap, clap clap.... clap! It all contributed to very festive mood with a lot of calling out and merriment.
The river banks were lined by many yatai (food stands) with all kinds of junk food: karaage, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, Wiener wursten, frozen bananas, cream puffs and some even had fresh fruit or cucumbers. All the traditional Japanese festival food was there and also the little games for kids to play. To my excitement many girls came in the colourful summer dress of Japan, a yukata. It seems Osaka is trying to encourage visitors and inhabitants of Osaka to wear yukata and kimono more often, to enhance the attractiveness of the city. Well, it works for me!

ART Osaka: 50 galleries and me, up in the clouds

Earlier this year I visited ART Kyoto and this weekend it was Osaka's turn to bring together 50 galleries form all over Japan, i.e. Kanazawa, Gifu, Hokkaido, Nagoya, Tokyo and of course the  Kansai region. And some international flavour was added by art galleries from abroad, like Taiwan, Korea and China. With these great art events I'm attending these months I'm discovering a whole new world of contemporary art that was unknown to me before and I can't get enough of it!

Where in Kyoto Hotel Monterey was one of the locations for the fair, in Osaka Hotel Granvia's 26th floor was the main location for this event. Though the 26th floor is not a place I normally care to spend my time, (I get nauseous on speedy lifts), one apparently has to endure all kinds of hardships to enjoy art! But it was worth it, I had such a wonderful time! And once traveled with the speed of light, you are actually (almost) up in the clouds. Not only by seeing all this great art brought together, but also by the spectacular view! This event can only be a winner, with a location like this. And true, using hotel rooms is not the most practical choice, because it can get crowded very easy in the small rooms. More so when a gallery chooses to even use the bathroom to exhibit work. But I still like the quirkiness of it, the intimate atmosphere it creates and the fun. Visitors and gallery owners are literally brought closer together!

For instance I had such an interesting chat with artist Makoto Morimura about his 'Butterfly girls' project. In Japan a type of bar called 'host club' (or host bar/cabaret club) is well known here, but not so common in Europe. These bars have a rather steep entrance fee and high prices for their drinks. On the other hand you get to talk to beautiful girls, entertaining you and having drinks together, but no sex is involved. This type of entertainment reminds me strongly of the traditional geisha, only a contemporary adaptation. For his project, the artist picks up the flyers of these shot bars and cuts out the girls. From these tiny pieces of paper he folds traditional origami butterflies, since these girls are also known as 'butterflies of the night'. That brings the concept full circle I think. He warned me I should obtain a piece of his work now, before he get's famous and his work really expensive!

Furthermore, I found the work of Hiroshi Shinno just absolutely stunning. He makes fantasy insect creatures mixed with elements of plants and flowers with acryl on synthetic resin. The picture I took is not so great, but I love his bigger pieces anyway. Please have a look at his website, because his work is gorgeous. Other pieces of interest were by Ryoko Takahashi, who works with human hair. The sculpture of the girl in grey is by Jingab Jeong, the small sculptured clothes on the window by Nakanishi Yuki.

This year was the 10th anniversary of ART Osaka, and I hope they will continue to bring great art together for a long time to come.

Milky Way on water: 50.000 LED lights on the Okawa river in Osaka

It was just pure luck I found this festival just in time to watch and even participate. A beautiful picture of lasts years spectacle in Osaka caught my eye just one day before the event. It made me think of the Panasonic LED 'fireflies' released in the Sumida river in Tokyo just a few months before. I wished then I could have seen the spectacle, so am I happy to have found this opportunity! So I rushed my behind on the Special Rapid Service to Osaka this Saturday.

Arriving there I watched 50,000 blue lights make a dreamlike landscape on the Okawa River. The blue lights even have a fairy tale name and are called inori-boshi (prayer star). Plus they all have a wish attached to them, which were written on paper strips people could buy at different shops in Osaka in the weeks previous to the event. Wishes are made for happiness, money or health, but also condolences for lost loved ones or people suffering in the Tohoku area. With this man-made Milky Way of lights, the star festival is celebrated, or “Heisei, the Legend of Osaka Amanogawa”.

Thousands of people visited the riverside to enjoy the one-night-only Milky Way. Most of the lights were gathered beforehand and released from small boats, by the organization. A little haphazard and a tad disorganized, it all contributed to the charm of the evening. Visitors could also embark one of the tourist boats (for 2000 yen) and get a 'wish star' to release in the river themselves. The embarking on different boats brought about quite some confusion, certainly for one who doesn't speak Japanese! But a friendly attendant is never far away, so it all worked out well in the end and I did not miss my boat (I'm on a boat!). I would have preferred to enter a open boat though, but that's probably for another life time, when I do speak Japanese and understand what the heck is happening. :)

All of this does not occur without thinking of the environment I'm relieved to report. The wishes are written on paper strips made of papyrus. This paper is made mainly from reeds which grow in Lake Biwa, north of Kyoto. Releasing these papyrus strips in the river helps to purify the water is what I understand. Even only one paper strip will purify approximately 54 liters of water! Of course the LED lights, that have a low electricity consumption, are gathered after the festival and reused. Hurray for Osaka's Milky Way Festival!

Here's a link to the article about the event in Tokyo.

The 41st Nihon-Kogeikai: the very best traditional Japanese arts & crafts of the Kinki region

This is a very unusual post in the sense that I do not have any pictures for you, only a poster (front and back) that's not even my own design. My defense is that this exposition is too amazing to miss and it was not allowed to take pictures, understandably maybe.

Anyway, this exposition is still two more days held at the department store Isetan Mitsukoshi in Osaka. The Nihon-Kogeikai (or Kogeiten) is a traveling exhibition of the very best traditional art & craft works of the Kansai region (or Kinki region, which is the same). Every item on display won prices earlier in another 'competetion' of a sort. That could be regionally or nationally, but all works are Japanese arts & crafts and belong to one of the following disciplines: woods & bamboo craft, ceramics, lacquer ware, textiles (kimono a.o.), dolls, glass, metal ware or 'miscellaneous'. The most exquisite of these art pieces were collected together to star at this 41th expo. Each of the 5 days of the exhibition a master in one of the art & craft forms will give a presentation, today a bamboo master is taking the stage. Even is you do not understand Japanese, go see the best the Kansai region has to offer, you will not regret it!

Every prefecture in Japan has it's own regional exhibition with the best works in the traditional arts. From these regional winners the best are hand picked to continue to the 'Nitten' exhibition. A national 'competition' for the very, very, very best in arts & crafts of Japanese traditional handwork. The Nitten is also a traveling exhibition. Unfortunately for me it has already visited these region's for this year exhibition, but I'm rooting for nest time I visit Japan.

Better food & Cool Biz at Kyoto Tower's Beer Garden

June 1st I wrote a post about New Hankyu's Beer Garden. Last week I went up to the roof garden of Kyoto Tower to make a comparison. (What one has to endure to write a blog!) This is what I found after thorough research:
The food was much better, more choice, more taste and it was even better to look at. For mains and side dished there was so much to choose from, like fresh salmon and seared tuna, a whole range of kushi and fried dishes, rice and noodles, mini sandwiches, fries and Wieners and so forth. I could stuff myself on the fruit and cake bar only! Food might still be better at a regular restaurant, but those do not have Kyoto Tower, or a roof top for that matter!

Another great asset was the roof top awning, because the evenings in Kyoto can still be very hot. Eating in the blistering sun, and drinking for that matter, is no fun! Luckily I didn't need it, I had wonderful weather, actually just perfect, and look at that beautiful sky....

Ok, moving on. The third reason Kyoto Tower might be a better choice is just plain money. Kyoto Tower's Beer Garden will set you back 'only' 3000 yen and you eat and drink as much as you like between 17:30 and 21:00 o'clock. This price is valid until July first, after that, it's 3500 yen till September 1st. Then it's 3000 yen again. Kyoto Tower Beer Garden however does not make a difference between men and women. New Hankyu does make that difference and has an intricate table with prices going up every month, but being less expensive on certain weekdays. Men pay 500 yen more than women on any day. More info on their website.

The thing that could be said for New Hankyu however is the atmosphere. It's quite different since you'll be amongst business men, or as they are called in Japan 'salarymen'. It makes you feel more being a part of Kyoto's community. As for Kyoto Tower, it seems like it gets frequented by more tourists and there were definitely less ties and jackets. The latter could also be the result of 'Cool Biz' season starting, later turning into 'Super Cool Biz', where salarymen are allowed to wear more casual clothes because of the sweltering heat. (See Huffington Post).

I would say 'forget about New Hankyu Hotel's B-B Paradise! Join me at Kyoto Tower Beer Garden and keep off the cakes please!'

Fireflies in Uji, like magic from a children's book

Yesterday evening, around 19:30 o'clock I enjoyed one of the greatest experiences of this trip, at least! I went firefly viewing at Uji's Botanical Garden. A charming, small garden nonetheless, yesterday was all about the fireflies.

At the east of the garden a little stream flows pleasantly through the Maple grove (Momiji Bayashi) and the Konara oak Grove (Konara Bayashi). It  offers the fireflies a dense 'forest' with a lot of ground foliage where they can safely fly about. Look for the darkest spots, that's where you find them. Actually, the very best spot is at the right from the small pond at the far end of the Konara Bayashi between the low bamboo plants.

Each day, the website shows a summary of the day before, with the amount of fireflies flying and of cars on the parking deck. (Busses 240 and 250 also drive back and fourth between the Botanical Garden and Uji Station). Yesterday seemed the perfect evening, since around 8 o'clock the fireflies were ''flying a lot'' and the car deck was almost empty. What more can you wish for?

The best time of the evening is between 19 and 19:30 o'clock, when the first fireflies light up and the visitors and yourself, will murmur in excitement. Children are hushed kindly as not to disturb the magic of the evening. You will feel like a little kid in a children's book when the fairy like scene unfolds itself in front of you. Half an hour later is the busiest time with fireflies flitting above the stream and sometimes crossing the path so you can almost touch them.

Firefly Festival at Uji Botanical Garden started at May 26th and you can still enjoy the fireflies until the 17th of June. Extended opening hours apply during the festival, until 21:30 o'clock. In the Kansai region I know of three other spots that celebrate firefly festivals. I'll try and visit at least one of these other festivals and tell you about it at So Kyoto!

Keihanna Commemorative Park
At the Suikei garden at Seika Tow. Through June 17th.
I posted earlier about the Suikei-en, see this article.

Tanikawa Firefly Park
On the Minamitani River, at the Town of Ide. Throughout summer.

Kanbayashi-sanso villa
At the City of Ayabe. Mid-June.

PS: I know these pictures are definitely not the best firefly pictures out there! I do not have the proper equipment for  these hard conditions, being in... total darkness :) It's more about fun and imagination. And I needed some pictures to go with this story after all!

B-B Paradise: Roof top Beer Garden at New Hankyu Hotel

Rather coincidentally I ended up, with company, in the Beer Garden on the roof top of New Hankyu Hotel, opposite Kyoto Station. It was a wonderful change from eating inside, which is almost unavoidable when eating out in Japan. On the roof top a nice breeze welcomed us at the end of on another very warm day. Mind you, I'M not complaining the rather cold month of March changed almost overnight in pleasantly warm summer-weather two months ago, speaking as a Dutch person. It is true the weather is getting warmer by the day, but I can not and will not complain. Even though Japanese inhabitants keep telling me I'm somewhat crazy wanting to spend the summer months in Japan! What I am curious about is the reason why Japan lacks cafe's and restaurants with an outdoor space (in the shadow mind you!). The Japanese seem to prefer to drink and eat inside, where the air conditioning happily blasts all your warm weather worries away. Well, maybe that's not so strange if you are used to the hot summers. Since I'm not, I greedily spend a lot of time outside and keep my eye out for possibilities doing this with a nice, cold drink in my hand, maybe even a bite or two.

What is surprising then maybe, is that the roof top Beer Garden was packed with jolly groups of 'salarymen' with here and there some couples and elderly people joining in the merriness. My company and I were the only 'gaijin' (this literally means 'foreigner' in Japanese), but not the only ones who craved some outdoors entertainment apparently. Or was it just the all-you-can-eat-and-drink offer that lured the Japanese out in the open? Which ever it was, the atmosphere was as happy as can be. Even though some groups got louder and louder and disproportionately enthusiastic with every new plate of 'Wieners' their colleagues brought over. Drunk the Japanese can still be courteous and the mood only gets livelier. (And funnier, see the girl in the picture above taking pictures of her beer)

This event started at the end of April and will last until the end of September! It is a not-to-miss experience. There should be about 5 or 6 of these Beer Gardens in Kyoto alone (I wrote an article about Kyoto Tower's Beer Garden here), so that should be enough to make your head spin.

For more information about the New Hankyu Hotel Beer Garden, visit the B-B Paradise website (Japanese).

Kyoto artDive #06, Art Festa with a high cuteness factor

Miyako Messe seems to offer Kyoto quite some different events to replenish the cultural and creative hart. I've attended a traditional crafts fair, kimono exhibition, and an antique books fair was held I wanted to attend to. This weekend, Kyoto Art Festa was held, the 6th artDive. Personally I'm not completely sure I would call the works on show art. But at least a lot of creative minds game together and offered a whole range of kawaii (Japanese for cute). For art with an 'A' I would recommend ART Kyoto. See my article about this event here.

Whatever the term used, it doesn't matter. There was something for everyone at artDive #06 with 220 booths and 330 creative people selling their works. There were paintings, 3D art works, jewelry, T-shirts, candles, wind chimes, wood craft, bags, furniture and lot's of illustrations! There was even an ARTs*LABo Postcard Exhibition, with 1000 postcards to choose from. So everyone literally could take home a little piece of art. Next to the Postcard Exhibition was the 'Sakura Exhibition', showing 230 Cherry Blossom pieces. A project to market and attract more international interest to the young and upcoming artists. Japan would like to attract the worlds attention to their artistic talent as Japans cherry blossoms already do. It was a great showcase of Japans illustration talent!

The talent on showcase was wonderful but I would have liked to see a bit more 'cool' and attitude. A big fan of kawaii articles myself, I wouldn't have minded for diversities sake to see some vinyl toys for instance or more booths with big art works. This time the girly girls ruled big time with small works, I hope autumn will deliver a little more 'swagger'.

Apart from art work already finished, Live Paint Booths gave a very interesting view on the creators method of working. Which was completely different for all of them. I especially liked that the booths were so conveniently placed opposite the artDive café. A perfect place to enjoy a B.L.T. and ice coffee and watch the art works come to life.

If you missed the artDive on May 19th and 20th, you don't have to wait for a year. The next will be held this autumn, October 20th and 21st. Would you like to go, here's a link to the website.

ART KYOTO 'Making Kyoto an art tourist city'?

Last weekend Kyoto was the base of national young contemporary artists. Two main venues and nine galleries participated in a new event that has come to Kyoto three years ago. All the participating locations where spread throughout the city, but handily never far from the stations of the Karasuma subway line. The quality of the work was high at the main venue, the Kyoto International Conference Center, and I would have liked to see more of it! To my surprise I was allowed to take pictures, which strangely enough is not a given in this photo-crazy country, so this really made my day!

A kokeshi collector myself, one of the interesting projects was by Tsunao Okumura. Day-in-day out he's carving away at the faces of vintage traditional kokeshi to remove all the colour. And he even kept all the shavings in a jar was revealed to me by the gallery owner. Another project that got my attention is called 'New World Transparent Specimens' (top right) by Iori Tomita. As the artist states on his website: ''People may look at my specimens as an academic material, a piece of art, or even an entrance to philosophy. There is no limitation to how you interpret their meaning.'' And these are just two of the fascinating art works on show at this venue alone. The other main venue, Hotel Monterey had works on show a little less high in quality, but was not less interesting! I could even call it 'quirky', but in a good sense. Two floors of the Monterey were occupied with Art Kyoto, in each hotel room a different gallery. The art stood, hung and leaned against the hotel beds, night stands and dressing tables. Even some galleries used the bath and lavatory to show art works. The event being bustling with art lovers, going in and out of the rooms took some squeezing and patience. But I applaud the creativity of it, the quirkiness and fun it gives to this new event in town! So let's hope Art Kyoto will show you again in 2013 what contemporary Kyoto has to offer, specially if it is on a toilet bowl!

I might not be unfair to say that Art Kyoto might have looked for inspiration to the Art Fair Tokyo. But what Tokyo does internationally, Kyoto wants to achieve for their domestic talent. The aim is not so much to develop a market for Japanese contemporary artists outside Japan, but what it rather wants to achieve is to create interest from the national art market. I understand is has been quite hard to attract attention to contemporary art as opposed to traditional and modern art, specially in Kyoto.
This year Art Kyoto was able to attract over a 100 galleries. Two years ago the organization brought together 35 galleries, so this event is growing quickly! And it's not a coincidence it is set in the first weekend of the Golden Week, the busiest week of the year for Kyoto. Let's hope a big chunk of all those tourists coming here went to see the up and coming of contemporary Japan at Art Kyoto 2012.

Bonsai in Japan, the best of the very best

This weekend, I have been told, Japan showed the best of the very best Bonsai trees at the Shohin Bonsai Fair (Shunga-ten or 春雅展). It is a yearly exhibition, held in Osaka at the end of March in the Mizu no Yakata dome.

As I was seeing quite some trees without leaves, I tried to investigate why the 'All Japan Shohin-Bonsai Association' (AJSBA) chose to exhibit such exquisite specimen not a little later in the year, when all the trees would have their leafs? The very kind Mr. Simmons, bonsai student and whom I met at the Fair, was happy and patient to give me a quick masterclass at the premises (my gratitude Mr. Simmons!).
So why March? Well, that one was the easiest; all deciduous trees should be exhibited without their leafs, because at that moment their form, the stalk and the branches, can be appreciated at their best. Which would be less easy if the trees are shown with their full foliage.

Another thing I learned is that bonsai have three 'classes'. These Shohin trees fall in the middle class and are 20 centimeters high. Sometimes they are 25 cm high, but these trees are only accepted if they are from a very high quality. The smallest group is called Mame Bonsai and these trees are not bigger than 12 centimeters. The biggest class of bonsai is called Chuhin.

The next thing that made me curious were the white 'dead' branches I saw protruding from the pine trees exhibited. You see an example of this at the bottom picture in the middle. These white parts are called shari (if the stem of the tree is intended) or jin (if the branches are intended). Shari and jin depict the bones of Buddha and make the tree seem very old. Because that's what's it all about for the bonsai grower and viewer of this art form.
Another sign that a tree is (or seems) very old is moss on the bed of the container and specially on the base of the tree (nebari) and the bark. Also, a crackled and grayish bark on the stem is of high value. And all this comes with decades of preening and patience, a few generations of patience even. Some of the trees at this exhibition were over a hundred years old and are passed on from grandfather to father to son.

Most of the trees did not have any wire showing, or other devices to keep the branches in place. This means that most of the trees were 'finished'. So the stem and all the branches of these trees have their perfect form and are 'only' to be contained this way. But that sounds easier said than done. Even keeping a tree in it's intended shape after it's finished is hard work an needs constant attention. I might add that some trees did show wire and thus had not yet reached their intended form. This is something that can also be appreciated as part of the art form. An art that is now a thousand years old already.

Since taking pictures is strictly prohibited, you should actually try and take a look yourself. The proud grower, in the picture, was very friendly and let me take a photo of his bonsai trees, and no doubt decades of hard work. His name is Hidehiko Nitta (ありがとうNitta san!). Also want to 'meet and great' and enjoy the best bonsai Japan has to offer? Maybe see you next year!

'Hanatouro' 10th anniversary of the Higashiyama light festival

Higashiyama is a traditional neighborhood breathing culture and history since the 14th century. It surrounds the famous temple of Kiyomizu dera and the Shoren-in temple at he eastern side of Kyoto. Every year a Light festival, called Hanatouro, is organized, this year celebrating it's 10th anniversary.

From March10th till March 20th, thousands of tourists enjoy the famous 5 km long route lined with approximately 2400 lanterns and large ikebana displays (Japanese flower arrangements). Many of the temples and shrines along the route invite you for their evening openings to watch special light displays. There is so much to see, one evening would not be enough to see it all. I expected long lines of waiting tourists at the temples, but the 'touro' seems to spread out so far, it can contain all those couples in love, families, photographers(!) and other visitors easily. I visited two temples and their gardens and one light show and didn't have to wait more than two minutes each time.

First I paid the Shoren-in temple a visit, founded in the 12th century, which has a beautiful garden with waterfall, bamboo grove and amazing buildings on the premises. In the garden tiny little blue lights turned on and of every few minutes, just like fireflies. Beautiful!

The second visit was to the Yuzen-en garden of the Chion-in temple. A huge temple complex, with a lovely little garden with a great karesansui (dry rock garden), modestly illuminated. Surprisingly, after a visit to this sacred place that was established some 700 years ago, each visitor gets complimentary Mc Donald's vouchers at the exit! What a strong contrast. :)

The most amazing show I've seen was beamed on the San-mon Gate (built in 1619), leading to the Chion-in temple. An almost 12 minute long light show made use of the intricate pattern of the huge gate which is 24 metres high and 50 metres wide. Colour patterns, lines, birds and other creatures moved over the immensely huge gate with such splendor, it was absolutely mesmerizing and and amazing end to a magnificent evening.

Ikenobo Society celebrates it's 550th year

At the Takashimaya department store, Osaka. The Ikenobo Society celebrates it's 550th year of (recorded) existence. That is since 1462 AD! And a very special society it is. The initiates have their own language I understand, a lingo which not many outsiders can understand. It is the way of flowers. That is what ikebana means, this Japanese way of flower arranging.
And Ikenobo is the oldest 'school' amongst many, with it's roots in Kyoto, where they even have their own temple. The Rokkaku-dō (六角堂) for which the official name is Shiun-ji or Purple Cloud Temple (紫雲寺). Over 2000 different schools exist today, that have been established since the first one was founded by a priest. The teaching learns for one  that the flower stems represent hills, waterfalls, valleys, and other objects of nature, which should be arranged in a specific way. It is an art form still taught in schools, and very often you may find such arrangements in glass show cases at train stations and other public buildings.

And from next week I hope to be included in this mysterious world of rules and regulations. I'm taking Ikenobo lessons. From a Japanese Ikenobo master. Who does not speak English… and I just speak a few words of Japanese. In the sense that I can order a cup of tea. Although, this not an easy task in this tea-soaked-country, I've found. But that is a whole other topic for a whole other blog post.
Maybe it is just as well that we cannot communicate with words. We will communicate through the way of the flower.

But, back to the celebration of the Ikenobo Society at Takashimaya. Quite crowded. Specially with well 'coiffed' elderly ladies, make-up applied with vigour and sometimes dressed in traditional kimono. Armed with their mobile phones, and sometimes an actual camera they snap away and talk quietly together about the beautiful arrangements (which sometimes gets praised loudly with a very Japanese 'oooooh!') and probably also the missteps that have been made. Although we might never know.

Powdered and serious ladies aside, the exhibition was astounding. I've been to four Ikenobo events before. This one was not the absolute best, but absolutely gorgeous it was. And I want to be able to perform this very hard-earned, very severely schooled and quite ancient art myself. Let's hope I can find the way of flowers myself.