We went to a tea ceremony gathering at a facility in Sengen Taisya in Fujinomiya City in Shizuoka. One of my friends has been doing tea ceremony for many years and she invited us to join this gathering. We tried three different kinds of tea ceremonies. Usucha which is most common, Koicha which is more formal and not as common as Usucha, . Usucha is relatively thin and Koicha is much creamier and thicker. For Koicha, higher grade tea is used and a bowl of tea is shared by a few guests. After drinking one must wipe the part where the mouth touched. It must be easier for beginners to start with Usucha. I personally like Koicha, though. I tried Chabako for the first time. Since this style is practiced on traveling, all of the utensils are compact but the type of tea is the same as Usucha.

We enjoyed many beautiful and probably very expensive things. Since we hold the cups to drink from and admire, we are not supposed to wear any rings or heavy jewelry at tea ceremonies to avoid scratching the utensils. Each room has a different scroll, flower arrangement and incense holder. Each item displays messages to guests from the host. I particularly enjoyed viewing the flower arrangement. Seasonal wild flowers were displayed. I heard some people feel like adding sugar to their green tea but I think the confectionery served before tea achieves a good balance. Different types of confectionery are served for each tea. For some, it was the first experience but they tried three different kinds at one occasion. We learned a lot and had fun in one day.

Our trip in Aomori was exciting – indeed rather too exciting for us.

We had a  lot of very unusual experience in Aoni hot spring. The first day We stayed in a place where only oil lamps are available. It was interesting but not easy.

We realized how much we always depend on electricity. The place is surrounded by nature. I was amazed to see the sky at night. I have never seen so many stars in my life. I was even scared by the stars. I felt like they were all going to fall on me ! It’s not an exaggeration.

The following day we went to the town. The city is called Kuroishi city.

That city has an old arcade called “ Komise “. It was made around 300 years ago . In winter, this area has a lot of snow so this kind of arcade has been quite useful. This area still has old buildings such as a sake brewery.

As we took a walk we found a nice old house. The entrance wasn’t wide but inside is very spacious. This house used to be a shop for the lord of this area ( Kuroishi Han )and was dealing with rice, bean paste, soy sauce and salt.

This building is designated as an important cultural property.

The owner of this property is a very knowledgeable, friendly and interesting person. She told us many interesting stories. Over a cup of coffee we talked about many things.

One of the interesting stories is about this “ Korori Jizou “

This Jizou or deity is said to help people pass away without suffering for a long time. This Japanese word, “ korori “ is a kind of onomatopoeia used often for describing someone’s sudden death without suffering in pain for a long time.

Everyone must die someday (in the future) and I guess everyone wishes to pass away without suffering, without causing trouble for one’s family.

The owner’s husband passed away many years ago. Since he had been healthy and nobody expected him to pass away so soon, when her husband passed away, she was very sad. However she thinks it was lucky for everyone.  She thinks this deity helped him to pass away in that manner.

In Aomori, to my surprise, almost all of the people have a spiritual counselor called “ kamisama”. This word literally means “ god “ in English but it’s not equivalent. Anyway the person called “ kamisama” looks the same as anyone else, I mean they don’t wear any special clothes or carry special spiritual

gear. But they can communicate with the dead. Once she visited “ kamisama” to have her husband’s spirit called. She was amazed to see when her husband’s spirit came on “ kamisama”, “ kamisama” started to behaved exactly like her late husband used to do. The “ kamisama” hadn’t seen him before and she hadn’t talked about him. During the session, the late husband said he is happy now and had nothing to complain about. According to “ kamisama” since the husband devoted himself to disabled people as a teacher, his status in the world seems to be high in ranking.

 Now I started to worry about my future, I mean after death. I have to do something nice for others !

We stayed at an inn on Lake Towada. I took this photo from the tea room of the inn after sunset.

We took a walk early in the morning along the lake. It was not very hot and the air was crystal clear. This lake is a caldera lake. In the 10^th century there was a huge eruption. The eruption was so big that the ashes of the eruption reached as far as Kyoto which is about 800 Km away. A priest of Enryakuji temple kept a diary . According to his record, it suddenly got foggy and they couldn’t see the sun or the moon clearly. He was also worried about mulberry that the ashes would harm his mulberry leaves. Did you know Lake Towada’s eruption is the second biggest in Asia ? The biggest one is Baitoushan which lies on China and North Korea. Baitoushan also had a big eruption in the 10^th century.

A few decades ago, this lake’s transparency was about 20 meters but its visibility declined so they took great care not to dump used water in the lake, however visibility hasn’t improved yet and now it’s about 9 meters. They don’t know why. For me the lake is very beautiful and romantic.

When I first I saw this lake I was struck by the power of nature. The lake is so huge and natural forests grow strongly. In Aomori “ Osorezan “ is famous as a power spot and so is Towada shrine. No wonder it has a special atmosphere.

It is said the oracles of this shrine hit it. On weekends, fortune telling sessions are also available. If you go up this trail, you can reach a view point.

It has a nice view but it’s from a 30-meter high cliff. The fortune teller goes down the cliff using an iron ladders and below the cliff, he / she ( I haven’t seen the person ) sees the clients’ fortune. Then the fortune teller goes up and tells the clients their fortune. Clients can’t go down the cliff. It sounds interesting. Next time I’ll go there on a weekend and try it out.

I have been longing for kamakura since I was a child. By kamakura I mean small houses made of snow (and not the historical city in Kanagawa, which I love, too ). It’s summer and pretty hot now in Japan but you can experience what kamakura are like. You can find one in a certain building in Yokote city where a kamakura festival takes place every winter. The day we were there, the temperature was above 30 C ( 86F ) and inside the building where holding the kamakura it is minus 10 C. You have to wear a wataire (a cotton stuffed) jacket before going into the facility.And anyone who has a weak heart should refrain from going in. In fact it was an interesting experience but we couldn’t stay there for a long time. Inside the kamakura a water god is enshrined. They give thanks to the god and enjoy baking rice cakes and drinking something hot. They set candles and usher the people into the kamakura. I hope to go to the festival sometime.

I discovered another interesting place in Yokote. But my camera’s battery was flat and I couldn’t take photos of the inn. About 50 minutes drive from downtown Yokote will take you to the inn where we stayed. The area is called Mitsumata hot spring. The facility is kind of old and nothing special but it’s really quiet and relaxing. The hot spring is pretty good and the food they serve is excellent. I couldn’t take photos of them but I’m going back to that place again and then I’ll take photos of them. They serve homemade buckwheat noodles and they still use a windmill to grind the seeds.

We drove up to the North along the Japan Sea. As we kept going toward Akita, we enjoyed viewing the beautiful sea. This area is called “Sasagawa Nagare”. We saw many interesting rocks in interesting shapes. According to local people, it has been this sunny and hot since June and many people are going there. Last year, they had many rainy days and business was very slow. Weather does affect economics. This fisherman has just come back from catching summer oyster or “ Iwagaki”. We can eat this oyster from June to the end of August. There are some shops you can buy and try out the oyster on the spot. We tried one. It was very creamy and tasty! The oyster itself has a strong taste and flavor so it was very good as it is. This oyster is very popular and its price is high. If you buy this oyster at restaurants in Niigata or in Tokyo, it’s more than twice as expensive as the price near the beach. If you have a chance to visit this area at this time of the year, it’s worth trying.

On our way to the Northern part of Tohoku we stayed one night in Niigata. Senami( Murakami City ) is located on the coast of The Sea of Japan to the north of Niigata City. There are many resort hotels since it has good hot springs and fresh fish are available. Above all many people admire the beautiful romantic sunset. Fortunately, the weather was perfect to view the famous sunset.

The sea was calm and water warm. Next morning I saw a man feeding Japanese gulls. The birds are very friendly and like this person. I talked to him and found that he can’t hear or speak. But we could communicate by sign language. Once I read in a book that people mostly communicate non-verbally and communicate verbally only 20%. I guess that’s true. I could tell that the man is a very warm-hearted person.

Murakami City is famous for its salmon. A man named Buheiji Aoto completed the method to incubate salmon about 140 years ago. That has greatly contributed to this area’s economy. A long time ago the Japan Sea?was very busy with trading traffic so we can see big old houses and warehouses along the coast. Today we find most of the leading ports on the Pacific Ocean sides, however.

I love mushrooms. I am particularly fond of Maitake mushrooms. “ Yukiguni Maitake” cultures and sells mushroom products. It is said that Maitake help  people build a strong immune system. I love Maitake because they are low or zero in calories, tasty and look interesting. Natural Maitake are very rare and difficult to find. People seem to have known their beneficial effects for many years. 300 years ago or perhaps even earlier, natural Maitake were worth their weight in silver. That’s how valuable and hard to get they were. Let me tell you the meaning of “ Maitake “. “ Mai “ means dance and “ take” means mushroom. Those who discovered rare natural Maitake mushrooms danced with joy so the mushroom has been called “ Maitake”.

We went to a festival at Daitsuuji temple. They exhibited and demonstrated “ Zoubihai”. “ Zou “ means elephant. “ Bi “ means nose. “ Hai “ means glass. Doesn’t  the lotus leaf looks like an elephant’s ear and nose ? Here’s the kanji characters which represent “ zoubihai”. All they had to do was to make a hole on the middle of the leave, since inside is a tube-like structure that can be made into a straw. Chilled sake ( rice wine) was poured onto the leaf ( glass ) and you can drink the sake through the lotus straw. Since this temple is at the foot of Mt. Fuji they served sake for the goddess of Mt. Fuji “Konohana sakuyano hime”. The gentleman who tried it is 100 years old ! He was wearing jeans and looked very young and healthy. Best of all, he seems to be curious about many things and that makes him young.

I tried lotus nuts. They sold a box lunch with these nuts. It is said that any part of the lotus can work as medicine but especially the nuts gives you energy. I can buy roots at supermarkets but I don’t think I can buy other parts. Now I started to think about growing lotus so that I can view and eat or drink various products afterward.

We visited a temple at the foot of Mt. Fuji. That temple has 150 pots and 70 different kinds of lotuses. They are at their best in July and August. The flowers bloom in the morning and they close up again around noon. Some flowers stay open even in the afternoon and their petals will fall off the following day. Lotus flours bloom for four days. I like both the flowers and roots. We eat lotus roots, too. But edible lotuses are a different kind. I heard lotus roots will be good for people who want to be calm and steady. I think viewing this flower makes people calm, too.

They have an interesting kind of lotus called “ Ooga lotus “. Its name is from a scholar called Dr. Ooga. He discovered the seeds of lotus while he was uncovering the earth. Judging from the stratum, the seeds are as old as 2000 years old. Lotus seeds are covered with a very thick husk and as long as the inside stays dry they can come back and bloom again. It is such a mysterious and hardy plant. They use this plant in many different ways, for example for dying, making cloth from fiber- rich stems, lotus tea, lotus rice balls or making crafts.

               Tea Ceremony Gathering

 Date :     August 22^nd Sunday

 Place :    Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha

 Fee  :    1,500 Yen

 Meeting point : JR Fujinomiya station 10:30 AM

Let’s enjoy having matcha tea in three different styles.

1.    Usucha : thin matcha and confections.

2.    Chabako : thin matcha and confections.

3.    Koicha :  Thick and creamy matcha is served. A bowl of tea is shared by three people. with confections.

Each ceremony takes about 30 minutes. Between each ceremony you might take a short break. Since this meeting isn’t a very formal one, people who are not familiar with tea ceremony can enjoy having tea. Don’t worry about what to do, the main point of tea ceremony is to enjoy a bowl of tea with the host.

Dress code :  Please bring white socks. We wear them at the tea meeting. Jeans are acceptable but it’s better not to wear something tight since your legs go to sleep when you sit on your knees. Also short skirts are not recommended.

If you are interested in this meeting, please e-mail us by July 30. If you miss applying by that date but are still interested, please contact us in case we can still fit you in.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask us by e-mail.