Nagoya Chapter #100, Japan

Two Japanese festivals

Hinamatsuri:
We were able to visit a village just as the plum blossoms, peach blossoms, and seasonal cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom all at once. Slightly reddish weeping cherry blossom buds at the Zuiryu-ji Temple in the village were beginning to open and sway in the sun.

At the temple where one of five seasonal festivals called “jyoshi-no-sekku” was held, many adorable dolls, including rare young child dolls called “chigo-bina” and lovely round-faced dolls called “oboko-bina” were lining up and welcomed us. We were served a cup of tea called “oke-cha” which was popular from the Edo to Taisho periods in that area, and was recognized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as a traditional food culture.

After that, we visited the Furuhash-kaikokan (archive museum), where a special exhibition of cloth called “nigitae”, which is woven with a silk thread used for important ceremonies of the emperor’s family. We ended the eventful meeting by listening to a talk about the silk thread called “goryo-ito” which has been handed down as imperial thread, and seeing them.

Tanabata:
Despite the unusually hot weather, many people came to the meeting. Since it was held as Tanabata Festival meeting, we asked every visitor to write their wishes on stripes of paper.

Matasaburo Nomura, Kyogen performer and his son, Nobutaka Nomura gave a performance for us. Matasaburo’s talk on Kyogen and his explanation of how to use different types of fans by actually showing fans were very interesting.

Three members demonstrated flower arrangements and their works clearly showed the differences in schools and styles. They were well received and the meeting ended successfully.