Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Ikebana Flower Arrangement


Today, I taught 30 international students Ikebana flower arrangement with my guide friends. All of them really enjoyed Ikebana and I was so happy.

At the beginning of the Ikebana class we gave a presentation teaching the basic methods and theories. Then, the 20 students were divided into five groups and they arranged flowers in a vase in cooperation. They chose two branches and a lily and stood them on a holder with pins called Kenzan. They imagined a triangle on the Kenzan and stood each of them on each corner. They cut other flowers shorter than the first ones and put them beautifully inside the triangle. We usually display the Ikebana in an alcove in a Japanese room, so we can appreciate it from the front. The students stood in front of the vase and put each flower beautifully making a space between the stems. They arranged them quite well.



Sunday, December 7, 2014

An E-mail from My Guest

Dear “Masa”:
We are back home in Nevada and we wanted to thank you for your wonderful contribution to our visit to Japan.
We greatly enjoyed meeting you and having you spend so much time with us, and, of course, we will never forget the marvelous experience of your teaching us to make sushi!
Our most sincere thanks to you.
With warmest regards,
M and P
 
 
Dear M and P,

Thank you very much for sending me your wonderful e-mail. I hope you enjoyed walking from the Ginza-Ichome station on the Yurakucho-subway-line along Ginza Street to your hotel after making sushi in my house.

You are such a sophisticated and fashionable couple. Actually, I showed your picture, which I took at that time, to my daughter-in-law and she said, "He looks like a movie star."

I think you enjoyed the colored leaves in the mountainous areas in Japan but now it is the full season of colored leaves in Tokyo. I will attach a picture that I took from my house. I recommend you visit Japan again in April, when the cherry blossoms are so beautiful. If you visit Japan again, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Masa