Gohonte: The Pale Pink Spots

Added on December 11, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Have you noticed in some tea bowls pale pink spots showing up at random?

These spots are called "gohonte" (御本手).

They appear on the pottery due to the natural reactions from the iron found in the clay when being fired in the kiln.

The origin of the term "gohonte" dates back to the Azuchi-Momoyama period (late 1500's). Tea masters ordered tea bowls to be made in Korea. Together with their order, they sent samples or diagrams of what they would like made. These orders were called "gohon" or "gohonte". When the ordered pottery were delivered, most of them came with the pale pink spots due to the clay used. Soon, this type of pattern came to be called "gohonte."

Originally thought of as imperfections of the glaze, gohonte came to be appreciated by tea masters. They recognized the implicit beauty in the randomness, unevenness, and naturalness of the patterns. Thus, the "flaw" was turned into another attractive aspect of the pottery!

Sometimes, we have some gohonte tea bowls available at the shop. Please come and take a look! Or see available tea bowls online here.

All photos by the ikebana shop. Al rights reserved.

My Ikebana: Curled Dogwood

Added on December 9, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

As we get closer to the holiday season, I thought I'd point my ikebana towards the season's colours. I used mainly red dogwood and holly (ilex) branches.

The container I chose was a bright red-orange one with an interesting elongated C-shape.

I curled three of the red dogwood branches to match the shape of the container.

Did you notice that the holly branch was not coming out of the mouth of the container? Holly could last for quite a bit even without water; so I merely placed it on the outside. Sometimes, working with material without the restriction of having to put it in water is a pleasure!

I wanted to highlight the container's shape so I used only a minimum of plant material.

Here is the whole arrangement.

I hope you like it. --Miyako

Daruma Dolls

Added on December 6, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Why does this doll have no eyes?

Because it is waiting for you to fill it! That's right, the daruma doll's eyes are left blank on purpose.

When you have set a goal for yourself, you paint one eye. You are allowed to paint in the other eye only when you have achieved your goal. This old tradition from Japan is a wonderful motivational tool!

The daruma doll is made of papier-mâché and is in the image of Bodhidarma, the founder of Zen Buddhism. The dolls are designed not to tip over...a symbol of the never-give-up spirit. "Nana korobi ya oki" is a Japanese proverb that says, "Fall down 7 times, get up 8 times." That is how the roly-poly daruma inspires us not to give up on our goals and dreams.

In Japan, daruma dolls are commonly sold outside shrine grounds in the New Year. People go to the shrine to pray for a good year and if they set certain goals for the year, they will pick up a daruma doll. It could be for a politician running for election; a businessman with a sales target; a student studying for exams; an artist finishing a project; a child saving coins in a piggy bank to buy a toy... No goal or wish is too small!

So are you ready?

Step 1: Decide the goal you want to achieve.
Step 2: Paint in one eye of the daruma doll. Now you are committed!
Step 3: Put the doll in a prominent place where you will see it everyday!
Step 4: Work, work, WORK...to accomplish the task you have embarked on.
Step 5: After successful completion, paint in the other eye.
Step 6: Give yourself a pat on the back. Congratulations!
Step 7: Back to Step #1!

Try the daruma doll with your next New Year's resolution! :-)

第62回多摩探検隊「多摩だるま～受け継がれる手作りの心～」（2009年6月放送）多摩だるま。それは、江戸時代から多摩地域に根づく伝統的なだるまです。今回は、一つ一つ手作りで作られた多摩だるまの歴史や特徴を紹介します。また、親子三代にわたりだるまを作り続ける職人の心に迫ります。＜協力＞内野屋　拝島大師　円福寺＜キャスター＞　田崎愛美＜制作補助＞中島聡　森田智子　葛西友久　齊藤綾　小原美穂　辻圭介太田朗　安田亮介＜イラスト＞　佐竹祐哉　辻圭介＜ナレーション＞　佐竹祐哉＜監修＞　松野良一＜ディレクター＞　成松美菜＜制作・著作＞　中央大学FLP松野良一ゼミ

Get your daruma doll from our shop!

Ikebana From Chile

Added on December 3, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

In the past year or so, we have had frequent contact with an ikebanista from Chile. Her name is Ana Luisa Quiñones and she holds a 4th Grade Teacher's Diploma in the Sogetsu School. She is also an orthoptist in Santiago, Chile. Our correspondence started when she purchased some flower containers from us online. Since then she has been sharing many things about ikebana in Chile.

The materials she uses are all very exotic to us. Also, makes us very envious! :-)

In this one below, she uses Chilean palm leaves that she hand-wove into a net. The huge white flower is a King White protea cynaroides and the fluffy material is lichen from Patagonia. The arrangement was her contribution to the Ikebana International Exhibit in Santiago last June, 2012, which focused on the Chilean palm.

More Chilean palm! Very creative use of the palm tree seed pod.

This creation uses vellon patagonico--unspun sheep's wool from Patagonia...still raw and delicate.

Here is a simple one with big hydrangea and some horsetail branches. The flower container is familiar! ;-)

...and this one with small roses and young bamboo leaves. The bamboo provide a light and gentle space for the roses, which almost feel like butterflies fluttering about! The containers look familiar too, by the way! ;-)

Apart from ikebana, Ana Luisa likes to work in the kitchen too. ...and she likes matcha! Aren't the cakes mouth-watering? :-)

Last but not least, she sends us a photo of a familiar figure--our hand-made owl. She calls him the "sympathetic owl". It stays in her clinic and makes her young patients happy!

Thank you very much, Ana Luisa for sharing your ikebana adventures with us!

All photos courtesy of Ana Luisa Quiñones. Used with permission.

Hariko No Tora, The Papier-Mâché Tiger

Added on December 1, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

from The Tyger by William Blake, 1794.

Hariko no tora, the papier-mâché tiger, is a traditional Japanese craft.

In Japan, tigers are known for their bravery and also for having close-knit families.

The papier-mâché tiger represents courage and family love.

The tigers are also there to help children grow strong and healthy.

Perhaps the more famous and interesting type of hariko no tora is the one with the bobbing head. We have a big one in the shop to welcome you!

RAWR! Don't be scared. It doesn't bite. :-)

We're not particularly big fans of GIFs but in this case, this GIF is probably appropriate to show you the bobbing head. :-)

Please visit the shop and pet our tigers!

If you are interested to learn about how the tigers are made, please visit this site. It is in Japanese only but there are a lot of photos. The paper they use is washi, Japanese paper.

Demo At The Caritas Residence

Added on November 29, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Last Nov 27th, we had the opportunity to present an ikebana demonstration at the Caritas Residence, Halifax NS. The Caritas is a retirement residence sitting on a hill just above Mt. Saint Vincent University with a beautiful view of the Bedford Basin. Senior citizens and retired Sisters of Charity live there.

About 15 lovely ladies joined us. Most of them had never heard of ikebana before so it was a pleasure to introduce this beautiful art to them. They were a rapt audience!

"It was like poetry in motion," commented Sister Helen. The smiles and words of appreciation after the demonstration made it all worthwhile. :-)

Thank you very much for your kind and warm welcome! We hope you enjoyed the ikebana.

Thank you to Susan B., Recreation Coordinator, for making this possible.

Special thanks to our friend, Fran, who made the introductions...and for taking pictures with our clunky old camera! Thank you Fran!

Roller Erasers! Making Mistakes More Fun!

Added on November 22, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Introducing an eraser that makes writing more fun...

...or more precisely, it makes mistakes more fun! :-)

Erase as usual. Then, flip open the top cap and use the little roller to scoop up the eraser dust. Cute, no?

The eraser bits get collected in the box underneath the roller. Don't forget to empty it into the trash from time to time! :-)

We have four different colours in cute designs. Children love it!

Made in China for Lemon Stationery Co., Japan.

Available at the shop.

Reminder: Not just for kids! :-)

My Ikebana: A Fruity Arrangement

Added on November 18, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Bob, the husband of our friend and ikebana student, Patti, dropped by the shop one day bearing gifts of branches. He said it was a kind of dogwood but it had fruits hanging on them!

It is called "yamaboushi" in Japanese. A little research told us it is called the Kousa dogwood. The fruit is actually edible and is supposed to be sweet when ripe...but I didn't take a bite! :-) I was quite thrilled to be able to use such an unusual branch for ikebana!

I chose a bamboo container for this arrangement. The delicately latticed bamboo basketwork brought an air of lightness to the space.

I arranged the fruit around the very thin branches...as if they were bursting right out of the container!

Here's a top view.

And just when you thought the arrangement is complete, I added a thicker branch with an opposite movement...just to surprise you with something unexpected! :-)

Here is the complete arrangement. I hope you like it. --Miyako

A very special thank you to Patti and Bob for always bringing interesting branches to me!

Origami Crane Tree

Added on November 17, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Have you seen our shop window recently?

We made a Christmas tree out of origami cranes!

There are about 50 origami cranes per line...so that makes about 250 cranes! (Disclaimer: We did not make an accurate count!)

We also had fun with the colours. Do you like the rainbow gradations? :-)

It's lovingly hand-made, of course!

...and look who is peeking underneath the tree. :-)

Please drop by the shop and see the real thing. It will be on display till the end of December. See you soon!

Ikebana Demonstration At SMU

Added on November 16, 2013 by the ikebana shop.

Last Thursday, Nov 14th, I had the chance to give an ikebana demonstration at St. Mary University in Halifax.

It was for the Introduction to Japanese Culture class in the Department of Modern Languages and Classics.

It was great to be around young people. Their enthusiasm gave me energy. They posed many interesting questions. I hope I was able to answer them adequately!

The following day, some of the students even dropped by the shop to say "Hello" and told me they had enjoyed the presentation. I really appreciated that!

Special thanks to Dr. Alexandre Avdulov for giving me this opportunity to present what ikebana is all about to your class....and thank you for being my photographer! :-) --Miyako