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Camellia Tea Ceremony

camelliakyoto@mastodon.social

<p>Welcoming guests from all over the world to our two teahouses in Kyōto, Japan. Join us as we explore Japanese culture, tea and history!<br />🍵🇯🇵</p>

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    Despite what my body is telling me, we are now in a micro-season called &#39;Manageable Heat&#39; (処暑 &#39;Shosho&#39;). From tomorrow the traditional calendar promises us that &#39;heat starts to die down&#39; (天地始粛 &#39;tenchi hajimete samushi&#39; - August 28th to September 1st)...let&#39;s see🤔 #Kyoto #microseasons #処暑 #summer

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    📿TEMPLE OF TEAHOUSES🍵 Ryōgen-in&#39;s (龍源院) &#39;Tōtekiko&#39; (東滴壺) is considered by many to be the smallest rock garden in Japan. Designed in 1958 by Nabeshima Gakushō (鍋島岳生), it was inspired by the zen saying &quot;the harder a stone is thrown in, the bigger the ripples&quot;. #Kyoto

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    🙏🔔THE DEAD RETURN🪦👋 For a few days in August, with the simple ringing of a temple bell, our ancestors are once again invited back to the world of the living for a brief vacation. It is a happy reunion of remembrance, lanterns, dance and (in Kyōto) giant mountain bonfires.

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    A watch frozen forever at 8:15am, the moment an atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima on Monday August 6th 1945. #Hiroshima #August6th #HiroshimaPeaceMemorialMuseum #広島 #HiroshimaDay

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    🪙THE GOLDEN PAVILION🔥 True beauty is something that attacks, overpowers, robs, and finally destroys. -Mishima Yukio (三島由紀夫). In 1950, almost bald of gold, and having survived the Ōnin War, Kinkaku-ji was burnt to the ground by Hayashi Yōken, one of its own novice monks.

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    Another day, another celebration. August 5th is &#39;Box Day&#39; (ハコの日)!🤔 Established by the Tōkyō Paperware Industry Association (東京紙器工業組合) in 1991, as you might expect the date is a play on words. ハコ &#39;hako&#39; = box 📦ハ = 8 📦コ = 5 #ハコの日 #boxday #Japan #blackcats

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    🍡MOREISH MITARASHI😋 Today is the beginning of a three-day period celebrating mitarashi dango (みたらし団子)!🎉 Actually, this happens every month from the 3rd-5th　because... 3= &#39;MI&#39; (み) 4= &#39;taraSHI&#39; (たらし) 5= &#39;danGO&#39; (だんご) Tenuous wordplay? Yes. Fun? Also, yes. #Japan

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    My friends partake of the refreshing spring water during the Mitarashi Matsuri, which is said to protect against illness. During the festival special fountains are set up in the area above the Mitarashi Pond. Even evenings are sweltering hot at this time of year, so the ice cold water is most welcome!

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    🌞GREATER HEAT🔥 Summer in the city, and there&#39;s only one good way to start each day...with an iced coffee and a bite of something sweet🤔 Or you could always combine the two🙌 The all too adorable &#39;reikō&#39; (冷コー) from Nijō Wakasaya (二條若狭屋)☕️ #二條若狭屋

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    🐍🥵DOGS DAYS &amp; EELS😋⛱️ The hairdryer heat, the constant whir of insects, the lack of shade...everything at this time of year feels exhausting. The dog days of summer are here. today too, heat and tomorrow, more heat? house in the trees けふもけふも翌もあついか薮の家 -Kobayashi Issa.

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    🍉WATERMELON DAY🥤 Kameya Yoshinaga&#39;s (亀屋良長) adorable &#39;hito-suzumi&#39; (ひと涼み &#39;cooling off&#39;) are the perfect treat for July 27th&#39;s &#39;Suika-no-hi&#39; (スイカの日)!🥳🍉🙌 #wagashi #和菓子 #suikanohi #スイカの日 #watermelonday #Japan #Kyoto #京都

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    👅MELT-IN-THE-MOUTH MORSELS💦 Wibbly-wobbly warabimochi (わらび餅)☺️ A popular summer snack in Kansai, the melt-in-your-mouth warabimochi is a jelly-like sweet traditionally made from bracken starch (わらび粉 &#39;warabiko&#39;). It&#39;s covered with sweet, toasted soybean flour (黄粉).

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    🪷THE TEMPLE OF LOTUSES📿 A remarkable transformation takes place at Hōkongō-in (法金剛院) shortly before the Gion Festival. The temple&#39;s muddy, rather nondescript pond suddenly bursts into life, and for a short time it is one of the most famous lotus viewing spots in Kyōto. #Kyoto #京都

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    🏮🦊FOXLIGHT🦊🏮 Typically on the first Sunday (or national holiday) after &#39;doyō ushi-no-hi&#39; (土用丑の日 &#39;midsummer day of the ox&#39;), Fushimi Inari (伏見稲荷大社) celebrates its biggest festival. Over 8000 lanterns are illuminated on the eve of &#39;Motomiya-sai&#39; (本宮祭). #Kyoto

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    My morning cycle to work is now accompanied by the deafening whirr of cicadas...very much the sound of summer in Japan. #cicada #セミ #Kyoto

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    🪢IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME🪵 Between July 10 and 14th the floats that will participate in the Gion Matsuri&#39;s first parade (the &#39;Saki Matsuri&#39; 先祭り - July 17th) are constructed. The parts are laid out, slotted together, and then meticulously bound in rope. #Kyoto #祇園祭

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    🌊🍙MOTHER OF THE SEA🍘✨ Kathleen Mary Drew-Baker (キャスリーンメアリードリューベイカー 1901-57) is not well known in her homeland, but in Japan she has become a national hero, remembered at Sumiyoshi-jinja in Uto (宇土 - Kumamoto Prefecture) as the savior of the seaweed industry. #キャスリーンメアリードリューベイカ #ukiyoe #seaweed

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    🌊🦀DAY OF THE SEA🏖️⛵️ Happy &#39;Marine Day&#39;!😅 Umi-no-hi (海の日) was first celebrated in 1996 as a day of gratitude for the blessings of the oceans. As an island nation, the seas have played an important role in the development of Japan. #海の日 #MarineDay #Japan #Kyoto #uminohi

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    The seeds were commonly used in poems to describe black hair etc... until dawn I will wait for you and not sleep even if the frost covers my pitch-black hair 居明かして君をば待たむぬばたまの　 我が黒髪に霜は降るとも -Iwa-no-hime (磐姫皇后 d.347), consort of Emperor Nintoku.

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    Originally, although floats would parade through the city on the same day, in the early years there is no evidence of an actual organised &#39;procession&#39;. This came later. As the wealth of Kyōto&#39;s textile merchants skyrocketed, so did the race to produce the finest float. #山鉾

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    ✨CHIMAKI CHARMS🙏 One of the most important tasks in July for many households and businesses in Kyōto is the refreshing of the &#39;chimaki&#39; (茅巻き). Sold exclusively during the Gion Matsuri, these broom-like charms hang by doorways to prevent misfortune entering the home or office.

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    👘FESTIVAL, BUT MAKE IT FASHION✨ The Gion Matsuri&#39;s float musicians, &#39;hikiko&#39; (曳き子 - float pullers), &#39;ondotori&#39; (音頭取り - cheerleaders), and even those selling float goods, dress in clothing unique to the 34 &#39;yamaboko&#39;. NHK Kyōto exhibited some of the festival&#39;s beautiful yukata.

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    👻THE ORIGINS OF THE GION MATSURI🙏 Simply put = 👹😱😫🤒🤮 🙏 👹➡️😇 💪🥳 In looking at the origins of the Gion Matsuri (祇園祭) we must start a few years prior to the plague of 869, to the first goryō-e (御霊会). Disease in those days was attributed to either gods or spirits.

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    💜THE IRISES OF ŌTA MARSH💜 Ōta-no-sawa (大田ノ沢) was immortalized in a poem by Fujiwara-no-Shunzei (藤原俊成 1114-1204)... mountain of gods irises of Ōta marsh people&#39;s deepest wishes can be seen in their colour 神山や大田ノ沢のかきつばたふかきたのみはいろにみゆらむ #Kyoto

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    🌟THE STAR FESTIVAL🎋 chirr-chirr! insects also work their looms... stars of Tanabata しやんしやんと虫もはたおりて星迎 -Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶). Tanabata (七夕), also known as &#39;Hoshi-matsuri&#39; (星祭り the &#39;Star Festival&#39;), celebrates the reunion of Orihime and Hikoboshi on the 7th day of the 7th month.

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    👹KYŌTO&#39;S GRANDEST FESTIVAL😇 Summer in Kyōto is said to begin with the Gion Matsuri (祇園祭) and end with the Gozan-no-Okuribi (五山送り火)🤔 an anti-plague charm on Simon bamboo... door of the inn なよ竹のささら三八御宿哉 -Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1812. Trans. David Lanoue. #Kyoto #京都 #Japan #祇園祭 #祭

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    🐎👘🌕KYŌTO IDIOMS🍆🪂🛶 The city has given birth to a handful of common phrases used in Japan. Often these idioms give us an insight into unusual customs, historical figures, famous festivals, and sometimes even reveal a little of what people think of Kyōtoites🤔 #Kyoto #京都

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    🥒🫑🍆KYŌTO&#39;S CINDERELLA🥕🥦🥔 One of Kyōto&#39;s most popular snacks for Tanabata is Matsuya-Tōbee&#39;s &#39;Tamaori-hime&#39; (珠玉織姫), small balls of sugar and rice dough. The sweets come in 5 colours, and although available all year round sell out quickly during the Star Festival🎋 #Kyoto

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    🍉🥒FRUIT AND VEG🍒🍑 There is something quite adorable about traditional sweets that mimic (or incorporate) seasonal fruit and vegetables. For a few short weeks in May each year Toraya (とらや) produce a plump little sweet called &#39;nasubi-mochi&#39; (なすび餅 &#39;eggplant mochi&#39;)🍆 #Kyoto #wagashi

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    🍘👹A CRACKER TO AVOID THE PLAGUE🤲🍘 Beside Kamigoryō-jinja (上御霊神社) is a small store that sells one type of confection only...a simple, sweet cracker. Like the shrine itself, the crackers have a deep connection to the origins of the Gion Matsuri (祇園祭). #Kyoto #京都