Japanese Art - Ikebana, Chigiri-e, and Yoga

March is here and spring is in the air.  All the talk around here is that it is almost cherry blossom season.  Starbucks released its sakura (cherry) flavored treats and new mug designs and the lines were long.  The season is anticipated like Christmas.  We have a big party to go to on the 27^th to celebrate these blossoms with the Japanese Naval Officers. I asked my Japanese friend, Yuumi, “What if the trees haven’t bloomed by then?”  Her answer, “No problem!  They will pick some branches to decorate with and hit them with a blow dryer until the buds bloom!”  I love it!  

I have taken my first Ikebana class.  This is a kind of Japanese flower arranging.  (My teacher confirmed the blow drying of branches by the way….) She taught us all about choosing 3, 5 or 7 flowers.  You should never use an even number.  The tallest item represents the sky, the middle level is people and the lowest elements the earth.  In Ikebana the beauty of the arrangement can be found not just in what items you are working with but most importantly the space that is between them.  Before I could start she gave me a handout to read.  Part of it said:  “Gaze at the flowers growing around you.  Flowers in nature have an expressive power that is grand and inexhaustible.  Pay attention to the expressions of the flowers along the roadside, in fields, in gardens, the trees that line the streets, the weeds that cover vacant lots.  Aimlessly looking at nature is ineffectual; when you feel something, stop and think about it.”

This is an art form that is done for beauty but it is also a spiritual pursuit done by both men and women.  Like everything in Japan, it takes years to really be a master and families pass it down through generations.  Like a typical American, I think I got the hang of it in about 20 minutes.  I admire the Japanese way of patiently studying and focusing on the smallest of details and subtle difference in the world around them but I could not be more different by nature. Rave reviews on my first attempt from Gary and Casey means I will be doing it again next week!

I have also taken another art class called chigiri-e.  This is where you take colorful paper and rip it into strips, glue and layer it until it looks like a watercolor painting!  I am working on an image of Mt. Fuji.  It looks great actually and no one is more surprised than I am about this! I signed up alone but knew 5 of the other participants and made 2 more new friends.  The sensei teaches in Japanese and a bit of English, so I should be getting better language skills to match my new found artistic talent.

My English class I teach on Fridays continues to bring me great joy.  One of my students, Hiroko, is a yoga teacher.  Tamako, another student, is the wife of a Buddhist “priest” and she lives at a temple in a local town called Ebina.  On Thursday afternoons Hiroko teaches yoga at Tamako’s temple.  I have gone twice now.  To be in a large Japanese room with sliding paper shoji screens for walls and the tatami mat (woven from rice straw or grass), taking a yoga class in Japanese is awe inspiring.  I am planning on taking guests and the other ladies taking the class are so excited to have Americans visit.  The style of yoga is more of a relaxation type and my favorite part is when these quiet, tiny, sweet Japanese ladies take a deep breath and loudly say, “ooohhhmmm…” until they have no breath left.  They can always do it longer than I can and it is impressive! I really want Tamako to invite me to take a tour of the temple, and I’m not sure how to ask. Maybe she will read this blog…if not, I am sure it won’t take me long to find a way.

This Friday we are taking a field trip to see cherry blossoms.  I have no idea how they know there will be blossoms unless this is a place where they bring out BIG blow dryers!!  The goal for the Japanese is to sit under a cherry tree and have the blossoms fall gently on you.  This is said to bring you good luck! We are meeting at the train station and then heading out from there.  Afterward we will go out for a “Ladies Lunch.”  I put it that way because they showed me a picture of my meal from the place we are going.  Each item will be served comes in its own colorful little dish…and the emphasis will be on pink, the color of the blossoms.  We will be having crab and shrimp…note the color palet! In May or June, I am inviting them all to the base to enjoy some American traditions.  I plan to serve big BBQ burgers….and at my house they will have good luck if they can all avoid stepping in dog doo!

It is obvious that my 4-6 month funk is over.  Also, Casey is her own little blossom these days. She did great in her Far East Drama competition in South Korea (their team was awarded an Excellent rating!) and she killed it singing the song “Home” by Phillip Phillips in the school talent show with her friend Mary.  The words to that song are so perfect for a military kid!  Google the words and I am sure you will get a little lump in your throat.  I am loving the signs that spring is coming and looking forward to my first Cherry blossom season.  Pictures to come!!