Geisha, seasons, flowers

Sayuki is the first non-Japanese, to become a Geisha. She became a Geisha in 2007 and talked to members of College Women's Association Japan for the 2010 January luncheon.

Here she is, kindly posing for me, as I interrupted her before her talk, she was checking the computer and her DVDs.

Sayuki is nothing you expect, extremely polite and gentle like a real Geisha should be, but also extremely intelligent.

She started becoming a Geisha for her research in anthropology and continued as she liked it.

In this picture she is not made up as a geisha with white make up.

My personal experience with Geisha in 1977:

I had one opportunity of being in a party with Geishas in Kobe, I was the unexpected guest, not too often that a young women (this was over 33 years ago) would join a party of men being entertained by Geisha. I was struck by how the "older" Geisha with a look would orchestrate the move of the others so that they would not be lingering too long with the same guest.

I wasn't too used to have my napkin placed on my lap or that much attention with what I was drinking or eating and the fuss of trying to make me try this or that.

This is when I found out that the idea most have of the role of Geisha is quite misunderstood.

They are real artists, entertainers who help liven the atmosphere of a dinner. Somehow in the same way as belly dancers help liven up a wedding in the middle east.

Seasons and flowers:

According to Sayuki, a Geisha should have at least 13 kimonos. The kimonos worn should be carefully chosen to have the flowers that will bloom in the next month. This is why my Japanese friend felt very uncomfortable taking a Nagoya style obi (belt) with a tulip design to wear in Scotland in the summer.

I assured her that no one would mind as long as she wore a kimono.

The hair ornaments should also reflect the season.

In her DVD Sayuki pointed out the pine design on her kimono and rice in her hair for the winter season. The rice can be used until the 15 of January when rice ornaments are burnt.

A picture of ornaments piled in a rice field waiting to be burned.

Geisha training is for one year and includes dancing and playing instruments as well as being able to perform tea ceremony, interestingly ikebana does not seem to be a requisite in the training.

Another name worth mentioning is Liza Dalby who also studied anthropology and was a novice geisha she wrote a book Geisha published in 1983 and served as consultant to the book Memoirs of a Geisha in 2004. It was also made into a film.

Rock and Roll, Martial arts and ikebana 2

Container before the demonstration on the right

The old schools or Koryu schools of ikebana are connected to martial arts.

October in Kenzoji temple in Kita-Kamakura, Ikebana International Kamakura chapter held their meeting. First there was a demonstration in the hall in front of the altar.

The young headmaster, who came from Kyoto, followed the steps of his father and grand father.

A very slight young man but with a lot of force in his dramatic movements during his ikebana performance which can be compared to an exercise in sword fighting. I can imagine young samurais after battle trying to relax by bending flowering branches of cherry blossoms. One slightly slashing a branch closing his eyes and raising the branch above his eyes close to his forehead and with a determine gesture bends a branch.

This is what I was actually seeing, but the samurai was a modern young man with a diamond stud in one ear and a fashionable belt with his sharp ikebana scissors in lieu of a samurai sword.

Everyone was silently watching.

At the end pictures were allowed.

Autumn tinted leaves of a classical arrangement of heaven, earth and man in a diamond shaped bronze container with legs.

Modern arrangement in a black rectangular container.

Material: Iris leaves and antherium flowers

The arrangement below depicts the dragon painting on the ceiling of one of the biggest wooden buildings in Japan, Kenchoji temple

Mr. Nakano Tenshin from Kyoto, grandson of Iemoto of Honnoji school

Free style with Bittersweet vine

Arrangement with my teacher's container

Material. 2 aspidistra leaves, 2 cosmos flowers and 2 branches of bittersweet vine*

My ikebana lesson this Friday was after a busy week including a long day in Tokyo on Thursday. I heard a lecture entitled “From the waters of the mountain to landscape” by Mr Augustin Berque who received the Fukuoka prize of 2009. He explained the word Shanshui, as it is pronounced in Chinese, in Japanese it is pronounced Sansui, which is a combination of two Chinese character meaning Mountain and water and was first used as a combination on the 3 day of the 3^rd month in the year 353 in the 40 poems written in the Orchid Pavilion.

This talk dealt with the beginning of appreciating landscape and how this has affected our way of living now.

At the moment I am reading the book written by Ken Follet “The Pillars of the Earth”. In the past living in a city is where civilised people lived with a wall surrounding their city. Outside were the outlaws.

Once landscape was appreciated houses, castles and estates were built with a “view” or surrounded by landscape gardens to improve the view. Landscape ikebana is one step further by bringing the view into the house or “tokonoma”, the special alcove in a Japanese house where one displays objects of art and flower arrangements.

Back to my lesson, my teacher had a choice for us of either doing an arrangement in a basket with autumn flowers and plants, a rimpa arrangement or a free style.

I usually would have opted for one of the first two, but wanted to relax so I did the free style.

At home I used another container, a present from Mrs.K, Professor K’s wife.

Same material in a different vase, at home.

Nowadays we are free to live where we like. We can live in the suburb to enjoy the landscape. In the lecture the role of the use of the car to seek the landscape and thereby unwittingly destroying it was an interesting point.

Vase

Side view

* Bittersweet vine, Ilex, is not popular as it can destroy trees.

Are we the same as bittersweet vine ?

====================================================================

References: Orchid Pavilion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantingji_Xu

Mr. Augustin Berque: http://www.asianmonth.com/prize/english/20/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukuoka_Asian_Culture_Prize#Past_Laureates

Cyclamen

To answer my friend's question to why I called my blog cyclamen.

Cyclamen is maybe the second flower I loved. It meant picnics under olive trees in Lebanon and us children (at that time) picking cyclamen flowers that grew wild and smelt so good.

It does not seem to be a very popular flower used in ikebana. I have used it for my arrangement during the Ikebana International world convention in 2006 and also as in the picture of my blog.

During the world convention, I had no time to take a picture myself as I was very busy.

Then I used white cyclamen that looked like butterflies to me.

Here are pictures of my other arrangement during the autumn festival celebrating the 10th anniversary of Morinosato citizen's hall, last autumn 2008.

The container is a small rectangular flat container.

On the right side is a stone with moss on it.

Material: Pine, Japanese Pieris, Sasa bamboo, cyclamen flowers and leaves, moss.

I just love these delicate flowers as well as the heart shaped leaves.

Nowadays there are many bigger varieties, but I always like the small one with the soft fragrance.

One of the larger potted plants with one very interesting 2 toned flower.

Cyclamen planted under bamboo