Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA's News Letter No.754
Dear Newsletter readers,
Hello, this is Mari. It's my turn to write Ichiroya's weekly newsletter.
It is still rainy season. I think we haven't have enough rain so far.
I think I should dance in kimono to pray for rain!
A little while ago, I went to Uji, Kyoto to attend "Sencha" demonstration.
"Sencha" is green tea which is not powdered, as opposed to Matcha.
You may be familier with "Matcha" which is a bowl of whisked and creamy green tea.
It was a "Sencha" tea ceremony for the first time in my life.One of our customers,
Ms. Ueda in California, USA invited me to the event. She flew in Japan for the specific
event! If you are not farmilier with Sencha, please take a look at Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sencha
It was one of the biggest Sencha demonstrations in Japan. 13 different schools
from all over Japan gathered at a big temple in Kyoto for the weekend. Each
school has different manners. We attended three different schools' ceremonies
in different rooms. Each room was very unique and interesting.
The first one we attended was held at a hall. They served two cups of tea and
a sweet. The tea was sooooo goooood! The luke tea was not bitter, but almost
salty.
The teacher of this school told us she likes "Matsu"(pine tree). So, the saucers
and sweet had pine needles pattern on them. Actually, all the students who were
serving tea wore green iromuji with woven pine needle pattern. It was impressive
view.
The second one was held at a room with unique sliding doors. The dynamic drawings
entertained guests very much at beginning.
The second cup of tea was pour in front of us. The way they serve tea was efficient
yet elegant.
The last ceremony we attended was held at the large room where had more than 20 guests
at a time. The school was from Kyushu area, far west of Japan. They brought all the
tools and tea. There is a famous tea produce center "Yame" in Kyushu. So, they brought
"Yamecha"("Yame" tea) all the way from Kyushu to Kyoto.
Some of disciples who served us were very young girls in cute kids kimono.
They did very good job, and impressed all the guest.
It was very interesting expeience. I had such a good time. I have to thank Ms. Ueda who invited me to this great event. We promised to attend next year, too. Oh, I forgot to mention that me and Ms. Ueda were wearing kimono and obi which we bought from Ichiroya! The white Oshima hitoe which I wore is the one I washed by myself:-)
(Here is the past newsletter about `washing my Oshima kimono')
Most of the people at the event were wearing kimono. I think "Iromuji" is
all time favorite at tea ceremony. There are summer Iromuji for those who will attend
tea ceremonies in this summer!
Thank you for reading until the end.
See you next time!