Sorry...I'm really sorry! Midterms were coming up and well...I just got stressed out. So now I'm FINALLY going to talk about this Baikasai (Plum Blossom Festival) thing!
On February 25th (yes....a month ago -_-;), we skipped our morning classes (gasp!) and woke up bright and early, leaving at 6:45 to make our way to Makino station. We rode the train aaaall the way to Demachiyanagi and met up with our friend Nikki and her friend JC there! I have a feeling we rode another train and I just don't remember. Either way, we surfaced into another area of Kyoto.
After getting a little bit lost trying to find our correct bus, we found it! The problem was that everyone in the whole entire area was headed to the exact same place - Tenmangu Shrine - for the festival. Needless to say, the bus in true Japanese form became jam packed with people! I felt really bad because I ended up having to lean over this little old lady the whole time. ごめん T-T
Anyway, we finally arrived and unpacked ourselves into the street. Outside of the Shrine, there was a big market set up that apparently gets set up the 25th of each month. It's pretty much like a giant flea market! There were all kinds of food stands and other goods.
Of course, it was packed too!
I found this amusing -- leave it to Japan to emblazon a hamburger stand with American flags...in front of a very Japanese Shinto shrine....
Anyone who knows me well enough knows I love dolls. It was recently Girl's Day, and on this day, families put out special dolls to celebrate the young girls in their families. They're beautifully made and they're modeled after people in the Emperor's court from the Heian period, a period known for the arts and elaborate court life. I want one T-T.
Anyway, we fought our way through the crowds and made it up into the Shrine! Shrine scenery pictures, commence!
The artwork was really beautiful. It probably illustrates something about the diety enshrined at the temple, but I'm unfamiliar with it...perhaps I'll find out in my Shinto class!
Pretty trees and things.
Torii gate -- while we were trying to get a picture in this direction, the Japanese people on the other side were trying to get picture in our direction, so it was amusingly awkward.
Lantern things engraved with the name of the shrine, Tenmangu, on it.
Another lantern surrounded by plum blossoms.
Lanterns and white plum blossoms! They were so gorgeous!
A cute lion :3
More lanterns -- really, they're all over the place.
See?
Just in case you didn't have enough...
Just over the striped barrier, we could see our first glimpse of real life moving, working, and smiling Maiko and Geiko. Actually, not many people in Japan ever really go see them, so to some Japanese, seeing them is just as rare an opportunity as it is for Westerners. Here's a bunch of Japanese people crowding the barrier to sneak photos of them.
Anyway, so we made it to the shrine and purchased our tickets for the tea ceremony.
Waiting in line...
My ticket. One part was for the tea ceremony, one part was for the complimentary mochi dessert they give you, and the other...well...they never took it so who knows what it was for.
Us in line! Nikki, Kaylie, and Me!
The real reason we had come was to see Geiko (the Kyoto word for Geisha) and Maiko of Kamishichiken! They were performing a tea ceremony there that you could partake in if you parted with 1,500 yen. So we did just that!
Finally! We see the entrance!
Once we got close enough, this was the first picture I was able to take. This is where the main part of the tea ceremony took place from all I know. The people seated on the ground are waiting to be served tea that is being made in a highly ritualistic fashion.
A smiling Maiko serves a guest. One of my favorite Maiko, Naokazu, is in the background, making tea.
The three on the left are all Geiko -- you can tell by their hair styles! Far left is Katsue, a Geiko whom you rarely ever see a picture of without a smile. I always got the feeling that she has a really good sense of humor. The one in the purple kimono is one of my favorite Geiko, the beautiful Umeha, a Geiko famous for her beauty. The girl on the far right is a Maiko, an apprentice Geiko, named Katsuru. She's my new favorite! She's one of the only ones who I saw always smiling!
This Geiko on the left is the former famous blogging Maiko, Ichimame. She is a superstar in the Geiko world due to her being the first one to compose a blog about her life in the okiya (Geisha house). Umeha is to her right.
The girl in the green is Ichiteru, a beautiful young girl and younger sister (not biologically, but in terms of apprenticeship) to Ichimame.
Naokazu pours some tea.
Katsuru serving the guest next to me.
Geiko and Maiko leaving and entering the serving tent. It was really fun to watch all the Maiko and Geiko interacting in the tent. They really are just normal people after all! :D
Two Geiko and a Maiko serving tea. The one in the middle is a senior Geiko, who doesn't not need to rely on her appearance as much to impress, which explains her simple appearance. She is much more skilled in the arts and in the social arts of conversation and charm than her younger accomplices.
Ichiteru busily serving guests.
I got this close to Umeha! XD
Zoom~
The maiko who served me serving someone nearby....and my head!
This is the tea we were given, called matcha. It looks like paint...it smells like paint. Heck, I think it even tastes like paint. I was a good girl though and I drank it all. The texture is really frothy and it made my stomach a bit upset, but it wore off thankfully!
She looked at me! -fangirls-
She took my cup!
This was a little dessert we were given! It's mochi, a rice cake filled with red bean paste. It was actually really delicious and it helped me greatly in trying to drink the tea.
Cute little plum blossomed shaped sweets. I call them sweets, but they sort of tasted like wood, so we ended up throwing them away.
Needless to say, to use Kaylie's words, at that moment, Japan had seduced us. Any homesickness we had was extinguished! I'm really glad I got to go see the Geiko and Maiko, which is one of the things I really wanted to do while in Japan.
Anyway, since it was a Plum Blossom Festival, I guess I should show you some beautiful plum blossoms! Here we go!
Two types of hana in action. (hana = flower/nose)
Tadah?
Kaylie displaying the cute little box that the wood-tasting sweets were encased in.
Sidenote: On the way home from this, there was this EXCELLENT poster in the train station. Here it is in all of its epic glory:
Yep.
Llama!
On February 25th (yes....a month ago -_-;), we skipped our morning classes (gasp!) and woke up bright and early, leaving at 6:45 to make our way to Makino station. We rode the train aaaall the way to Demachiyanagi and met up with our friend Nikki and her friend JC there! I have a feeling we rode another train and I just don't remember. Either way, we surfaced into another area of Kyoto.
After getting a little bit lost trying to find our correct bus, we found it! The problem was that everyone in the whole entire area was headed to the exact same place - Tenmangu Shrine - for the festival. Needless to say, the bus in true Japanese form became jam packed with people! I felt really bad because I ended up having to lean over this little old lady the whole time. ごめん T-T
Anyway, we finally arrived and unpacked ourselves into the street. Outside of the Shrine, there was a big market set up that apparently gets set up the 25th of each month. It's pretty much like a giant flea market! There were all kinds of food stands and other goods.
Of course, it was packed too!
I found this amusing -- leave it to Japan to emblazon a hamburger stand with American flags...in front of a very Japanese Shinto shrine....
Anyone who knows me well enough knows I love dolls. It was recently Girl's Day, and on this day, families put out special dolls to celebrate the young girls in their families. They're beautifully made and they're modeled after people in the Emperor's court from the Heian period, a period known for the arts and elaborate court life. I want one T-T.Anyway, we fought our way through the crowds and made it up into the Shrine! Shrine scenery pictures, commence!
The artwork was really beautiful. It probably illustrates something about the diety enshrined at the temple, but I'm unfamiliar with it...perhaps I'll find out in my Shinto class!
Pretty trees and things.
Torii gate -- while we were trying to get a picture in this direction, the Japanese people on the other side were trying to get picture in our direction, so it was amusingly awkward.
Lantern things engraved with the name of the shrine, Tenmangu, on it.
Another lantern surrounded by plum blossoms.
Lanterns and white plum blossoms! They were so gorgeous!
A cute lion :3
More lanterns -- really, they're all over the place.
See?
Just in case you didn't have enough...
Just over the striped barrier, we could see our first glimpse of real life moving, working, and smiling Maiko and Geiko. Actually, not many people in Japan ever really go see them, so to some Japanese, seeing them is just as rare an opportunity as it is for Westerners. Here's a bunch of Japanese people crowding the barrier to sneak photos of them.Anyway, so we made it to the shrine and purchased our tickets for the tea ceremony.
Waiting in line...
My ticket. One part was for the tea ceremony, one part was for the complimentary mochi dessert they give you, and the other...well...they never took it so who knows what it was for.
Us in line! Nikki, Kaylie, and Me!The real reason we had come was to see Geiko (the Kyoto word for Geisha) and Maiko of Kamishichiken! They were performing a tea ceremony there that you could partake in if you parted with 1,500 yen. So we did just that!
Finally! We see the entrance!
Once we got close enough, this was the first picture I was able to take. This is where the main part of the tea ceremony took place from all I know. The people seated on the ground are waiting to be served tea that is being made in a highly ritualistic fashion.
A smiling Maiko serves a guest. One of my favorite Maiko, Naokazu, is in the background, making tea.
The three on the left are all Geiko -- you can tell by their hair styles! Far left is Katsue, a Geiko whom you rarely ever see a picture of without a smile. I always got the feeling that she has a really good sense of humor. The one in the purple kimono is one of my favorite Geiko, the beautiful Umeha, a Geiko famous for her beauty. The girl on the far right is a Maiko, an apprentice Geiko, named Katsuru. She's my new favorite! She's one of the only ones who I saw always smiling!
This Geiko on the left is the former famous blogging Maiko, Ichimame. She is a superstar in the Geiko world due to her being the first one to compose a blog about her life in the okiya (Geisha house). Umeha is to her right.
The girl in the green is Ichiteru, a beautiful young girl and younger sister (not biologically, but in terms of apprenticeship) to Ichimame.
Naokazu pours some tea.
Katsuru serving the guest next to me.
Geiko and Maiko leaving and entering the serving tent. It was really fun to watch all the Maiko and Geiko interacting in the tent. They really are just normal people after all! :D
Two Geiko and a Maiko serving tea. The one in the middle is a senior Geiko, who doesn't not need to rely on her appearance as much to impress, which explains her simple appearance. She is much more skilled in the arts and in the social arts of conversation and charm than her younger accomplices.
Ichiteru busily serving guests.
I got this close to Umeha! XD
Zoom~
The maiko who served me serving someone nearby....and my head!
This is the tea we were given, called matcha. It looks like paint...it smells like paint. Heck, I think it even tastes like paint. I was a good girl though and I drank it all. The texture is really frothy and it made my stomach a bit upset, but it wore off thankfully!
She looked at me! -fangirls-
She took my cup!
This was a little dessert we were given! It's mochi, a rice cake filled with red bean paste. It was actually really delicious and it helped me greatly in trying to drink the tea.
Cute little plum blossomed shaped sweets. I call them sweets, but they sort of tasted like wood, so we ended up throwing them away.Needless to say, to use Kaylie's words, at that moment, Japan had seduced us. Any homesickness we had was extinguished! I'm really glad I got to go see the Geiko and Maiko, which is one of the things I really wanted to do while in Japan.
Anyway, since it was a Plum Blossom Festival, I guess I should show you some beautiful plum blossoms! Here we go!
Two types of hana in action. (hana = flower/nose)
Tadah?
Kaylie displaying the cute little box that the wood-tasting sweets were encased in.
Sidenote: On the way home from this, there was this EXCELLENT poster in the train station. Here it is in all of its epic glory:
Yep.
Llama!
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