The Doll's Festival (Nara,Takatori-chou) ②

I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time.

"Takatori-chou" (Takatori-town,Nara prefecture) is a castle town historically.

In March,every houses,shops in this town compete with one another in displaying their cute "Hina dolls" on their entrances,verandas,in front of their houses to show their "family treasures" to passersby.

Some of these dolls are made 100 years ago.

The whole town become a theme park ,an amusement park in every March.

Please enjoy various kinds of Hina-dolls.

Even rats become "Hina-dolls" in March.

These are all hand-made by artisan.

Hope this tradition will be succeeded from generation to generation in the future.

The Doll's Festival (Nara,Takatori-chou)

In Japan,March 3th is "Doll's Festival Day".

We celebrate this day for health and growth of little kids (girls).

In Nara,(Takatori-chou),Dolls Festival is held through this month.

Please enjoy various kind of Hina-Dolls!

Prince and princess 

Usually miniature dishes for dolls are also displayed like this photo.

These are also miniature furnitures for dolls.

This lovely doll is displayed on bamboo.

To be continued...

Spring maiko tea ceremony in Kitano-Tenman-guu ②

Geiko is busy treating the guests.

You have two choices! (You have to choose beforehand where to seat.)

Having a tea at the table (like this photo)....

or, at the Japanese-style room (like this photo).

I recommend having a tea at the Japanese-style room.

Why?

First,it shorten the distance between maiko and guests.

Secondly,Japanese tea ceremony should be performed gracefully with the traditional ritual,I think.

Table is kind of western-like,I think.

They're preparing teas for guests.

Hope you enjoy Japanese spring tea ceremony with us.

Thank you for reading.

Spring maiko tea ceremony in Kitano-Tenman-guu

The pink plum blossoms are at their best now.

This is Kitano-Tenman-Guu Shrine in Kyoto.

Today we have tea ceremony in the garden of this shrine.

This ceremony is held annually on February 25.

Municipal bus(No.50 or 101) is good from JR Kyoto station,and get off at Kitano-Hakubaichou.

Early morning is good,(9:00a.m) because there are so many people waiting for their turn.

This is the tea ceremony place.

(This is kind of show-tent which is set up temporarily for today's ceremony in the garden.)

Everyone is waiting eagerly to be served maccha tea by maiko girls.

There are many tourist from abroad here today.

This must be exciting moment for them.

Finally these women started to serve teas for guests.

Geiko and maiko serve teas one after another.

Finally maccha teas are served to this family.

This cute girl looks nervous now.

They're having a pleasant chat with guests.



 Maiko receives today's ticket from guests.

She serves the teas with graceful movement.



 To be continued...

(About my "Yuzen Dyeing Atelier "You" post,

Sorry for long inconvenience.

I had to reduce all the file size of photos by compressing the image,

because the size of these photos were too big,too heavy.

Now they're available.)

Potato croquettes (Today's dinner)

Do you like potato croquettes?
In Japan,potato croquettes are listed among the top 10 favorite foods.

My husband likes potato croquettes very much.

Other dishes are....
・Boiled spinach seasoned with soy sauce,
・Miso soup,
・Cooked rice.

I'm satisfied with today's my croquettes. They're good=D

Whitney Houston

We lost one of the greatest singer in the world.

May she rest in peace.