Discussion · Bolhaverso

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social · 11 hours ago

🌤️🌸SPRING EQUINOX🐣🐇

Happy 'Shunbun-no-hi' (春分の日)🥳🌞

a straight line
all the way to Kyōto...
umbrella-hatted blossom viewers
京迄は一筋道ぞ花見笠
-Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1822.
Transl. David G. Lanoue.

'Vernal Equinox Day' has been a national holiday since 1948.
#Kyoto #Japan

Dried sweets for tea ceremony inspired by mejiro (a green bird) and bracken shoots.

Nao-san and Aya-san boating in kimono on 'Heron Pond'.

Ohagi, a sweet of sticky rice caked in bean jam, is popularly eaten at the equinoxes.

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · 10 hours ago

Originally the spring equinox was taken up by a Shintō festival called 'Shunki kōrei-sai' (春季皇霊祭), created in 1878 and centered around imperial ancestor worship.

In 1948 this was repackaged as a day for admiring nature and all living things.
#Kyoto #Japan #Nara #sakura #桜

A train passes by a field of rapeseed flowers.

A gorgeous yellow sweet inspired by rapeseed flowers.

Green and yellow kinton sweets inspired by rapeseed flowers.

Cherry blossoms reach over an embankment of rapeseed flowers.

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · 10 hours ago

In the past 'Higan-no-Nakaba' (彼岸の半ば 'Middle of the Equinoctial Week') was a time for visiting graves to honour ancestors. It was also a time for spring cleaning and for making important changes (such as beginning a new hobby or finishing an important project).
#Kyoto #Japan

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · 9 hours ago

'Heat and Cold last until Higan'
暑さ寒さも彼岸まで

Simply put 'shunbun' (春分) means 'spring division', indicating that hours of light and dark are balanced. As the (above) saying goes, the cold grip of winter should now fade to a slight chill.

#春分の日 #springequinox #Kyoto

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · 8 hours ago

As it was a warm day Nao-san's grandmother suggested eating the first Kuzukiri (くずきり) of the year, and Kagizen Yoshifusa (鍵善良房) happens to be particularly well-known for their Kuzukiri.

#Kyoto #くずきり #鍵善良房

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · 7 hours ago

Originating in Kyōto, 'kuzukiri' (くずきり) is a dish of noodles made from starch-rich kudzu root. Enjoyed in the hot summer months, kuzukiri is typically served cold with a brown-sugar syrup.
Kudzu has long been considered to have medicinal properties, helping with circulation.

Dolls are displayed for Hina Matsuri in Kyoto until the end of March.

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · 6 hours ago

A rather adorable window display at Kagizen Yoshifusa (鍵善良房), anticipating the Miyako Odori (都をどり), the most well-known of the hanamachi spring dances🥰

#Kyoto #京都 #MiyakoOdori #都をどり

Small maiko dolls in the window of Kagizen confectioners.

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Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · 5 hours ago

In Buddhism the equinox is known as 'Higan' (彼岸).
Higan translates as 'Other Shore', a reference to the far shore of the 'Sanzu-no-kawa' (三途の川 'River of the 3 Crossings'). Similar to the River Styx in Greek Mythology, the dead would cross the river to reach the afterlife.

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · 5 hours ago

Week-long services called Higan-e (彼岸会) are held at temples. It's usual for people first to listen to sermons and then visit family graves.
Whereas 'Spring Higan' (春彼岸) typically shows gratitude for all living things, 'Autumn Higan' (秋彼岸) gives thanks to the dead.
#京都