Konmari decluttering

Cleaning in Japan

Some tourists from abroad find the cities in Japan relatively clean. Some people get surprised that in schools, kids usually clean their class rooms on their own. Japanese might have a keen sense in cleaning. However, it is not always the case. I’m not good at keeping my room neat actually. My grandparents’ and parents’ generations don’t seem to be good at throwing things away. It is because they experienced the time where they were short on things during and right after the world war. My grandma kept even used gift-wrapping paper. Some households are filled to capacity with material possessions.

Konmari

Some of you might already heard of the name, Kondo Marie, or KonMari. She is an organizing consultant and her book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” has got No.1 at amazon best seller ranking.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering/dp/1607747308/ref=zg_bs_books_1
Her method is that you keep only the things that spark joy and you get rid of the other stuff. You do it by categories; clothing, books and so on. You collect all of your items in the same category into one space. You pick up one by one from the pile and determine if it really sparks joy. You will realize that expensive things or new items are not always valuable to you. How do I know about it? I actually practiced her method and decluttered my home last year.

Zen saying

When I read her books, I recalled two Zen saying in my mind‏.
知足 or chisoku; Realizing that you already have enough.
People tend to want things that they don’t really need. If you know what and how much you need, you can always live in great satisfaction.
放下着 or hogechaku; Throw things away.
By discarding unnecessary things, precious things to you emerge. You can feel the lightness and briskness, you will realize that your own naked self is more than enough.

Enhancing what you really care for

The best benefit from Konmaring is that I feel really good about not possessing too many things or being free from things. I think Konmari is borrowing the ideas from Zen and Shinto. By Konmari’s organizing, you can have the exhilarating experience like Zen. I feel intoxicated at my closet that has one third of clothes that I used to have. It is only filled with the brightest clothes now. Certainly, they have been always in the closet but they had a low profile buried in other clothes. Purging the things that you don’t need enhances what you really care about. This kind of spirit can be an important hidden theme of chanoyu. For instance, we don’t display many flowers in the tea room. We borrow only a few flowers from the fields that one thinks really appealing. That is why even though the arrangement is simple, it looks so brilliant. You can be spiritually full filled without a lot of materials. Actually, it might be even better not to have many. I guess this idea leads to Wabi-Sabi.

Try organizing your home and experience Wabi-Sabi yourself. You can get a highly-sensitive space for chanoyu.

Konmari website: http://konmari.com/en/

Zen Sayings or Zengo

 

What a shame!

You usually see a hanging scroll displayed in a tea room. From the scroll, you are supposed to read the host’s mind or the theme of the ceremony that you are attending. In a tea ceremony, bokuseki or calligraphy, especially of a Zen monk is often preferred rather than drawings. The calligraphies are zengo, Zen Sayings. I often have hard time to understand what it means. Moreover, I’m ashamed to admit that I can’t even read it sometimes. I need to learn about zengo or at least just the basics.

This might not be zengo, but bokuseki looks something like this.

Incomprehensible Zen

It is said that Zen cannot be explained by words. Someone also says that while you are seeking what Zen is, it is not Zen. Um…. When I read books about Zen, I often have difficulty to understand them. Zen might not be a thing to comprehend intellectually and it may be a thing to realize from your experience. However, books are still the easiest way for me to know about it. This time, I got five casual books that have easy descriptions on various zengo (Zen sayings). By reading the five books, I realized two things. First, the descriptions among the five books are sometimes different even for the same saying.　How it is construed might vary with the individual. The other thing is that there are some lessons that show up repeatedly in these books. These lessons can be a clue to understand Zen.

"Now", "Let it go" and "Don’t distinguish"

The three most memorable keywords and phrases I found in the books are “Now”, “Let it go” and “Don’t distinguish”. They are something like the following;
“Now”
Do the best for now. You don’t need to be bothered with the past nor worry about the feature. Live for now. 
“Let it go”
Just follow as things go. “Be as you are.” “You already have everything.” “Discard things.” These are also the lessons that I found frequently in the books which are similar to this lesson in nature.
“Don’t distinguish”
It is not good to view things in two aspects; beautiful or ugly, in or out, or bright or dark. People tend to be obsessed too much about distinguishing things. Embrace things as they are. This lesson might lead to the lesson of unity or oneness.
There might be one truth in Zen. Words can only describe a certain aspect of it. These keywords are saying different things, but actually they might be describing the same truth from different angles. That’s what I feel.

行雲流水or kounryusui

Here, let me introduce one of my favorite zengo related to the lesson of “Let it go”.
–行雲流水or kounryusui –
It literally means “Clouds move and water flows”. This lesson means “Live without fixating and go with the times.” Clouds and water don’t stay at on place. They travel even if there are obstacles. They change into any shape and flow with the grain of nature.

Influence of Zen

Even though I can’t still understand what Zen is, I can sense that Zen has a lot of influence on chanoyu and today’s Japanese culture. It kind of make sense. For example, a host tries to have a bud that just started blooming for the tea flower. Usually, the blooming is quite short and with the host preparing the young bloom just for the very moment makes it even more special‏. This preference might come from the lesson of “Now”.
For an example of the lesson of “don’t distinguish things”, Japanese are not good at giving definite yes or no for an answer. We might feel comfortable by making things a bit ambiguous.
A lot of people don’t know much about Zen even in Japan. However, there are many traditions and attitude of ours that comes from Zen idea, and we benefit from it spontaneously. Knowing zengo might help us to realize the underlying principle behind chanoyu and Japanese culture.

Evolution of Bottled green tea

Decaf culture
There was a thing that surprised me when I went to the United States about one and a half decades ago. At coffee shops, some people were ordering a kind of coffee that I’ve never heard of. It was decaffeinated coffee, which was not common at all in Japan. It was difficult to understand the existence of decaf coffee for the person like me, who can enjoy thick matcha. Today, I checked the Starbucks Japan website. I still couldn’t find decaf coffee on their beverage menu. (Some people say that you can get a decaf at Starbucks even if it’s not on the menu.) I have to say that our decaf culture is still a few decades behind than American’s. Even if I say so, it’s also a fact that the decaf drinks are finally getting attention in Japan these days. Kirin released a new product, Decaf Namacha. It’s the world first bottled decaf green tea.



Decaf Namacha

Added Value Tea
The market of bottled green tea in Japan is quite competitive nowadays. Many products come in the market and fade away. Makers try to launch new products with added value like the decaf green tea. Here are two more examples. One is Shokumotsusenni-ga-oishikutoreru-ocha or Green tea with fiber from Itoen. You can intake 7.5g of dietary fiber out of a 500ml bottle. Another example is Iyemon Tokucha from Suntory. It is a green tea that takes off your body fat. This tea contains an amount of quercetin glycoside, which is equivalent to the amount that can be found in three onions. It is a kind of polyphenol that helps to break down fat. We may be a primitive nation regarding decaf coffee but we might be the most advanced country regarding bottled green tea. If you have a chance to visit Japan, it’s fun to try some of our latest green teas!



Green tea with fiber



Iyemon Tokucha

Review of the Decaf Namacha
The original Namacha is one of my favorite brands. Its flavor is very mellow and aromatic. It has less bitterness than other brands so you can guzzle it when you are thirsty. Now, let’s try the decaf Namacha. At first, I noticed that it smells really good. It smells sweet like freshly-picked young tea leaf, which I can only find in high-grade sencha. Its taste also has the same note. It’s not bitter at all and the mellow sweet flavor of young leaf fills your mouth. This is totally different from other brands, which have bitterness in some degree for refreshing taste. Namacha preserves mellowness but it could be too mellow for some people. One disappointing thing is that a flavoring ingredient is added, but I really like this tea after all.


Following sites are all in Japanese.

Kirin Decaf Namacha:
http://www.kirin.co.jp/products/softdrink/namacya/about/yasashisa/index.html

Itoen, Green tea with fiber:
http://www.itoen.co.jp/news/detail/id=23209

Suntory, Iyemon Tokucha:
http://www.suntory.co.jp/softdrink/iyemon/tokucha/index.html

Ocobo, a café at Kakuozan

There is a café called Ocobo at Kakuozan, Nagoya, which I’ve always wanted to visit. The other day, I finally had the chance. When I got there a few customers are calmly enjoying their tea. The cafe only has 10 seats at the bar. A man was preparing tea and he seemed to be the only person working there at that time. He is probably the master of the café. He told me to wait a little, while I was watching the confectioneries in the showcase for to-go. The master has been trained at a confectionery shop in Kyoto, so I wanted to try their sweets. While waiting, I looked around. On the shelves, there are cute cups and small teapots are displayed. I heard nice sound of the master whisking matcha. On the wall, there are some magazines and books with picture of a temple in Kyoto. I noticed that one of the customer was reading the magazine from the wall. The café was filled with a tranquility. 

In the meantime, the master finished serving the tea and came to me. I was about buying some sweets to take them home, but at the last moment, I changed my mind and decided to have tea and the sweets there. I seated at the bar and had a sencha tea set. 

 

The sencha was very clear and refreshing. It didn’t have much bitterness and any unpleasant flavor. The aroma like roasted chestnuts filled in my mouth. It was quite nice. The sweets that I tried was a little different from what I’ve expected.　But, good ingredients seemed to be used.   

I definitely want to come back when I will be around Kakuozan. I want to try some other of their tea and sweets. Their matcha sorbet sounds good.

Ocobo (Japanese) >>> http://ocobo-wagashi.com/

モーニングサービス at local cafes

There is a unique service at cafes in our area, Aichi.  It is called “モーニングサービス” or “morning service” but it means breakfast special.  We often call it Morning.  You can have the service usually at kissaten, cafes with waiters/waitresses, not at self-service cafes.  We don’t have the custom of tipping in Japan, so you don’t have to worry about it.  The breakfast special is that if you order a cup of drink burring the certain hours in the morning, it comes with snacks or light meal such as a piece of toasted bread and a boiled egg.  You can have a light breakfast just with the price of one drink.  Isn’t it a great deal?!  

 

It seems café culture is well developed in our area.  The rate of café among the entire eating and drinking establishments is quite high.  (National average: 24%,  Tokyo: 18%,  Our prefecture, Aichi: 42%!! –Wikipedia)  This type of breakfast special got popular and it has been so common here that until recently I’ve never thought that this is a unique culture of our region.   Now the breakfast special seems getting popular nationwide and evolving its services.  It used to be simple, like a cup of coffee with toast and egg.  But now, some café offer a better meal, some offer for a longer hours and some even offer it in buffet style.  The more popular it become the better the services we get.

 

 

 

This is the Morning Service I had the other day.  They have a regular breakfast special (drink+bread+egg), but also you can add mini-salad, yogurt and a piece of bacon as an option if you pay additional 120yen.  A regular breakfast special is not totally satisfying as a breakfast for me.  I quite like this option system. 

 

You may not see many cafes that offer this type of breakfast special in Tokyo.  If you have a chance to come to Aichi, go to a kissaten and save your money and enjoy your morning!!

Purifying your hands and mouth

 I put the traditional sandals on.  I stepped into the tea garden that was partially covered with snow from the night before.  I have had a lot of chances to attend tea ceremonies lately, and this was already my third ceremony this year.  It was a tea ceremony work shop for us, the Japanese Tea Instructors and Advisers. 

The people lined up and practiced how to purify their hands at the stone basin and how to get into the tea room from the small crawl-in doorway.  You, as a guest, purify your hands and mouth with water before getting into the tearoom.  You crouch down in front of tsukubai, or the stone basin.  You use two scoops of water.

*** Steps ***

The first scoop:

1.    Scoop the water with the ladle using your right hand and pour the half of the water onto your left hand to purify

2.    Then switch the ladle from your right hand to your left, and pour the rest onto your right hand

The second scoop

3.    Scoop the water again with the ladle in your right hand.  Pour and receive the half of the water with your left hand palm.  Dab the water in the left hand on your lips

4.    Let the rest of the water trickle down the shaft of the ladle to purify it as it stands.  Then you return the ladle to the basin

Now you can carry onto the tea room.  Did you know how to do these steps?  You might have a chance to purify your hands during your trip to Japan.  You will find the purifying spot at many shrines.  Even some Japanese don’t know this proper way of purifying hands.  Remember these steps and impress people!

Practicing entering the room from the crawl-in doorway

Bend your back and slid into with your kneads

Smell in the tea room

What do you smell in the tea room?  The aroma of green tea?  Yes, it’s not only that.  During summer we use the fragrance wood and kneaded incense in winter.  To fill the room with incense, it is placed by the charcoals in the brazier or sunken hearth.　Japanese incense has more subdued and earthy smell compared to the fragrances used at Western countries which are floral or sweet.  The earthly aromas probably fit better with green tea. I honestly don't know much about incenses.  I even don't know what aromas I like to smell. There are many things to learn about in sado, The Way of Tea.

lisn, an incense shop in Kyoto

One of my blog readers introduced me “lisn”, an incense shop in Kyoto.  Ever since I saw their cool website (http://www2.lisn.co.jp/), I wanted to visit there.  I was finally able to visit their shop during my trip to Kyoto.  At the shop, there are a large variety of samples displayed. Customers are allowed to smell them. Such aromas were fruity, nutty, sweet to refreshing ones.  Customers can buy incenses by piece. 

Their incenses were sold as a stick, which is different from what we use in sado.  Since I don’t use charcoal at home, it is difficult for me to try the classic type of the incense.  Their stick incenses were very attractive for me.  I bought three kinds of incenses including sandalwood.  Sandalwood is a popular aroma used in sado.  Their sandalwood has a little sweetness in it.  The smell may be slightly different from the classic but I’m still happy to enjoy the incense casually.  I would like to explore more and see what scents I like and also the ones that goes well with tea. How about you?  What aroma would you prefer for your tea?

Space ship in Kyoto

What do you think this is?　It looks like a chamber in a space ship, doesn’t it? 

Actually, this is a hotel that I stayed in Kyoto!  If you are traveling around Japan, what are the choices for a reasonable accommodation?   Capsule hotels are definitely one of them.  When I was looking for a hotel during my Kyoto trip, a lot of hotels didn’t have vacancies.  I guess it was a peak season.  Instead, what I found was this capsule hotel, which is quite new and stylish.  The price was very reasonable.  Here are some pictures of the hotel.

Entrance: You check in and receive the key for your locker. 

They have the separate floors for men and women.

This is a floor for lockers and showers.

In your locker, you will find pajamas and a toothbrush.

You must leave all your belongings in this locker.

Here is lavatory and behind it the shower stalls

The shower stall

The sleeping floor:

After you’ve taken your shower and put your things in the locker, it’s time to go to bed.  Most Japanese prefer to take a bath before going to bed.  This floor is dark and quiet.

This is your Capsule.  You crawl into your cell and just sleep.  The capsule's height is tall enough to sit down properly.  The "door" to go in the capsule is simply a curtain in which you draw up so that you can enter.  You will be able to hear other people coughing or snoring.  Fortunately, that night I stayed was peaceful and I had a good sleep.  The only space that is yours is the capsule and the locker assigned to you

There was a rule that I found silly.   It is that you can use an alarm on your cell-phone but only in vibration mode.  With a rational point of view, I can understand the rule because I don’t want to be bothered by someone’s alarm.   On the other hand, I wondered if I have to keep my phone with me all night long to feel it vibrate.  Hahaha, how do I do that?   I was not confident to wake up with a vibration alarm.  How would you wake up?  As I was wondering about it, I got into the cell and found an alarm system on the control panel in the cell.  Of course it is not an ordinary alarm. 

I was ashamed of myself for being only with the typical alarm clock.  Indeed, sound is not the only factor to wake you up!  This alarm wakes you up with the light on the ceiling.  When the time comes, it makes the cell bright.  Wow that’s cool.  I was so delighted and excited with this system.   I set the timer and fell asleep.  I found this cell quite comfortable and had a good sleep.  Next morning, I woke up naturally before the alarm hit on.  I could not experience the alarm.  Damn!  Hahaha!

You may not find capsule hotels in the countryside but big cities usually have them.  It’s a pretty interesting experience.  You should try it!

This is the website that I found this hotel (Japanese) >>> Nine Hours

Kotoin, Zen temple with beautiful mossed approach

This subdued scenery with moss may be one of the reasons that will make me come back to Kyoto.  I don’t like rain during any of my trips, but I’ll make an exception when going to Kyoto.  After the rain, a stone pathway and greens look more beautiful when wet.  

Here is a picture of Kotoin, one of my most favorite small temples in Ditokuji.  I was supposed to go there for tea ceremony on that day, which unfortunately did not happen. Yet my trip to the temple was not in vain because the scenery was worth the time.   I was captivated by the beauty of mosses surrounding the gateway and went into the temple.  The best thing about the garden seems that it was naturally designed.   You will feel a sense of tranquility simply by enjoying the natural looking trees.  When we visited on Nov. 28, the leaves had begun to change their colors.  The colors were still pale, and the scenery was not like an oil painting but more of water color.  There were some people peacefully enjoying tea at the porch along the garden.  I love the view that is trimmed off by the door frame. 

In Kotoin, they have a small tea room designed by Sansai Hosokawa.  Soft light fills the room from the windows creating an delicate and exquisite aura.  I longed to have a chance to be in that room.  They also have the removed and rebuilt Rikyu’s shoin-room from Jurakudai.  I found that room too somber, though (^^;;  Go to see it yourself, haha.

This temple doesn’t have anything magnificent to behold.  This temple is simple and rustic.   You might find wabi-sabi there.  If you are looking for the tranquility of Japan, this is one of the temples that I highly recommend you to visit.

Do you want to know how to meet maiko ladies?

This weekend, I went to Kyoto for a trip.  You can find some retro streets around Gion area, where I think a good place even for a walk.  If you are lucky, you might be able to see maiko ladies.  I had a chat and walked around and took some photos with them.  It was nice to hang out with ladies in kimono stroll walk around the traditional town.  Do you want to know how to meet this kind of maiko ladies?

Actually, they are Hiro, my wife and Miwa, our tea classmate!  They are not real maiko.  There are some photo studios in Kyoto that make you into a maiko for recreation.  So, if you want to see maiko ladies, be the one yourself or have your partner to be one of them too. 

For the plan Hiro and Miwa tried, it took about 3 hours for the entire activities.  It took about one hour to make up and dress.  They had photo shooting in the studio about 15 min each.  And we had 20 min walk outside at the retro streets around the neighborhood of the studio.  And it took another hour for changing clothes and choosing the best shots for printing.  Hiro and Miwa seemed to have a lot of fun.  Since they are bit of shy, they were bashful about walking outside because people definitely looked at them.  Tourists passing maiko looked back and oftentimes they aimed their camera at the kimono ladies.  You need to be open-minded and enjoy the attention.

Photo shooting in the studio

I didn’t try it myself so I waited for a quite some time at their lounge.  While I was waiting, many groups of ladies came and went.   They all looked excited when they were having instruction at the beginning, and after the photo shooting, they were having fun selecting the photos.  The plan that Hiro and Miwa tried was about 10,000 yen, which includes an option of photo retouch.  They can cover the unnatural gap of the wig and wrinkles, hahaha.   The plan covers three printed photos (no original data) from studio shooting.  The fee varies by the plans and options.  It is a worthwhile activity in Kyoto.  Be a maiko yourself and blend into the traditional city!

The photo studio we visited >> http://www.yumekoubou.info/english/index.html

Tissue

Japanese consume 18 boxes of tissue per capita in a year.  We are the most tissue consuming nation in the world.  I learned it from a morning show the other day.  They did a street interview about Japanese tissues to the foreigners visiting Japan.  One person described Japanese tissue as soft as a cat and another one said it was smooth like silk.  It’s very interesting.  We seem to have good quality tissues compared to tissues overseas.  It’s not about tea, but I’m going to talk about it today.

So, why do we have thin and soft tissue?  The TV show explained it.  Japanese have 20-30% thinner skin compared to people from other countries.   Not to get one’s nose red by blowing, Japanese prefer fine texture tissue.  And also, many people suffer from hay fever in Japan, and the chances of blowing nose are comparatively high.  I thought it’s a reasonable reason.  I really appreciate for soft tissues during the hay fever season. 

You often find some men giving away free tissues on the streets in downtown.  It is a popular advertising method in Japan.  By saying “Konnichiwa, Dozo (^0^)/”,  I have actually done that job. hahaha

There are some premium tissues, which are an extra-smooth one, one with fragrant or design-printed one. 

Come to Japan to try some tissues.  I’m sure that you are going to be addicted to it, haha (^-^)

Jake-gai book

There are some tea rooms that I have yearned for.  They are not traditional ones.  Their walls are trellis.  In the photo that I saw online, the tea rooms emerge in the dark with the soft light slipped through from inside.  The interior looks so fantastical and extraordinary.

The photo of the tea rooms >>>

http://www.uchida-design.jp/portfolio/shosai/index.php?id=1159502163-891094&ca=6

I bought a book entitled 茶室とインテリア or Tea Room and Interior.  I was just captivated by the beautiful design of the booklet.  It’s Jake-gai, hahaha.  (Find out the meaning of Jake-gai  >>> here)  The book explains about Japanese architecture from the historical and cultural aspects.  

I had not given much of a thought to the roots or culture regarding our architecture.  I learned that taking off shoes when entering a house involves a meaning moving in to a holy place.  I also learned that we perceive that the space and interior in Japanese housing always change. Japanese architecture historically doesn’t have walls.  Our housing was basically a big open space with posts and roofs, and we have used it by separating with bamboo blinds and sliding doors as occasions demand.  We also think that garnishes don’t have to be persistent and it will be fine if they shine at the very moment.  I think this philosophy leads to the concept of tea flowers.

A fact that I am surprised about was that the tea master, Rikyu was the one who brought the walls into Japanese architecture.  He created the walls on tea rooms.  It is a revolution!!  The author explains that Rikyu made the room small and found out the potent of the elation and concentration of your mind.

It is very interesting to learn these backgrounds.  I did a quick search about the author, Shigeru Uchida.  It turns out that he is the one who designed the tea rooms that I have yearned for.  What a coincidence!  I think I won this jake-gai!

My experience with tea comic

On my video recorder, I can register some keywords that I’m interested in.  It automatically records the TV programs related to the keywords.  Of course, I’ve registered the keyword chanoyu, or The Way of Tea.  In the recorded shows, there is an anime every week.  I’m not an anime or comic enthusiast, so I’ve always deleted the show.  However, I sometimes check it a little before deleting.  It is a story about ancient tea masters.  It slowly drew my attention.

I found out that the anime is based on comic books.  I’m not sure if it is common worldwide, but in Japan you can rent comics.  I have rented the original comics.  It is entitled Hyoge Mono.  The comic is regarded as fiction but its outline is still based on the actual history.  The story is about one of the Rikyu’s disciples, Oribe Furuta. 

Oribe was a samurai warrior and also a tea master.  The episodes tell how he lived in the warring States period.  Expensive utensils were even used as a gift in war negotiations.  While tea people sought the beauty in tea, greed, conspiracies and selfish ambitions were involved.  That is the interesting part.  You will find Oribe’s humorous and distinctive character in the course of flourishing his way of tea.

This is the face when Oribe found out that Rikyu was using a cracked lid on the tea container.  He was glad to know that his idea was not wrong and Rikyu has the same aesthetic sense. 


NHK  Hyouge Mono >>>  http://www9.nhk.or.jp/anime/hyouge/

Enshu’s tea room

One of the reasons that I wanted to visit Ocha-no-sato tea museum is a tea house and garden by Enshu Kobori.

The garden has ponds.  You can walk around the ponds and enjoy different sceneries of the garden.  This is not really my type of garden, but it is elegant and beautiful.

The house is a restored architecture of magistrate's office and traditional house with tea rooms.  The design of Enshue’s house is formal and geometric compared to Rikyu’s natural rustic tea room, Taian.  Both of them are simple and nice.

You can have matcha in one of the Enshu’s rooms.  When we visited there, we were the only guests.  We sat on tatami-mats and waited for the tea to be served.  The photo above is taken from the position where I sat.  There was a delightful surprise, there!  At most of tourist spots that serve matcha, the tea is usually prepared in another room and is brought into the guest’s room.  But here, the host appeared with tea utensils in our room, and stared preparing the tea in front of us!!   I was so excited about it.  An assistant served sweets and talked to us.  It was pretty much a casual tea ceremony!   In the meanwhile, another big party of guests came in and joined us.   The host prepared a few servings and the rest of bowls were prepared in the back.  It was a quick 10-15 minutes, but we are very much satisfied with it.  

This is a rare place for tourists where you can see actual matcha preparation.  If you have never seen it before, this is a good place (500yen)! 


Ocha-no-sato tea musume (Japanese): http://www.ochanosato.com/guide/chashitu.asp