Hikari School -- December 17, 2009

We had this year's last lesson. First we made New Year's decoration
using a piece of charcoal and strings. Twisting a cord around a
charcoal and making a fancy knot was quite difficult.
Later we enjoyed tea ceremony of soba-cha and black soy beans.
Afterwards we had a fun chat over coffee.

Cooking -- December 15, 2009

We had a fun cooking with four ladies and five children.
Today's menu was Makunouchi-bento. It took us quite a lot
of time as Makunouchi-bento needs many dishes. All the
dishes being ready, we started making our own obento.
Children love onigiri.

Art Shodo -- November 26, 2009

We had the third workshop for making a scroll.
After neatly trimming both edges, we put
wooden bars on top and bottom of a scroll.
These were complicate works,but finally we
made it!

Shodo -- November 20, 2009

Art Shodo -- November 19

This is the second lesson for making a scroll.
Spray water first and,then,paste glue on a
lining paper and basic scroll material. Put it
on a board to dry till next lesson.
We make rubber stamps for Christmas cards
and New Year post cards.

Cooking -- November 16, 2009

We enjoyed a traditional seasonal dish 'nabe'(one-pot dish) today.
Today's nabe was chicken meatball nabe. We first made meatballs
and cooked them with vegetables and tofu at the table. It is fun
to cook and eat together at the table. Other dishes we cooked
were Inarizushi, kidney beans with sesame dressing, and coffee
jello. Next cooking class will be on December 15th, Tuesday.

Hikari School -- November 12, 2009

The first part of today's lesson was paper craft workshop. Following the
teacher's insrtuction we made "anesama ningyo" bookmarks. Then we
enjoyed roasted tea which was tasty.

Art Shodo -- November 5, 2009

This is the first class of eagerly-awaited
scroll-making. The class started from choosing
materials and arranging them on a scroll base.
Then cut in a shape of design and paste with a
base material to make one sheet. After folding
both edges, put two strings to hold a post card
on the center of the scroll.

Shodo -- October 26, 2009

In spite of rainy and windy weather, a lady
with a two year and 4 month old daughter joined
today's lesson. Though both 朝霧（morning mist)and
夕焼（the color of the sunset）have many strokes,
ladies finished well.

Hikari School -- October 22, 2009

We had a fun Hikari School lesson today.
Four ladies enjoyed very interesting arrangement.
Everyone felt autumn arranging some fruit and root
vegetable on a piece of washi paper. Later we learned
how to make matcha tea using individual tea set.

Cooking -- October 5, 2009

Five ladies joined us for today's cooking. We made Western-style oden,
myoga(buds of ginger)onigiri, and sesame spinach salad. It was really
a lively cooking lesson with four little girls playing around.

Hikari School -- September 17, 2009

Three ladies met for Hikari School lesson today. We first made Asian knot straps.
It was a bit complicated to make chrysanthemum shape with a string.
Sencha tea ceremony was green iced tea. The tea utensils the teacher brought
such as tea pots, cups,and a pitcher had chrysanthemum pattern.

cooking -- September 7, 2009

A new member joined us for today's cooking. The menu was pork with
fresh vegetables, ume-jako fried rice, burdock side dish, corn soup with tofu.
We made mizuyokan for dessert. Very simple to cook, but very delicious!!

Two ladies completed the beginner's course of Ikebana
Flower arrangement today. They first took a test and was
presented the certificate of completion.
The certificate was made by Ikebana School head master.

Ikebana-- July 30, 2009

Having had several Ikebana lessons, the ladies arranged flowers without
any trouble. Today's flowers of nanten(sacred bamboo), teppoyuri(Easter lily), and kikyo(balloon flower)looked cool.

Hikari School -- July 27, 2009

Two ladies enjoyed Hikari School lesson, while many are out of town.
First they teared off washi paper into flower shapes and glued them
on mini uchiwa. Have a look at the photos of the lovely uchiwa fans.
Today's tea making was iced green tea. Fresh and delicious!

Shodo -- July 17, 2009

Four ladies attended today's shodo class
and wrote kanjis of summer objects on uchiwa.
The words were hanabi(fireworks), huku(fortune)
and hotaru(a firefly). Hotaru is a good example
that kanji is ideogram.

Ikebana -- July 16, 2009

Ladies arranged flowers of autumn in a deep
vase and in a masu, a wooden square box.
In spite of a heat of summer outside, blue
of gentian and balloon flower gave a cool
impression in a room. Arranging in a small
space of a masu was rather difficult.

Art Shodo -- July 13, 2009

We made stamps and printed using them on
a lovely fan shaped sheet of paper.
As school was over, a lady came with her
daughter who enjoyed this art craft very much.
It was pity because that was the last lesson for
the other lady. We will miss her very much.

Ikebana -- July 9, 2009

Two guests from Finland joined today's
lesson. It was an interesting experience
for them to arrange flowers taking time
whether or not to cut off leaves to keep
stem lines good.

Cooking -- July 3, 2009

We cooked several dishes today; fresh spring rolls, negijako tororoyaki,
togan cooked with prawns and grapefruit jelly for dessert.
The first two dishes were requested by one lady who had them at
an izakaya restaurant. They are not traditional. It is interesting
to try new dishes. Every dish was good!!

Hikari School -- June 22, 2009

Though some members are already on vacation, three ladies
enjoyed June lesson. We first made mini-bamboo bonsai.
Removing the plant from the container, we reduced the soil
around the roots. Then shaped the bottom part round with
hands and covered with the moist soil and finally with
green moss. Have a look at a photo of lovely pieces we made!

Shodo -- June 15, 2009

A word ladies practiced today is 紫陽花(hydrangea).
It just fits for this season. They finished on a
beautiful paper and backed it with fresh green hard
paper. It will be a good wall decoration.

Ikebana -- June 11, 2009

Ladies enjoyed ikebana today with green
branches of doodantsutsuji and two
different types of chrysanthemum.
During the lesson, topics flowed to names
of flowers they saw in town.

Cooking -- June 8, 2009

We had a fun cooking class as always. We cooked four dishes and one dessert ---Tsukune, Goya jumbled, Eggplant with minced pork and Zarusoba. Very healthy dishes for summer!