Hikari School -20th of March,2007

Today's workshop was handkerchief origami. Everyone made an origami kimono using handkerchief. The above picture shows lovely gifts of handkerchief origamimade by the ladies. The tea ceremony was sakura-cha (green tea leaves with cherry blossoms).After the lesson four ladies were presented the cirtificates of completion!

15th of March,2007

Have a look at these beautiful pieces of shodo done by five ladies! Every piece is lovely and different.

Shodo-5rh of March,2007

Two different ways of wrighting 桜　"sakura" on a lovely light pink small sheet of paper are quite attractive, aren't they?

cooking-2nd of March,2007

Today's menu was 'yose-nabe' and 'ichigo daifuku'.Four ladies challenged Japanese sweets called 'ichigo daifuku'. The difficult part was making 'mochi'which was so sticky, butthey made beautiful 'daifuku'. Of course, very delicious!

shodo-1st of March,2007

Again, beautiful pieces written by the ladies!

COOKING!

'Nabemono',one-pot dishes are hearty winter meals in Japan. They are easy, quick, and delicious. Today we enjoyed 'Yose-nabe'.Started with fish fillets, all the ingredients includingchicken meat, prawns, vegetables, tofu,etc. are simmered in deep ceramic pot upon the portable stove on the table. When cooked, eat with condiments and ponzu sauce. Delicious!!

graphic art workshop

Today ladies enjoyed making attractive boards using kimono materials and double-faced adhesive. The cloth was washed and neatly backed with thin paper by our sensei. Ladies chose different cloth and paterns to finish their own work. All are so nice. They will use this board like a photo or a postcard frame.

Cooking-9th of February,07

Today's main dish 'tonkatsu'is probably one of the most popular dishes among Japanese.The ladies in the cooking class also enjoyed tonkatsu as well as Japanese octopus and cucumber salad today. The soymilk jelly with strawberry sauce was also very new and delicious. Unbelievable to use tofu for dessert!

Shodo-8th of February,07

We had fun shodo class on Thursday. Five ladies enjoyed the peaceful time writing such kanji and hiragana as 'shizenbi', 'inu', 'heiwa', 'nihon', 'ume',etc. Have a look at the photo of their great masterpieces.

Shodo-30th of January.07

Three ladies and one new born baby of five weeks joined the Shodo class.It always turn out beautiful when they practice many times and then write on shikishi, a colouful paper, as finished work.

Graphic Art Shodo-25th of January,2007

Five ladies joined the second Graphic Art Shodo.Writing kanji in artistic style on paper of a fan shape and a round shape,drawing a plum branch on it, it was completed beautifully with plum flowers made by a rubber stamp.The teacher kindly came for the lesson,taking two hours from her house.She was explaining all in Japanese which was very good to the ladies as a chance to listen to natural Japanese. Of course she understands English well enough.
The third class will be on 15th of Februaly.
The teacher offers her lessons at a culture Center twice a month.Her voluntary spirit to offer the precious lessons to the ladies from abroad is so much appreciated!

Shodo Class-22nd of January,07

Three ladies joined and enjoyed the Shodo class. They wrote many words: Happy Celebration, left and right, women, happiness.A boy was playing with his toys and did not disturb us.
Next shodo class will be on 8th of February starting at 11:00AM.

cooking with another group

Though some members could not join us, we had fun cooking session. We made 'Ramen", Chinese cabbage salad, and fruit 'mitsumame' as the other group. This time we made simmered pork. The next session will be held on February 9th, Friday.

the first cooking class this year

Five members met and enjoyed the first session of cooking this year. The main dish was 'Ramen'which was originated in China and is now very popular in Japan, especially among men. So, we made Japanese-style 'Ramen'. We fried pork meat with ginger and long onion and made our own soup. Garnished with bean sprouts, finely-chopped green onions, boiled egg, and boiled green vegetable, the Ramen was ready. We also made Chinese cabbage salad and Fruit 'mitsumame'fordessert.

the first Hikari School this year

Four ladies attended Hikari School. The first part was Japanese incense ceremony called 'Kohdo'. Everyone burned incense wood chip in a cup-shaped incense censer following the instructions given by the teacher and appreciated the incense. After the workshop we enjoyed tasting 'obukucha', special tea at this time of the year. The teacher used green tea leaves blended with kelp, dry plum, brown rice, dry chestnuts, soy beans, black soybeans and Japanese pepper.

the first shodo lesson this year

The first shodo lesson this year was held with a new member from Germany. We enjoyed quiet time of an hour and a half concentrating on writing words 'kiboo'(hope), 'heiwa'(peace), 'tsuki'(moon), 'hatsuyume'(the first dream), etc.