Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival 2018

Seattle's 43rd Annual Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival took place April 20th through 22nd at Seattle Center.  The festival is always something to look forward to, filled with music and dance, demonstrations, workshops, vendors, and food.  

Tea Ceremony by Tanko Kai

Narration was provided by Aiko Fuji who introduced Tanko Kai tea instructor Naomi Takemura and shared a brief history of tea and the development of powdered tea, as well as explaining various elements of tea ceremony. 

Japanese tea ceremony is called Chado which means "way of tea" and Chanoyu which means "water for tea".  For usucha (thin/informal tea) each guest will receive their own bowl and may take as many sips as needed to empty the bowl.  For koicha (thick/formal tea) one bowl is shared among the guests so each will take just three sips.  While handling the hishaku (ladle), the host uses movements drawn from archery.  The open hand movement seen after filling the bowl with water indicates tea is in the bowl.

For this demonstration, the host (Teishu) was Atsuko Harmer with first guest (Shokyaku) Kaoru Green and second guest (Kyaku) Megumi Holcolm.  The scroll reads "flowers open all over".  The chawan (tea bowl) is Hagi ware, a style originating from Korean potters with earth tone or white glaze.

Okinawa Kenjin Kai

The afternoon performance featured high-energy drumming, sanshin music and song, traditional dance, and lion dance.

Fujima Ensemble

The days events concluded with a shamisen performance, a dance describing the boats on the Sumida River, and excerpts from Musume Dojoji.

Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival 2017

Seattle's 42nd Annual Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival took place April 21st through 23rd at Seattle Center. The festival features live music and dance performances, arts and crafts workshops, tea ceremony and martial arts demonstrations, and delicious food and drink to enjoy throughout each day. I attended the final day of the festival when most of the dance performances were scheduled.

Fujima Rankoh

We were fortunate to have two performances by special guest Fujima Rankoh, a renowned dancer with the Fujima School of traditional Japanese dance.  Seattle was one of the stops on his four month US tour which included the Nihon Buyo lecture and demonstration that I attended just a few days prior.
The morning performance was Yamagaeri (Returning from a Pilgrimage to Mt. Oyama), a kabuki dance where a young fireman describes his adventures during a pilgrimage to Mt. Oyama.

Kabuki Academy

Kabuki Academy perfomed traditional Japanese dance and shamisen music, including a traditional nagauta piece, Oimatsu, Kesenai Tsumi (Full Metal Alchemist end theme), History Maker (Yuri on Ice opening theme), and You Only Live Once (Yuri On Ice end theme).

Kabuki Academy Director, Mary Ohno introduced each performance.

Sakura, Sakura performed by Mirai, Yukiko, and Miya - This traditional song describes springtime and cherry blossoms, appropriate to the Cherry Blossom Festival theme.

Aoyagi performed by Hanaka - In this dance, a mature geisha wistfully recalls the young love they had to leave behind.

Warabe Jishi performed by Akina - A young maiden performing a lion dance is overtaken by the spirit of a lion.

Kabuki Academy's performance concluded with everyone taking the stage for a dance followed by the traditional Tejime, a ceremonial 3-3-3-1 hand-clapping where everyone is encouraged to join in to end the performance on a high note.

Tea Ceremony by Chanoyu Seattle

Narration for this tea ceremony demonstration was provided by Kayo Nakamoto. The host (Teishu) was Kyoko Matsuda, Omotesenke-ryu tea ceremony teacher with Chanoyu Seattle and the assistant (Hanto) was Mitsuko Tooyama. The main guest (Shokyaku) was Naomi Okubo with second and third guests (Kyaku) Hana and Sora Okubo.

The scroll reads "Wakei Seijaku" which translates to harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility.

Following the tea ceremony, audience members were invited to take on the role of guests and have matcha prepared for them.

If you would like an opportunity to see Omotesenke tea ceremony, demonstrations are held monthly at the Seattle Art Museum (call to verify which dates are Omotesenke and which are Urasenke) and at the Seattle Japanese Garden.

Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival 2016

Seattle's 41st Annual Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival took place April 22nd through 24th at Seattle Center.  The festival features live music and dance performances, arts and crafts workshops, tea ceremony and martial arts demonstrations, and delicious food and drink to enjoy throughout each day.  I attended the final day of the festival.

Tea Ceremony by Chanoyu Seattle

Kyoko Matsuda teaches Omotesenke-ryu tea ceremony with Chanoyu Seattle.  She provided narration for the Omotesenke tea ceremony demonstration, explaining the tea room layout, greetings and movements (temai), history of tea and tea ceremony in Japan, and other unique facts.  The host (Teishu) was Yukari Sasaki and the guest (Kyaku/Shokyaku) was Emiko Lin.  The scroll reads "wakei seijaku" which translates to harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility.

Omotesenke is one of the three largest schools of tea ceremony in Japan and is considered the most wabi (austere and Zen-like).  The silk cloth (fukusa) used by the teishu can have a variety of colors.  In Omotesenke, the women's fukusa will be orange and the men's fukusa will be deep purple.  

Chanoyu (tea ceremony) literally means "hot tea for water".  Tea leaves for matcha used in tea ceremony are generally harvested on the 88th day after the Lunar New Year (hachijyuhachiya), stored in a jar, then ground into matcha.  A full tea gathering (chaji) will include usucha (thin tea), koicha (thick tea), and a meal and is three to four hours long.  In the tea room, the guest can focus on the beauty of the experience through individual objects, the sound of water in the kettle and in the tea bowl, the smell of the tea, the texture of the implements, and the taste of the tea and sweets.  

Kabuki Academy

Kabuki Academy perfomed traditional and Kabuki-style dances as well as shamisen music which included the theme to My Neighbor Totoro and a Star Wars medley.  

Kawaii Mai-Ohgi performed by Miya

Fuji no Hana performed by Hanaka

Echigojishi performed by Charlie

Musume Dojoji performed by Akina

Fujima

The final performance of the festival was traditional dance and shamisen by Fujima.

Kabuki Academy At Aki Matsuri 2015

Aki Matsuri took place on September 12th and 13th in Bellevue, Washington. This two day festival spotlights Japanese culture and arts through performances, demonstrations, workshops, and more.

One of the highlights of Aki Matsuri was a performance of traditional Japanese dance and shamisen by Kabuki Academy.   Director Mary Ohno opened the Sunday afternoon performance with a warm greeting and introduction.  Miya and Mirai, two of Kabuki Academy's youngest members, followed with a performance of Hana Kurabe (Flower Competition).

Akina, Hanaka, and Umeka performed the beautiful Ume Nimo Haru (Plum Blossom in Spring) accompanied by live Naga-uta shamisen music.

Their dance was followed by a lively shamisen ensemble performance of Kokaji, a musical number from a famous Kabuki dance.  

Several of the shamisen musicians have achieved the professional title of Natori (accredited master) from Kine-Ie Kai Institute.

Akina and Mary Ohno followed the shamisen performance with Futari Harusame (Spring Rain Duet).  

This would be a good time to share some of the differences in male and female roles.  When the dancer's elbows and toes are turned out, stance is tall, and the kimono collar is pulled up to the back of the neck, this signifies a male role in the dance.  When elbows are tucked in, toes pointed slightly in, knees are slightly bent, and the kimono collar is pulled away from the back of the neck (more so for younger maiden roles), this signifies a female role in the dance.