Activities & Events – Japanese Traditional Arts Workshop
It was a very pleasant almost spring day and everybody was looking forward to meeting Ms. Akagi and experiencing Japanese traditional arts for their first time. Ms. Akagi’s house is a very traditional Japanese-style house with a very lovely garden.
First, we received a warm welcome and were sat down on the Japanese tatami mat. The workshop started with an explanation about the Shinto religion and we all prayed together, then Ms. Akagi played two traditional songs on the Japanese koto, which is like a harp. One was a very famous song about sakura cherry blossoms, which reminded us how quickly spring is approaching Tokyo this year, when we will be able to do hanami, or cherry-blossom viewing.
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- Sitting on Tatami Mat after Warm Welcome
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- Trying Japanese Calligraphy
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- Trying on Kimono
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- Group Photo
We were then taught how to write some Japanese characters using a brush and ink while some others were getting dressed into a kimono, traditional Japanese clothing. It was a very rare opportunity to try on a kimono and everyody was very excited. All of the girls looked beautiful! There was only one male student who joined this seminar, and he also got to try on a male kimono.
We went into the garden and the weather was more than nice – the plum blossoms had just started to bloom and was a great backdrop for a photograph session with us in our kimonos.
We were then treated to wagashi, Japanese sweets and a cup of maccha green tea. As a small surprise, Ms. Akagi’s nephew and his friend gave us a guitar performance. It was a such a great day!
- Marketa Fujita (OSS Student Worker)
