Author Archives: Leah Sorkin
Final Reflections
Before I left for this trip, I was thinking mostly about the political position of traditional practitioners, practices, and arts in Japan. As my focus was on tea ceremony, I read most of Kristin Surak’s Making Tea, Making Japan: Cultural … Continue reading
Posted in kyoto-2018
Tagged noh, noh performance, tea ceremony, zazen, zen
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Kyoto Day 11: Tōji Market and Shūgakuin
Today I woke up and went to the Tōji flea market. Then, I went to Sushi no Musashi for kaiten one last time before we leave, before heading to Shugakuin Imperial Villa, for which I had reserved a tour spot … Continue reading
Kyoto Day 10: The Kōan, Tōfuku-ji, Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kusama
Today, we woke up drowsy (I won’t go into it) and headed back to Taikō-an to meet the Zen priest Kei-san for our second session of zazen and to discuss the kōan he gave us at our first meeting. After … Continue reading
Kyoto Day 9: Presentation Day!
Yesterday morning (Kyoto Day 9: Presentation Day), I woke up pretty late and went on a run on my favorite route up north on the Kamo River. After grabbing a quick konbini (convenience store) onigiri (rice ball) lunch with Sohum, … Continue reading
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Kyoto Day 8: Noh masks and robes
This morning we all hopped in cabs and met Professor Bethe and Sachi-san near the home of Ōtsuki Kōkun, the Noh mask maker. Climbing up to his second floor studio, we were greeted by about twenty masks, lying out on … Continue reading
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Tagged craftsmen, masks, noh, noh costumes, noh masks
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Kyoto Day 7: Tea Ceremony with Dairiku Amae
We set off this morning at 9:30 to meet Dairiku Amae, the tea master, at a shrine at Teramachi Marutamachi, in the heart of the city, to gather water for tea ceremony, and went through many steps (and buses) before … Continue reading
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Tagged Dairiku Amae, tea, tea ceremony
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Kyoto Day 6: Zen Lecture, Daitoku-ji, and Gakyu Miyamoto
Today was an extremely full day. We started out at 9 am with a lecture on Zen by Professor Catherine Ludvik at Terminal Kyoto. Then, after the lecture, we all headed together to Daitoku-ji (one of my favorite places in … Continue reading
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Tagged catherine ludvik, craftsmen, daitoku-ji, gakyu miyamoto, zen
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Kyoto Day 4: Takabayashi Family and Other Adventures
This morning we went to have a workshop with the Takabayashi family at their home. The workshop was led by a father-son pair, who started out by demonstrating a couple of shimai (simplified dances). One of the dances was from … Continue reading
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Tagged arashiyama, noh, onsen, osaka, takabayashi family, temple, zen
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Kyoto Day 3: Mostly Noh
Today we all went to watch 6 hours of Noh plays. For those unfamiliar with Noh, it is a traditional Japanese theater form that involves a very high level of artistry and has links to Shinto and Buddhism. As I … Continue reading
Kyoto Day 2: Noh Lecture and Exploring!
Today we attended a lecture by Monica Bethe on Noh theatre, and then had the afternoon free. The Noh lecture was very engaging, and I think that the things that we learned, particularly about how to watch the dance, instrumental … Continue reading
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Tagged noh, noh and noh performers, zen
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