Boston Flora

Tag: Kyoto

  • Friday, October 21 – Thursday, November 3 – Exploring Japan with Pacific Horticulture

    Experience an in-depth exploration of Japanese gardens, culture, and cuisine. Beginning in Tokyo, we venture north and west to areas off the normal Western tourist route where we can enjoy the beautiful countryside, see lovely gardens and experience exotic cuisine. Guests will also have the opportunity to experience Japanese-style accommodations and warm up in one of several onsen (hot springs) along the way. Optional extension to Kyoto, a UNESCO World Heritage city.

    Join Pacific Horticulture for this exploration of the must see highlights emphasizing the long history of horticultural tradition in Japan through a visit to some of the best gardens Japan has to offer while traveling through the landscape that has inspired garden designers for generations. We visit Tokyo, Hakone, Matsumoto, Takayama, Shirakawago, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Awaji, Takamatsu, Kurashiki, Okayama, Matsue, and Osaka.

    This tour will be escorted by Greg Graves of Old Goat Farm in Graham, WA. For complete information and availability, visit https://www.pacifichorticulture.org/tours/exploring-japan-with-pacific-horticulture/

  • Saturday, July 10, 7:00 pm – Japanese Gardens: A Kyoto Introduction with Gavin Campbell, Online

    Few cultures have gardened with a greater passion than the Japanese. Explore more with a local Kyoto expert, Gavin Campbell, and Context Travel, with an online introduction to these fascinating spaces. The event takes place July 10 at 7 and is $36.50. Register HERE

    The attention to garden detail in Japan is unlike any other culture. Their spellbinding tranquility and their bold use of color, shape, and rhythm, gardens are one of Japan’s greatest artistic triumphs. And nowhere is there a greater concentration of these masterworks than Kyoto. This tour provides a basic overview of these mesmerizing spaces of emerald green and ancient stone.

    We begin with the aesthetic principles that guide their construction and maintenance. These include “mono no aware” (the passing of all things), “wabi” (the beauty of austerity) “shakkei” (borrowed scenery), “miegakure” (hide and reveal) and “ma” (space or interval).

    With these fundamental building blocks as our guide, we then delve deep into a number of representative gardens, including the Zen rock garden of Ryōanji, the tea garden of Kōtō-in, the warrior garden at Kinkakuji, and a Kyoto merchant’s townhouse garden. Each of these jewels illuminates basic design principles, while also showing how the needs of different clients gave rise to different gardening styles.

    Gavin received a Ph.D. in history from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and came to Kyoto in 2001. He is a Ph.D. professor of history at Doshisha University. His teaching and research revolve around Japan’s cultural encounters with the West, particularly during the Edo, Meiji, Taisho and early Showa periods (1600-1940), and he has published on the history of foreign tourism and of Protestant missionaries in Japan. To further explore Japan’s global cultural encounters, he is currently writing a book on the history of Japanese menswear from the 1600s through the early 20th century. He is also an expert on Kyoto geisha culture and a frequent participant in geisha entertainment.

  • Sunday, March 28, 7:00 pm – The Art of Scent: Incense Sachet Workshop with Shoyeido, Online

    The Shoyeido Incense Company began in Kyoto in 1705, becoming the world’s premiere incense-making company and the preferred supplier of incense to most temples in Japan. Twelve generations later, Masataka Hata continues his family’s legacy and travels to the U.S. every year to spread the art of incense appreciation. 

    While the Japan Society of Boston in collaboration with the Japan America Society of Colorado and The Japan Society Canada are unable to hold a traditional in-person Kodo (incense appreciation) event this year, we hope you will join us online to hear Mr. Hata from Kyoto share the history and significance of incense in Japan. This year, we will end the event with a sachet-making workshop,* guided by Shoyeido, in lieu of the traditional incense appreciation ceremony.

             *If interested in the workshop, be sure to register with the sachet kit purchase by March 18 to receive the sachet kit in time for the event.  Limited to first 100 registrations.

    Free admission (no sachet kit pre-delivered), or $40 JSB members, $60 nonmembers. To register, and to view a video on what the sachet workshop will entail, visit https://www.japansocietyboston.org/event-4185168

  • Saturday, April 13 – Wednesday, April 24 (optional extension to Saturday, April 27) – Springtime in Japan: Exploring Gardens and Horticultural Traditions

    Join past Pacific Horticulture Society president Greg Graves for an in-depth exploration of Japanese gardens, culture and cuisine. Beginning in Tokyo, we venture north and west to areas off the normal Western tourist route where we can enjoy the beautiful countryside, see lovely gardens and experience exotic cuisine. Guests will have the opportunity to experience a delightful cruise on Matsushima Bay and see ancient temples and bonsai masterpieces. Gardens include one of the most beautiful gardens in Tokyo, the Rikugi-en, a strolling garden of the Edo period with spectacular views, Kairakuen, considered one of Japan’s finest landscape gardens and Motsuji, called the Pure Land Garden arranged so that the temple, garden, and pond are unified as one (pictured below, photo courtesy of www.gogotohoku.jp). Optional extension to Kyoto, a UNESCO World Heritage city. The trip will take place April 13 – 24, with Kyoto option running until April 27.

    For complete itinerary details and information about booking this trip click https://www.sterlinggardentours.com/japan2019.

    Image result for Motsuji spring

  • Saturday, September 30, 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm, or 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm – Incense Appreciation

    Mr. Masataka Hata, President of the Shoyeido Incense of Kyoto, will instruct participants in the art of incense appreciation. The Shoyeido Incense Company began in Kyoto in 1705, becoming the world’s premiere incense-making company and the preferred supplier of incense to most temples in Japan.

    In the early 18th century, Rokubei Moritsune Hata began incorporating methods he learned while working at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. He applied the court’s secret traditions of blending incense, previously enjoyed only by royalty, to commercial production. Twelve generations later, Masataka Hata continues this legacy, and today Shoyeido offers customers a wide variety of unique high quality incense.

    There will be two sessions (each seating limited to 12 people) on Saturday, September 3, at 1 and 3. The event takes place at the Cambridge Innovation Center, 11th floor, 1 Broadway, Cambridge. Japan Society members $15, $30 for nonmembers. Light refreshments will be served after the ceremony. Register at http://japansocietyboston.org.

  • Saturday, April 15 – Saturday, April 29, 2017 – Japan

    Travel with the Pacific Horticulture Society north and west of Tokyo on this in-depth 2017 tour of Japan to visit some of its most beautiful and less traveled countryside including World Heritage sites, designated National Treasures, a variety of temples large and small, historic shrines, and varied Japanese gardens. You’ll have the opportunity to stay in Japanese style accommodations, relax in an onsen (hot springs) if you like, and dine on the very best of Japanese cuisine.

    The summer palace complex, shrines, and mausoleum of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu who first united all of Japan is a beloved treasure for all Japanese who strive to visit it once in their lifetime. Situated the pine forests of Nikkan hour north of Tokyo, it features dozens of buildings, and includes the famous three monkey sculpture: hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil, and see-no evil. Along the way you’ll visit the village of Omiya, famous for its bonsai nurseries and museum. Your trip continues through Kairakun and then north to Sendai where one of Japan’s famous five-story pagodas is located at the Rinnoji Temple and garden.

    Another highlight is a visit to Matsushima Bay, with its 250 pine-covered islands, considered by many one of the top three scenic sites in Japan. You’ll tour the bay by boat where every view offers a spectacular view. Hiraizumi is home to Choson-ji, one of Japan’s most significant temple complexes, housing the golden Amida Hall, Japan’s first designated National Treasure. From there you visit Tono, the birthplace of some of Japan’s oldest and most fascinating folklore legends.

    Next you head south and then west. Yamadera boasts one of the most impressive displays of cherry blossoms along the river and through town (always subject to the yearly weather pattern). Its temple complex was founded over 1,000 years with temple halls spread throughout rich pine forests.

    You’ll visit Nigata famous for its sake, seafood, and hot springs—and several famous gardens. You’ll stay in Tsukioka Onsen, pictured below, one of the area’s most famous hot spring resorts renowned for its mineral enriched waters that promote “eternal youth, longevity, and beauty.”

    From Nigata you’ll enjoy a fast ride on the bullet train back to Tokyo for your return trip home or join us for a Kyoto extension. In Kyoto you’ll visit its most famous temples, pavilions, and palaces and experience cultural experiences such as the Japanese Tea Ceremony and a multi-course dinner with a private Geisha meeting and performance (subject to confirmation).

    Greg Graves, former PHS board member will escort this tour. Note: Our 2016 Japan tours have sold out quickly; if interested click http://www.sterlingtoursltd.com/Japan2017.html to read a detailed itinerary and discuss your interest with our Tour Company partner, Sterling Tours, Ltd.

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  • Wednesday, March 14, 7:00 pm – Gardens Around the World

    GARDEN CLUB OF NORFOLK presents Henry Callan, antique appraiser and lecturer, talking about and showing slides of GARDENS AROUND THE WORLD. This international tour will take us from the U.S.A. to the English gardens at Hampton Court, the Palace of Versailles in France, to the Courts of the Alhambra of Spain, to South Africa, to the Taj Mahal in India, to the botanical Gardens of old Ceylon (below), the summer gardens of the King of Siam, and finally to Japan to compare the dry landscape gardens of Buddhism to the lush moss gardens of Kyoto. Meeting is Wednesday, March 14th at 7:00 PM in the Norfolk Public Library, 139 Main Street in Norfolk.  Refreshments will be served, and prizes awarded. Suggested donation of $5 toward garden club civic projects may be paid at the door.

  • Thursday, November 10, 2:00 pm – The Gardens of Kyoto

    The November meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay will take place Thursday, November 10, at 2 pm, at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. Rita Bond will speak on The Gardens of Kyoto. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, and New Jersey, Rita W. Bond is a longtime resident of Simsbury, Connecticut. She holds a Master’s Degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in the teaching of English. Rita studied landscape design at the New York Botanical Garden, and has had her own business as a residential landscape designer. Rita resumed her studies in art, and particularly color, in order to refine her skill as a landscape designer. As she has progressed in her art studies, she has found a new love and a new voice for expressing her creativity and love of the New England landscape. Rita’s illustrated lecture will provide a short history of, and an examination of, the cultural and religious significance of the gardens of Japan, in particular those of Kyoto. She will discuss design principles and plants that can be used here as well. The program will be followed by tea. Members will receive written notice of this meeting in the mail. Non members who may wish to attend ($20 fee) may email info@bostonflora.com.

  • Sunday, June 26, 2:00 pm – Tea Ceremony Presentations at the Art Complex Museum

    The Art Complex Museum, 189 Alden Street, Duxbury, will be the site of a Tea Ceremony Presentation on Sunday, June 26, beginning at 2 pm, in the tea hut situated in a Japanese garden on the museum grounds.  Admission is free.  Future presentation dates will include July 31 and September 25.  The Art Complex Tea Hut, Shofuan, “Wind in the Pines Hut” was designed by Kojiro Tomita’s long time friend Gofu Sano and built in Kyoto, Japan in 1969.  It was reassembled in 1975 and dedicated to the Tomitas at an inaugural tea ceremony. More information may be found at www.artcomplex.org.

  • Saturday, November 20, 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm – Kodo: An Afternoon of Incense Appreciation

    Mr. Masataka Hata, President of the Shoyeido Incense company of Kyoto will return to present this popular Japan Society of Boston program at the Showa Boston Institute, 420 Pond Street in Boston on Saturday, November 20. This program is limited to 12 people per session. It sold out last year very quickly. Priority will be given to Japan Society members, seats for non-members will be made available if any remain after November 1st.

    The program will be in two parts: first, participants will engage in the classic incense game known as “kumiko” or “genji-ko,” a favorite pastime of courtiers, as depicted in The Tale of Genji. The incense game will take place in Showa Boston’s beautiful Sanzashi-an tea-house. A more perfect setting for experiencing incense as it was known to Prince Genji and Lady Murasaki does not exist in New England. The second part of each session will be a workshop where each participant will create their own fragrance to take home in an incense sachet.

    2 sessions at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. Each session includes both the incense game and the sachet workshop. Seating is limited to 12 people per session. Please register soon to reserve your seat. $15 per person (JSB members); $30 (non-members) www.thejapansocietyofboston.camp9.org/Default.aspx?pageId=321976&eventId=226303&EventViewMode=EventDetails