Boston Flora

Tag: Tale of Genji

  • 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

  • Friday, November 20, 7:00 – 8:30 pm – Kodo: An Evening of Incense Appreciation


    KyotoGardensMr. Masataka Hata, President of the Shoyeido Incense company of Kyoto  will  present an evening devoted to the lore of traditional Japanese  incense appreciation.  Shoyeido began in Kyoto in 1705.   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 Shoyeido today offers customers a wide variety of high quality, unique, hand-blended incense.  Mr. Hata will be joined in this program by Hachiya Sohitsu, the young master of the Shino School of Incense Appreciation.  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-ceremony rooms.  A more perfect setting for experiencing incense as it was known to Prince Genji and Lady Murasaki does not exist in New England.  Part two will be a brief workshop in making Japanese incense sachets.

    $30 for the Public
    $15 for Japan Society Members
    For more information, log on to www.us-japan.org.

  • Friday, October 23, 6:30 pm – Kyoto: City of Gardens

    For more than 1200 years, the gardens of Kyoto have reflected the cultural characteristics of each successive era of Japanese history.  In this talk on Friday, October 23, beginning at 6:30 pm,  MARC PETER KEANE, landscape designer and historian of Japanese gardens, will discuss the cultural forces — social, religious, economic, artistic, and architectural – that have shaped the gardens of Kyoto from the time of the Tale of Genji (10th century) to the present.  1200 years ago, the Emperor of Japan settled his court in a newly-built city, Heian-kyô, now known as Kyôto. Gardens were built at the residences of the imperial courtiers, and have been built in that city ever since, their design changing over time as the ebb and flow of society replaced one culture with another. Marc Peter Keane, garden historian and specialist in Japanese gardens, will discuss those cultural changes — social, religious, economic, artistic, architectural — and how each new form of Kyoto garden reflects the cultural environment of its time. His talk will include: pond gardens at courtier residences in the Heian-period, medieval gardens of raked sand and stones, tea gardens, and courtyard gardens of urban merchant houses.  Marc Peter Keane lived in Kyoto for 18 years, designing gardens for private individuals, companies and temples, and continues that work now from his studio in Ithaca, New York. His books include Japanese Garden Design (an introduction to the culture and aesthetics of Japanese gardens), Sakuteiki (a translation of the Japan’s oldest gardening treatise), The Art of Setting Stones (eight essays on the meaning of gardens), and the soon-to-be-published, Japanese Tea Gardens.This talk is part of  the Kyoto-Boston 50th Anniversary celebration.  Please rsvp at www.us-japan.org.

    The Japan Society of Boston
    at Showa Boston Institute
    420 Pond St., Boston MA
    Free and open to the public

    http://www.mpkeane.com/sakuteikimd.jpg