wild wild east & the Year of the Tiger

The year has started since a while now and I’m still catching up. But soon I'll join you in the present.

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There are some beautiful rituals in Japan you usually do in the beginning of the year.

One of them is to participate in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. The other one is to go to a Shrine in the first three day of the New Year to pray & get an Omikuji (fortune telling paper slips). I went to different Shrines & Temples in Fuokoka (Kyushu) and the famous Ise Shrine (Mie prefecture).

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The traditional Japanese tea ceremony was an amazing slightly spiritual event. Yoshi a friend of mine invited me to come with him & his family. I think with out him I would have been lost in translation. You have to respect certain rules and follow different rituals. It takes several hours. First we had a very special and delicate lunch with sake. Then we went to a kind of waiting house where you can examine the different tools which have been used over decades in the ceremony. After one hour sitting in the traditional Japanese sitting position Seiza (正座, literally "proper sitting"), we moved on to the tea house. I only managed the Seiza position because of my previous sports I did long ago. It was still a bit painful to get back on my feet.

After a little waiting time we where in the middle of the ceremony. We had the thick green tea(濃茶 koicha). It’s a very strong thick tea made of green tea powder.
The tea was served with one special Mochi.

It was the strongest and best tea I ever had so far …

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The Ise Shrine in the Mie prefecture

It’s good to know about your future … it’s easy in Japan, just get your self an Omikuji.
Literally "sacred lottery".

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The Ise Shrine in the Mie prefecture is one of the most famous Shrines in Japan.

We, some of my Japanese friends, left Nagoya in the morning to be there at noon. Plans didn’t turn out as we expected … as so often in Japan ‘the traffic’ stopped in our tracks.

I expected that we would just go to the Shrine and wonder around and head back. But there is much more than just THE Shrine. The pedestrian rode leading through Uji, a community village which surrounds the Inner Shrine, was packed with people & lots of different shops and snack restaurants … we changed our purpose from visiting the Shrine to explore the Cockaigne (Schlaraffenland). We moved slowly brachiation from one deliciousness to the next! It took us a couple of hours until finally reach the breathtaking Grand Shrine (sorry no pictures cause it's a religious place).

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Fujisawa san, ???, Shoko san & Yamamoto san (Japanese way from right to the left)

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be aware of sharks in sheep's clothing ...

And always keep in mind ... keep on paddling!

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