"Attend lessons / Fumi Naganuma"

Last month, at a lesson, the tea ceremony teacher
I was taught about various things related to the Gion Festival.


This was a shocking read for me as I knew absolutely nothing about the Gion Festival.

-There is a "maematsuri" (first festival) and an "atomatsuri" (last festival), and the types of floats change depending on the period.
- "Chimizu" (rice dumplings) are sold as talismans to ward off evil spirits at every Yamahoko float.
-Each chimaki has its own blessing associated with each Yamahoko float.

The pre-festival had already ended,
After the lesson, I got my first two kinds of rice dumplings at the festival.


One of them is a souvenir from Hashi Benkeiyama, which is said to bring good health to both body and mind, to take home to my parents' home in Kyoto.
The other one is a "Jomyo-san" rice dumpling, which is said to bring good luck in winning, for my nephew who is working hard at soccer.


After Melody, I found that it's best to hang it as high up as possible in the entranceway, so that's how I displayed it at my parents' house.


There was a cool rice dumpling called ``Benefit: Wisdom,'' so I'd like to get one for myself next year.
Once I discovered the existence of chimaki, I started noticing them all over town, and recently I've been walking around paying close attention to the eaves of people there.


And this month's practice.
It was a lesson in playing with fukusa, which we look forward to as summer approaches.


Make a cicada out of the cloth and place it on top of the water jar as a decoration.


Shop Manager Seno was on the verge of tears because he thought I was worse than last year.
"The important thing is the attitude. Shop Manager Seno can do it!" we encouraged each other as we practiced.

I learn a lot every time I have tea.

(Naganuma)