Glass Blowing

Yi-haw! On Sunday, I tried my hand at a little glass blowin'. The whole "let's go make Matcha tea bowls" came about by a group of ladies hosting a water-themed Japanese tea ceremony. As part of the theme, people from the tea class decided to make the matcha vessels from glass. I was lucky enough to catch wind and participate. We started with the design, color scheme and then moved into the actual glass blowing process. There were two pros there the whole time guiding us and walking us through the process, so we all walked away unscathed. I have yet to see the finished product, as the matcha bowl had to sit in a cooler (?) for 24 hours. But here's to hopin'!

From Planting to Wedding

Not bad, not bad... we went from the rice fields of Komatsu to a wedding in Tokyo. Whew, we cleaned up well!
The bride (Maiko) and groom (Lucas) met in Vermont. Hamming it up with the lovely bride!!

Planting Rice

The beginning of May is the rice planting season throughout Ishikawa Prefecture. Masa's family has many rice fields in Komatsu. They were gracious enough to let me slog through the paddies and "help out. "
In the olden days, families and friends would gather, push a large steel "roller," imprinted with lines, through the mud, and plant rice all day. Many hands makes for quick work, but nowadays this little tractor makes for quick work with a lot less people.

Now, the tractor can't always get into the corners of the fields so people hand plant those sections. In the pic above, Masa's Dad is giving me a few pointers.
Yeah! I liked playing in the mud. Chuckles, I thought of you as I put this up!