Tokyo Jazz Night :)

I always write about flowers here since the title is "My Flower Stories", but today I would like to write about one of other things I did recently ;)

The other day a friend of mine and I went to a jazz bar in Shibuya, Tokyo that I sometimes visit :)

Since I happened to find the place a year ago, it has been one of my favorite spots.

It has a really nice atmosphere.

I can share music with the players very closely and have a good dinner at a reasonable price.

I think it's very nice to have places where I can relax very much and get more energy with music.

I'm happy I could have a great night on the day.

;)

Ikebana Exhibition in Tokyo

I went to an exhibition of Ikebana (いけばな協会展)

held at Matsuzakaya in Ueno, Tokyo.

(Ikebana=Japanese flower arrangement style)

I update some pictures from the exhibition here :)

There will be another Ikebana exhibition soon

(the name of the exhibition: 日本いけばな芸術展).

It will be held from 1st to 6th of April

at Takashimaya in Nihonbashi (日本橋高島屋), Tokyo.

I think I will visit there to see Ikebana works more:)

A magazine

There are magazines which I read every month :) One of them is Hanajikan (花時間).

I've subscribed for the magazine, so they arrive

at home every month :) 

The other day I found the latest magazine in my mailbox.

There were many pictures of spring flowers in the magazine.

One of the featured articles in this magazine was about

Danish flower arrangement.

It wasn't the first time I thought so,

but I thought Nordic people have a good sense of design and art.

It's always nice to see expressions and ideas

from many countries :)

I love spring! I'm so looking forward to it :)

The picture of the white and pink colored rose was from

my garden last year:)

I'm also very looking forward to seeing my flowers again soon!

Kyoto in the early spring :)

I would like to upload a photo album of my Kyoto trip here :)

It was a really nice trip, I enjoyed it a lot!

I went to a nice restaurant (name: 半兵衛麩[はんべえふ],

web address: http://www.hanbey.co.jp/top.html) in Kyoto:)

The food there was sooooooo delicious...!

If you go to the restaurant, it's better to get

a reservation in advance:)

It has a very nice traditional atmosphere of Kyoto

and great services:)

I also visited some Japanese gardens:)

I think Kyoto is considered to be the most traditional

city in Japan.

When you visit there, you can see and enjoy traditional Japansese

cultures of Japan such as houses, shops, food, people

(includes Geisha and Geiko wearing beautiful Kimono). 

Trip to Kyoto soon!

The day after tomorrow, I will visit Kyoto and meet up with a friend

who was my neighbor when I was living in Osaka.
I will take a Shinkansen(rapid train)

to get to Kyoto from my nearest station.
It would be very nice to have Kyoto food

and see some Japanese style gardens!

I'll take pictures and up some of them after I come back;)

a phrase

I like to read books, and today when I was reading,
I found a phrase which struck my heart.
-----
"No matter how thoroughly your path in daily life
may seem to be obscured by worries, sufferings, or sorrows,
be confident that if you never give up having hopes,
 you will establish the state
in which joy expands boundlessly
from whithin you
as the days,
months, and
years go by"
-----
There are many kinds of moments like colors in a life,
and I often feel that if I can have only beautiful colors,
how wonderful it is.
But few moments later,
I also think a life can be beautiful and tough, getting many colors in a heart.
Just, in every moment of a life,
I want to determine to be confident and strong.


Some time ago,

I made this flower arrangement at home as one of ideas

for an exhibition held in this month.
Arranging flowers is a something very special I could find in my life.
I would like to do my best for the exhibition.

P.S.

I placed this work on the exhibition :)

-23th of Feb, 2009-

my place for working with flowers:)

In this morning, I picked some flowers and leaves in my garden,

and made a simple arrangement.

I love all of the flowers.

After I made it, I prepared to get going,

and gave this to one of my best friends today.

This is the place I do some flower works at home:)