December Ikebana

The December meeting of Ikebana was held at the Kamakura Prince Hotel. The hotel is right on the water and talk about an amazing view. Unfortunately, the morning was rainy which did stop mid morning, but the clouds remained. Because on a clear day, you can see Mt.Fuji.

At the luncheon, there was a display of an American Christmas table setting and a Japanese New Year table setting. I only photographed the Japanese setting. We all know what Americans eat!

One place setting

In the center is a double decker Benton box!

Tea pot. A Japanese lady explained to me the three plates are for tea. A person takes three sips from each plate for luck.

The feature “entertainment” was a Chinese Mask changing show. It was performed by Ryu Ken, a Peking opera actor. She has been studying the Classical Chinese opera since age 11. She is a highly reputable and renowned performer worldwide. She and her husband established a performing art institute here in Japan dedicated to promoting and teaching traditional Chinese “drama” and mask changing. In her performance today, she changed her mask 17 times. A lucky number for 2017. The secret to “how” the mask changes is part of the cultural heritage. Here are a few pictures from her performance. Please notice the different masks!

At the end, she reveals her face.

Here is a short video of her performance.

After her performance, she changed out of her costume and spoke to us about Chinese Mask changing. She then performed a song from her opera.

I took a quick video of her speaking Japanese.

And then a video of her singing opera. Her voice was completely unexpected.

It was impressive to say the least. After her performance, we had the opportunity to create our own floral arrangement. We were given materials and no instructions.