Showing posts sorted by date for query kyoto. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query kyoto. Sort by relevance Show all posts

10/28/2009

oni manju

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"Devil's cakes" , Demon's cake (oni manjuu)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation


onimanjuu, oni manjuu 鬼饅頭 おにまんじゅう
"devil's cakes"
prepared with sweet potatoes (satsumaimo).
The bumps on the cake are said to resemble the horns of the devils.
A dish for Setsubun, when the devils are driven out of the premises to let good luck come in.
Setsubun (Japan) .. Bean Throwing Festival, February 3


CLICK for more photos


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a different kind of devils manjuu cake




filled with anko sweet bean paste

This is a local souvenir in rememberance of the
大江山鬼伝説 Demon Legend of Oeyama Mountain, in the Tanba disctrict of Kyoto. There is also a famous Noh-Play about the legend.

A fair maiden is kidnapped by a demon and carried away to Mount Oeyama. Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948 - 1021) has a famous sword, Yasutsuna, which he has blessed for this occasion and then goes for the demon ... the rest is happy history.


. Oeyama and Ama no Hashidate .


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Onimanjuu from Nagoya
The demon sits on the famous roof of Nagoya Castle.



全日本鬼まんじゅう普及協議会
Society for the promotion of ONI MANJU in Japan

CLICK for more photos

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way



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HAIKU and SENRYU




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Related words

***** Sweets which are not KIGO


WAGASHI ... Sweets SAIJIKI

. Onipedia - 鬼ペディア - Oni Demons - ABC-List - .

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10/07/2009

Neujahrsessen bei Hofe

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Neujahrsessen bei Hofe


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Während der Heian-Zeit etablierten sich viele Neujahrs-Bräuche aus China bei Hofe in Kyoto, die sich zum Teil bis heute erhalten haben. Das „Neujahrs-Festessen“ des Tennoo zusammen mit den Adeligen (ganjitsu no sechi-e 元日節会 ) fand am ersten Januar statt.
Die „große Einladung zum Neujahrs-Festessen“ (hare no gozen 晴の御膳), bei der auch Politiker zur Audienz geladen werden, kam nach der Meiji-Reformation hinzu. Diese Audienz findet an einem der drei Neujahrstage in der Phönixhalle des Kaiserpalastes in Tokyo statt.

Die meisten Speisen, die bei diesen Zeremonien angeboten werden, stammen aus dem alten chinesischen Hofritual. In China wurden bereits die „acht Konfekte“ (hasshuu no karagashi 八種の唐菓子) serviert. Sie bestanden aus Reis- oder Weizenmehl, das zu glückverheißenden Formen geknetet wurde. Sie waren gefüllt mit gehacktem Fleisch oder Gemüse und wurden vor dem Essen frittiert. Diese Snacks wurden auch „Früchte“ (kudamono 果物) genannt, da sie auch Nüsse und andere Früchte des Waldes enthielten.

Für Soßen wurden Essig, Reiswein, Salz und Sojasauce gemischt.


. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Bei den chinesischen Konfekten handelt es sich um folgende:


„Pflaumenzweige“ (baishi) aus Reismehl, in der Form von Pflaumenzweigen geknetet und frittiert.

„Pfirsichzweige (tooshi), genau so wie die Pflaumenzweige, nur in einer anderen Form.

„Skorpion-Snack“ (kakko), dabei wird Weizenmehl in die Form eines Skorpions geknetet und dann entweder frittiert oder gedünstet.

Für das Zimtgebäck (keishin) wird Weizenmehl oder Mehl aus Klebreis mit Zimt zusammengemischt und daraus Figuren geknetet, die die Form eines dreispitzigen Priesterhutes haben.

Einfache runde Bällchen (tsuishi) aus Mehl werden „wie runde Taro-Kartoffeln oder Eicheln“ gerollt und frittiert oder gekocht.

„Nabelkuchen“ (densei, tensei) aus Mehl sind in der Mitte eingedrückt, daher der Name. Sie werden frittiert.

Kräcker aus gemischtem Mehl (hitsura, hichira) von Weizen, Kolbenhirse und Hirse waren die Vorgänger der heute so beliebten Senbei-Reiskräcker.

„Freuden-Kräcker“ (kankidan) bestehen aus Weizenmehl gemischt mit dem Mehl von grünen Sojabohnen (edamame). Dazu werden Mohnsamen oder getrockneter Lotos gemischt. In Sesamöl ausgebacken sind sie besonders wohlschmeckend. Bis zum heutigen Tage werden sie bei einigen buddhistischen Ritualen verwendet.


Weiterhin werden in alten Quellen folgende Neujahrsspeisen genannt, insgesamt gibt es noch 14 verschiedene Sorten:

Teigtaschen (konton) mit Hackfleisch und Gemüse gefüllt werden mit etwas Brühe serviert.

Sakubei-Nudeln (sakubei) sind die älteste Form von Nudeln, die Vorgänger der heutigen Udon- und Soomen-Weizennudeln.

Hakutaku-Nudeln (hakutaku) sind ebenfalls einfache Weizennudeln, alle von der gleichen Länge. Heute sind sie als Hootoo-Nudeln eine Spezialität von Yamanashi.


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Eine weitere Spezialität zum Neujahrsfest sind die flachen Mochi aus Reismehl, Sojabohnenmehl, rotem Bohnenmus und einer Stange japanischer Schwarzwurzel (hagatame no mochi 歯固の餅 はがためのもち). Sie sind rautenförmig und sind mit ihrer rosaroten Farbe glückverheißend, daher werden sie auch auch „Kirschblüten-Mochi“ genannt.

Weil die japanische Schwarzwurzel so hart ist, wird die Zeremonie aus dem 6. Jahrhundert, bei der diese Küchlein serviert bereits serviert wurden, auch die „Zeremonie zum Stärken der Zähne“ (hagatame 歯がため) genannt, verbunden mit dem Wunsch um langes Leben.
Der 11. Teezeremonienmeister der Urasenke, Gengensai (1810-1877), erhielt die Erlaubnis, diese Mochi bei der ersten Teezeremonie des Jahres zu servieren und seitdem sind sie auch für normale Menschen zugänglich.

Auf den flachen Mochi werden bei dieser Zeremonie auch Stücke von Wildschweinfleisch, Rettich, Flaschenkürbis oder gepresste gesalzene Süßwasserlachse angeboten.

Rettich ist ein beliebtes Wintergemüse und wird seit der Heian-Zeit in der japanischen Poesie besungen. In dem Raum, wo die „Zeremonie zum Stärken der Zähne“ stattfindet, liegt auf dem runden Spiegel-Mochi (kagamimochi) meist noch ein Rettich, der nach den Festtagen ebenfalls in einer Suppe verspeist wird.



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ENGLISH is here

***** WASHOKU
Food of the New Year Season, O-Setchi Ryori 御節料理



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10/01/2009

OCTOBER NEWS

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OCOTBER ... juugatsu 十月


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.............. Ocotber 22, 2009


S&B Foods Inc.,
a major food and seasoning manufacturer in Japan, announced on August 10, 2009, the relaunch of their line of organic spices as fair trade products, and also started selling whole black pepper complete with a pepper mill.

CLICK for more photos

Among their full line of organic spices, 19 are certified fair trade products, including organic cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, and turmeric. The line has been marketed as being safe, reliable, and environment-friendly since September 2005. Their Whole Black Pepper-with-a mill product is the company's latest. All 20 seasonings come from Sri Lanka, and the fair trade certification mark is printed on each package along with descriptive text.
有機シリーズ
http://www.sbfoods.co.jp/eng/index.html



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.............. Ocotber 13, 2009

Michelin Guide Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe
Keihanshin (京阪神)


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Bichu, Kurashiki Anko Meguri Stamp Ralley
備中・倉敷あんこめぐり スタンプラリー
Reference

You walk along Kurashiki and the Bichu region to sample fine sweets with anko.
red bean paste (anko 餡子) süßes Bohnenmus


01 anko festival
Bitchu Area


CLICK HERE for all my photos of this event !


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.............. Ocotber 10, 2009

Kao withdraws 'healthy' food labeling
from Econa products

花王グループ
Kao Corporation said Thursday it has stopped labeling its Econa line of cooking oils and dressings as ''healthy'' and ''functional'' due to concerns that an ingredient could metabolize into a carcinogen, as the Consumer Affairs Agency said earlier in the day it will start procedures to revoke government authorization for the labeling.

On Thursday, Kao submitted an application to withdraw authorization for the labeling to a public health center and it was accepted. If the government had withdrawn authorization, Kao would have been the first company stripped of such authorization since the health food labeling scheme was established in 1991. But the government halted the process to revoke authorization following Kao’s voluntary action.

"We will establish the measures to our diacylglycerol oil processing that will reduce the level of glycidol fatty acid esters to similar levels found in most common cooking and salad oils."

Econa Cooking Oil / 花王エコナ / 花王「健康エコナ」

source : Kyodo News



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Related words


JANUARY ... ichigatsu 一月

FEBRUARY ... nigatsu 二月

MARCH ... sangatsu 三月

APRIL ... shigatsu 四月

MAY ... gogatsu 五月

JUNE ... rokugatsu 六月

JULY ... shichigatsu 七月

AUGUST ... hachigatsu 八月

SEPTEMBER ... kugatsu 九月


NOVEMBER ... juuichigatsu 十一月  

DECEMBER ... juunigatsu 十二月  



***** WASHOKU ... SEASONAL DISHES SAIJIKI


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9/05/2009

Shishigatani pumpkin

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Shishigatani pumpkin (Shishigatani kabocha)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All Autumn
***** Category: Plant


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Explanation

Shishigatani, the Shishi Valley (Shishigatani 鹿ケ谷) in the Higashiyama area in the North of Kyoto.
Lit. "deer path valley”
Once a priest got lost in the large forest and was rescued by a deer that showed him the way back to his temple.

Shishigatani kabocha 鹿ヶ谷南瓜(カボチャ)pumpkins from Shishigatani
鹿ヶ谷かぼちゃ/ 「鹿ケ谷カボチャ

Curcurbita moschata, Toonas Makino

Hyootan Nankin, Hyoutan-nankin
Shishigatani nankin.
Hyootan 瓢箪 is a gourd.

Kabocha is called OKABO オカボ in Kyoto dialect.

Shishigatani pumpkin, green
PHOTO : http://www.city.kyoto.jp/koho/eng/preview/53.html


This pumpkin is grown in the Sakyo area.
About 200 years ago, two farmers, Shohei and Matabei 庄兵衛 ,又兵衛, got some seeds from Tohoku from one Tamaya Tooshiroo 玉屋藤四郎, who visited Tsugaru, from a normal kikuza kabocha 菊座かぼちゃ pumpkin and planted it in the valley village of their home valley Shishigatani. For some reason, it formed into the gourd-shape it is now. With the advent of modern vegetables, it is now not grown in the area any more. Some farmers for traditional vegetables in Kyoto still grow it around Kyoto, mostly in Ayabe 綾部.
CLICK for more photos

When it grows older, the color changes from green to orange-brown. The outside is full of bumps.

Shishigatani Pumpkin Kyoto


It is also used as a decoration, because of its shape and many painters use it as a model. Some say it is a medicine to prevent polio in mid-summer. It contains a lot of linolen acid.
If you cut it in half, you can use both the indents to fill with two different kinds of gratin and use the whole as a pot for your food.

It tasts not so sweet and has the texture of a sweet potato.


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Shishigatani Kabocha Kuyoo 鹿ヶ谷かぼちゃ供養

Memorial ritual for the pumpkin

anrakuji Temple

At the temple Anraku-Ji 安楽寺 there is a "memorial service" for the Shishigatani Pumpkin, which is cooked there and then eaten by the visitors to stay healthy for the rest of the Year. (July 25). This ritual began about 200 years ago, when the priest Ekizui Shonin 真空益随(えきずい)上人 heared that this pumpkin will help to prevent palsy and strenghten the health of the poor.

The temple is most beautiful in autumn with many red leaves.

. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Temple Anrakuji
京都市左京区鹿ケ谷御所ノ段町21



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Plate from the kiln 松斎窯作, Kyoto
Kiyomizu Pottery 清水焼

Shishigatani plate

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Now we make a time slip in the valley,
to an old story told forever in a Noh performance.


quote
The Shishigatani Incident (鹿ケ谷事件, Shishigatani jiken) of June 1177 was a failed uprising against the rule of regent Taira no Kiyomori 平清盛 in Japan. The conspiracy was discovered, and its perpetrators arrested and punished before any part of their plan was put into action.

The incident is also known in Japanese as Shishigatani no Inbō (鹿ケ谷の陰謀), the Shishigatani Conspiracy or Plot. The name comes from the location where the conspirators met, a mountain villa belonging to Jōken Hōin, in the Shishi Valley (Shishigatani) in the Higashiyama area of Kyoto.

This is the most famous of a number of conspiracies and uprisings against Kiyomori. He rose quickly to power in the 1160s and dominated rather than guided the Imperial Court, taking advantage of his position to install members of his own family into high court positions, and marrying them into the Imperial family. In a number of ways, and on a number of occasions, he offended and opposed the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa and the Fujiwara family of court nobles and regents.

Thus, Fujiwara no Narichika, his son Fujiwara no Naritsune, Saikō (religious name of Fujiwara no Moromitsu), Taira no Yasuyori (Hei-Hogan, or Taira police lieutenant), Tada no Kurando Yukitsuna (a Genji from Settsu province), and the monk Shunkan 俊寛 gathered, along with others, in a small country villa in Shishigatani, to conspire against Kiyomori and the Taira clan as a whole.

Tada Yukitsuna, however, was in fact a spy for Kiyomori, and reported the conspiracy to his lord. Saikō, a monk, was tortured and then executed, angering monastic groups already opposed to his considerable secular authority. Shunkan, Yasuyori, and Naritsune were exiled to a remote island south of Kyūshū called "Kikai Island", which has been identified with at least three different islands. Kiyomori then rebuked Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who had been aware of the plot, seized a number of mansions belonging to the Fujiwara, and dismissed a number of officials from office, including Regent Fujiwara no Motofusa. He then filled the vacated Court positions with members of his own family.

The events, and their consequences, are related in the classical epic Heike monogatari, and in a number of derivative works such as the Noh play Shunkan and the jōruri (puppet theater) production Heike Nyogo-ga-Shima which concern themselves with the exiles on Kikai-ga-shima.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Shishigatani Daruma Kabocha
だるまかぼちゃ


source : boumama735


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way



Daruma Pumpkins かぼちゃ達磨 Kabocha Daruma


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HAIKU and SENRYU


灰撒いてある鹿ヶ谷南瓜かな
hai maite aru Shishigatani nankin kana

ashes sprinkled
around the pumpkins from
Shishigatani


Nakajima Yooka 中島陽華


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鹿ヶ谷のよしある荘の初句会
Shishigatani no yoshi aru soo no hatsu kukai

in a fine villa
in the Shishigatani valley -
first haiku meeting of the year


Oohashi Etsu-ooshi 大橋越央子


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he looks just
like my dear friend Daruma -
Shishigatani pumpkin


Gabi Greve, September 2009



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Related words

***** MORE
Traditional vegetables of Kyoto 京野菜 Kyoo yasai



***** Kabocha 南瓜 (かぼちゃ) pumpkin, squash


***** . WASHOKU
Vegetable SAIJIKI


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8/26/2009

Hooroku Jizo Mibu

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- 壬生寺 Mibu-Dera - see below -

Hooroku Jizo ほうろく地蔵
with an earthen pot on his head
焙烙地蔵


First let us look at the hooroku pot.

CLICK for more photos

hooroku 焙烙 / 炮烙 / ホーロク / ほうろく is a special earthen pot.
Sometimes also called "hooraku, horaku".
It is used to roast tea leaves, beans, sesame seeds and other grains and even salt.
The origin of this word seems to be the word for the death penalty on the stake 炮烙. Grains are roasted slowly and the pan is moved constantly. This reminds the Japanese of the slow dance of Shizuka Gozen, which is called Hoorakumai 法楽舞(ほうらくまい).
In Kyoto, the pan is called irigora いりごら(炒瓦), in Chiba (Shimofusa) irigara いりがら.
irinabe 炒り鍋(なべ)roasting pan, is another word for this earthen pan.

Since it breaks easily there is an old proverb
A thousend hooro pans but only one hammer.
焙烙千に槌(つち)一つ
you can distroy 1000 pots easily with one hammer.


hooraku 宝楽 is a special flat pot to cook festival food like tai sea bream and lobster.

hooroku 法烙 are flat plates used in temples.

roku ロク(慣)means to warm something (food or your hands for example) over the fire.

WASHOKU : hooroku dishes of various regions



CLICK for more photos
In a kyogen humorous story called Hooraku wari 炮烙割り, it is pronounced hooraku. See below for more.



hooroku 法烙 are flat plates used in temples.

During the ancestor festival O-Bon in August temples provide hooroku that you can place on the graves and make a little fire in them to welcome the ancestors.


kawarake-nage かはらけなげ throwing dishes
at Mount Atago, Atago Shrine, Kyoto. かわらけ投げ
. The Atago shrines of Japan .


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Thanks to Mark, who got me started on this subject!

Hōroku Jizō ほうろく地蔵

Devotees offer earthenware plates to images of this Jizō when they suffer from headaches or other head ailments. They write their prayers on the earthenware, and present the plates to Jizō, or place it atop the statue's head.
Hōroku Jizō
Mark Schumacher and the Jizo Pages


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at Temple Dai-en-ji , Daienji 大円寺
東京都文京区, Tokyo, Bunkyo

CLICK for original LINK
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

This temple reminds us of the love story of Yaoya O-Shichi 八百屋お七 and the great fire of 1682 in Edo. She was later sentenced to death for causing this great fire.
To appease her soul, this Jizo statue was errected. Hot earthen plates (hooroo) were placed on the head of Jizo, to lighten the heat of hell fires for O-Shichi. The statue was offered by one Watanabe Kyuubei 渡辺九兵衛 in 1719.

Later this Jizo came to be healing headaches, eye and ear and nose diseases and other diseases of the head too.


source : c-kitamura.cocolog-nifty.com


click for original LINK
Hooroku plates with wishes


Daruma Museum
O-Shichi Kannon お七観音

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Saitama, Kurihashi 栗橋
焙烙地蔵 (ほうろくじぞう)


This statue is at a site of executions by burning during the Edo period, for people who tried to get out of Edo without permission. This Jizo statue is to appease the souls.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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at a site of a former shrine
上知我麻神社

near Tenmacho in Tokyo 伝馬町


この石地蔵は、もと三河国重原村(現在知立市)にあったが、野原の中に倒れ、捨石のようになっていた。ところが、三河より焙烙(ほうろく)を売りに尾張へ来るものが、荷物の片方の重しとしてこの石仏を運んできて、ここで焙烙を売りつくした後、石仏を海辺のあし原に捨てて帰った。地元の人がこの石仏を発見し、安置しようとしたが、動かないので怪しんでその下を掘ってみると、土中にこの仏の台座と思われる角石が深く埋もれていたので、皆が不思議なことだと思い、その台石を掘り出し、この石仏を置いたのが、すなわちこの地蔵である。・・・
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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kigo for late summer




hooroku plates for moxibustion ほうろく灸
hooroku kyuu

at the temple Myosho-ji (Myooshooji 妙昌寺) in Yamanashi prefecture
People place hooroku plates with burning moxibustion weeds on ailing parts of their body, mostly head and shoulders.
CLICK for more photos

They are said to be best on the hottest days in summer, especially doyoo 土用.
. . . CLICK here for more Photos !


moxabustion on the doyoo day
doyoo kyuu, doyookyuu 土用灸 (どようきゅう)
doyoo mogusa 土用艾(どようもぐさ)

. Moxibustion and Kigo


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hooraku wari 炮烙割り smashing pots

This Mibu Kyogen 壬生狂言 piece is performed every year. They are Buddhist morality plays performed at Mibu-dera Temple three times annually, just as they were in Kyoto's early medieval period.

source : www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp

Characters:
Plate Merchant
Drum Merchant
Mokudai ( Official)

Pilgrims coming to Mibu-dera Temple to view the Spring Equinox plays purchase bisque plates which are presented to the temple as votive offerings. During this kyogen these platters are broken thereby ridding the believers of evil and bringing them good luck.

A new marketplace opens and an official puts up a sigh reading, "The first to open a stall is exempt from taxation." Before dawn a leather drum seller sees the sign and sets up shop. While waiting for his first customer he tires and naps.
A plate merchant sees the sign and while she is setting up, she sees the drum merchant asleep. Thinking to gain the tax break she switches goods with the drum merchant. When the drum merchant awakens and notices the ruse, he starts fighting with the plate salesman. The official returns and declares that the winner of a talent competition will be considered the first to arrive.
The plate seller wins and sets up his shop. The drum seller returns and with dramatic flare destroys the plates, pushing the many stacks of fragile clay disks off the front of the stage, where they fall many feet the ground with a great crash. Now, the official gives the tax break to the drum seller.

This is THE Mibu kyogen which everyone interested in it knows about, because of its spectacular action, the crashing of hundreds of bisque fired plates. And thus a lot evil karma is destroyed, even for the visitors.
source : www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp



kigo for spring

Mibu Nenbutsu 壬生念仏
Invoction of Amida at Mibu Temple

Amida Prayer (Namu Amida Butsu)

Mibu Kyoogen 壬生狂言(みぶきょうげん)、
Mibusai 壬生祭(みぶさい)temple Mibudera festival
Mibu odori 壬生踊(みぶおどり)Mibu dance
Mibu no kane 壬生の鉦(みぶのかね)Prayer gongs at Mibu
Mibu no men 壬生の面(みぶのめん)masks of Mibudera temple

. SAIJIKI : Festivals and Ceremonies  


. WKD : Kyogen, kyoogen 狂言 and Haiku .  

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Mibudera 壬生寺 Mibu-Dera


31 Mibunaginomiyacho, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto

According to tradition Mibu-dera Temple was established by the order of Emperor SHOMU (r. 724-749) for the Chinese monk known in Japan as GANJIN (JIANZHEN in Chinese; 688-763). Monk GANJIN introduced the Ritsu Sect of Buddhism from China into Japan. He is most famous for persisting in his attempts to reach Japan, despite many disastrous failures by ship, finally making it when he was already 66 years old and blind. The most famous temple of the Ritsu Sect is Toshodaiji in Nara, founded by GANJIN.

The actual founder of Mibu-dera Temple was KAIKEN, a monk of another temple in Mibu district, who erected a chapel for the Bodhisattva Jizo at the site of GANJIN'S former residence in 991. This chapel, just east of the present location, was completed in 1005. The enshrined statue was carved by JOCHO (?-1057), the best sculptor of Buddhist images in Kyoto during the Heian Period. The only surviving work of JOCHO is housed in Byodo'in Temple in Uji.



In 1077 the Emperor SHIRAKAWA (r.1073-87) awarded Mibu-dera Temple the status of Chokuganji (a temple where prayers were offered for the well-being of the Imperial Family and the tranquility of the country).

At the beginning of the Kamakura Period (1185 - 1392), TAIRA no MUNEHIRA , reestablished Mibu-dera Temple at its present location after it and JOCHO's Jizo were destroyed by fire in 1257.

DOGYO, also known as Engaku-juman Shonin, collected funds to rebuild Mibu-dera Temple. DOGYO sponsored the yuzu-dainenbutsu-e ceremonial gatherings at Mibu-dera Temple, as well as at Hokongo'in and Seiryo-ji Temples. At these meetings, worshipers would chant the name of the Amida Buddha in a loud voice. Mibu-dera Kyogen Pantomime evolved from DOGYO's yuzu-dainenbutsu-e ceremonial gatherings.

By the Muromachi period (1338-1573) the Jizo, known as one of the Roku (six) Jizo was an object of worship and drew many followers. By the Edo Period (1615-1865) Mibu-dera Temple was known as the "Temple of Plays" and can be found in guide books of the period, making it popular all over Japan.

The entire temple was again destroyed by fire in 1788. When rebuilt, the Main Hall faced east as it does today and the Kyogen-do (stage) was built as a separate structure just north of the main hall. The next restoration was in 1825. Fire struck again in 1962 burning down the Main Hall. It was rebuilt in 1967 with contributions from devotees. The present Jizo (Important Cultural Property) came from Toshodaiji Temple.

The Crest of Mibu-dera Temple is the cherry flower.

Masks in the temple treasury:


Sumiyoshi and Sanno, O-Tafuku and other female masks, Benkei, Hosho and some fools.

- - - - - HP of the temple
- source : www.mibudera.com/eng-


Figures and masks from papermachee are sold as souvenirs.




CLICK for more masks !

The dancers pronounce the words only in their mouth
(詞(ことば)のない口中念仏) - no sound with this pantomime dance.

On the left is tsuchigumo 土蜘蛛, the Ground Spider
. Tsuchigumo zooshi 土蜘蛛草紙 tale of the ground spider .


- further reference -

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source : blogs.yahoo.co.jp/yunitake2000

- quote -
mibu kouhai 壬生光背 halo of the Mibu type
A type of halo kouhai 光背 found on Buddhist images.
A square backdrop is placed behind the body of the figure, and above this a round head halo *zukou 頭光. The border of the zukou is decorated with Chinese style plant motifs *karakusamon 唐草 in openwork *sukashibori 透彫. Five groups of three fine metal spokes emerge from the centre of the zukou.
The term mibu kouhai derives from the halo on the Jizou Bosatsuzou 地蔵菩薩像 (10-11c) in Mibudera 壬生寺, Kyoto, which was destroyed by fire in 1962. The best surviving example can be seen on the Miroku Bosatsuzou 弥勒菩薩像 (1208) in Koufukuji Hokuendou 興福寺北円堂, Nara.

- source : JAANUS -



. karakusa 唐草 / からくさ Karakusa art motives .
karakusa moyoo 唐草模様 Karakusa pattern. Karakusa arabesque
Chinesischen Arabesken und Rankenornamente

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


kawarake 土器 clay dishes
for throwing away after use



土器に浸みゆく神酒や初詣
kawarake ni shimiyuku miki ya hatsumoode

ritual sake
soaks into the clay dish -
first shrine visit


Takahama Toshio 高浜年尾



. Kawarake throwing at Mount Atago .


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HAIKU and SENRYU


古寺やほうろく捨つる芹の中
furudera ya hooroku sutsuru seri no naka

this old temple -
horoku dished are thrown out
into the dropwort fields


. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .
at Mibu Temple 壬生寺


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Related words

***** WASHOKU : General Information

***** WASHOKU ... Tableware and Tools

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8/01/2009

Tenzo, the Zen Cook

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Tenzo, the Zen Cook

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation


CLICK for more photos

Tenzo is the name for the cook in the kitchen of a Zen temple in Japan.
How he should conduct his work has been laid down by Dogen Zenji 道元(Doogen どうげん) in the following.

tenzoo 典座 the Zen cook


absorbing wisdom -
I do the dishes
with a sponge

Gabi Greve, February 2014




. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Tenzo kyokun 典座教訓: Instructions for the Tenzo
by Eihei Dogen 道元禅師

Translated by Yasuda Joshu roshi
and Anzan Hoshin sensei
(published in Cooking Zen, Great Matter Publications, 1996)

The text was copied from the
White Wind Zen Community Website at

http://www.wwzc.org


From ancient times communities of the practice of the Way of Awake Awareness have had six office holders who, as disciples of the Buddha, guide the activities of Awakening the community. Amongst these, the tenzo bears the responsibility of caring for the community's meals. The Zen Monastic Standards states,
"The tenzo functions as the one who makes offerings with reverence to the monks."

Since ancient times this office has been held by realized monks who have the mind of the Way or by senior disciples who have roused the Way-seeking mind. This work requires exerting the Way. Those entrusted with this work but who lack the Way-seeking mind will only cause and endure hardship despite all their efforts. The Zen Monastic Standards states,
"Putting the mind of the Way to work, serve carefully varied meals appropriate to each occasion and thus offer everyone to practice without hindrance."

In times past such great masters as Guishan Lingyu, Dongshan Shouchu, and others have served in this post. Although this is a matter of preparing and serving meals, the tenzo is not just "the cook."

When I was in Song China, during spare moments I enquired of many elder monks who had served in the various offices about their experience. Their words to me were from the bone and marrow of the Awakened Ancestors who, having attained the Way, have passed it through the ages. We should carefully study the Zen Monastic Standards to understand the responsibility of the tenzo and also carefully consider the words of these senior monks.


The cycle of one day and night begins following the noon meal. At this time the tenzo should go to the administrator and assistant administrator and procure the rice, vegetables, and other ingredients for the next day's morning and noon meals. Having received these things, you must care for them as you would the pupils of your own eyes. Thus Zen master Baoning Renyong said, "Care for the monastery's materials as if they were your eyes."
The tenzo handles all food with respect, as if it were for the emperor; both cooked and uncooked food should be cared for in this way.

Following this all of the officers gather in the kitchen building in order to carefully consider the next days meals with regard to flavourings, vegetables to be used, and the kind of rice-gruel. The Zen Monastic Standards states, "In deciding the morning and noon meals, the amount of food and number of dishes, the tenzo should consult the other officers. The six officers are the administrator, assistant administrator, treasurer, disciplinarian, tenzo, and head caretaker. After the menu is decided post it on boards by the abbot's residence and the study hall." Following this the morning gruel may be prepared.


Do not just leave washing the rice or preparing the vegetables to others but use your own hands, your own eyes, your own sincerity. Do not fragment your attention but see what each moment calls for; if you take care of just one thing then you will be careless of the other. Do not miss the opportunity of offering even a single drop into the ocean of merit or a grain atop the mountain of the roots of beneficial activity.

The Zen Monastic Standards states,
"If the six flavours are not in harmony and three virtues are lacking, then the tenzo is not truly serving the community."

Be careful of sand when you wash the rice, be careful of the rice when you throw out the sand. Take continuous care and the three virtues will be naturally complete and the six flavours harmonious.


Xuefeng once practiced as tenzo under Zen master Dongshan. Once when he was washing rice, Dongshan said, "Do you wash the sand away from the rice, or the rice away from the sand?"
Xuefeng said, "I wash them both away together?"
Dongshan said, "Then what will the community eat?"
Xuefeng overturned the washing bowl.
Dongshan said, "You should go and study with someone else. Soon."


Senior students, from ancient times, always practiced with the mind which finds the Way and so how can we of later generations not do the same? Those of old tell us,
"For the tenzo, the mind which finds the Way actualizes itself through working with rolled up sleeves."

You yourself should examine the rice and sand so that rice is not thrown out with sand. The Zen Monastic Standards states,
"In preparing the food, the tenzo is responsible for examining it to ensure that it is clean."
Do not waste grains of rice when draining off the rinsing water. In olden times a cloth bag was used as a filter when draining the rinse water. When the rice is placed in the iron cooking pot, take care of it so that rats do not fall into it or idlers just hang around poking at it.

After cooking the vegetables for the morning meal and before preparing rice and soup for the noon meal bring together the rice pots and other utensils and make sure that everything is well-ordered and clean. Put whatever goes to a high place in a high place and whatever goes to a low place in a low place so that, high and low, everything settles in the place appropriate for it. Chopsticks for vegetables, ladles, and all other tools should be chosen with great care, cleaned thoroughly, and placed well.

After this, begin work on the coming day's meals. Remove any weevils, lentils, husks, sand, and pebbles carefully. While you are selecting the rice and vegetables, the tenzo's assistants should chant the sutras to the shining being of the hearth. When preparing the vegetables or ingredients for the soup which have been received from the office do not disparage the quantity or quality but instead handle everything with great care. Do not despair or complain about the quantity of the materials. Throughout the day and night, practice the coming and going of things as arising in the mind, the mind turning and displaying itself as things.

Put together the ingredients for the morning meal before midnight and begin cooking after midnight. After the morning meal, clean the rice cooking pots and soup pots for the noon meal. The tenzo should always be present at the sink when the rice is being soaked and the water measured. Watching with clear eyes, ensure that not a single grain is wasted. Washing it well, place it in the pots, make a fire, and boil it. An old teacher said,
"Regard the cooking pot as your own head, the water your own life-blood."
Place the cooked rice in bamboo baskets in summer and wooden serving buckets in winter and set these out on trays. While the rice is boiling, cook the soup and vegetables.

The tenzo supervises this personally. This is true whether the tenzo works alone or has assistants to tend the fire or prepare the utensils. Recently, Zen monasteries have developed positions such as rice-cook and soup-cook who work under the tenzo. The tenzo is always responsible for whatever is done. In olden times the tenzo did everything without any assistance.


In preparing food never view it from the perspective of usual mind or on the basis of feeling-tones. Taking up a blade of grass erect magnificent monasteries, turn the Wheel of Reality within a grain of dust. If you only have wild grasses with which to make a broth, do not disdain them. If you have ingredients for a creamy soup do not be delighted. Where there is no attachment, there can be no aversion. Do not be careless with poor ingredients and do not depend on fine ingredients to do your work for you but work with everything with the same sincerity. If you do not do so then it is like changing your behaviour according to the status of the person you meet; this is not how a student of the Way is.

Strengthen your resolve and work whole-heartedly to surpass the monks of old and be even more thorough than those who have come before you. Do this by trying to make as fine a soup for a few cents as the ancients could make a coarse broth for the same amount.


The difficulty is that present and the past are separated by a gulf as great as between sky and earth and no one now can be compared to those of ancient times. However, through complete practice of seeing the nature of things you will be able to find a way. If this isn't clear to you it is because your thoughts speed about like a wild horse and feeling-tones careen about like a monkey in the trees. Let the monkey and horse step back and be seen clearly and the gap is closed naturally. In this way, turn things while being turned by them. Clarify and harmonize your life without losing the single Eye which sees the context or the two eyes which recognize the details.

Taking up a vegetable leaf manifests the Buddha's sixteen-foot golden body;
take up the sixteen-foot golden body and display it as a vegetable leaf.

This is the power of functioning freely as the awakening activity which benefits all beings.


Having prepared the food, put everything where it belongs. Do not miss any detail. When the drum sounds or the bells are struck, follow the assembly for morning zazen and in the evening go to the master's quarters to receive teachings. When you return to the kitchen, count the number of monks present in the Monks' Hall; try closing your eyes. Don't forget about the senior monks and retired elders in their own quarters or those who are sick. Take into account any new arrivals in the entry hall or anyone who is on leave. Don't forget anyone. If you have any questions consult the officers, the heads of the various halls, or the head monk.

When this is done, calculate just how much food to prepare: for each grain of rice needed, supply one grain. One portion can be divided into two halves, or into thirds or fourths. If two people tend to each want a half-serving, then count this as the quantity for a single full serving. You must know the difference that adding or subtracting one serving would make to the whole.


If the assembly eats one grain of rice from Luling, the tenzo is the monk Guishan. In serving a grain of that rice, the tenzo sees the assembly become the ox. The ox swallows Guishan. Guishan herds the ox.


Are your measurements right or are they off? Have those you consulted been correct in their counting? Review this as best as you can and then direct the kitchen accordingly. This practice of effort after effort, day after day, should not be forgotten.

When a patron visits the monastery and makes a donation for the noon meal, discuss this with the other officers. This is the tradition of Zen monasteries. Other offerings to be distributed should also be discussed with the other officers. In this way, the responsibilities of others are not disrupted nor your own neglected.

When the meal is ready and set out on trays, at noon and morning put on the wrap robe, spread your bowing mat, offer incense and do nine great bows in the direction of the Monks' Hall. When this is done, send out the food.

Day and night, the work for preparing the meals must be done without wasting a moment. If you do this and everything that you do whole-heartedly, this nourishes the seeds of Awakening and brings ease and joy to the practice of the community.

Although the Buddha's Teachings have been heard for a long time in Japan, I have never heard of any one speaking or writing about how food should be prepared within the monastic community as an expression of the Teachings, let alone such details as offering nine bows before sending forth the food. As a consequence, we Japanese have taken no more consideration of how food should be prepared in a monastic context than have birds or animals. This is cause for regret, especially since there is no reason for this to be so.


When I was staying at Tiantong-jingde-si, a monk named Lu from Qingyuan fu held the post of tenzo. Once, following the noon meal I was walking along the eastern covered walkway towards a sub-temple called Chaoran Hut when I came upon him in front of the Buddha Hall drying mushrooms in the sun. He had a bamboo stick in his hand and no hat covering his head. The heat of the sun was blazing on the paving stones. It looked very painful; his back was bent like a bow and his eyebrows were as white as the feathers of a crane. I went up to the tenzo and asked,
"How long have you been a monk?"

"Sixty-eight years," he said.
"Why don't you have an assistant do this for you?"
"Other people are not me."
"Venerable sir, I can see how you follow the Way through your work. But still, why do this now when the sun is so hot?"
"If not now, when?"

There was nothing else to say. As I continued on my way along the eastern corridor I was moved by how important the work of the tenzo is.


In May of 1223 I was staying aboard the ship at Qingyuan. Once I was speaking with the captain when a monk about sixty years of age came aboard to buy mushrooms from the ships Japanese merchants. I asked him to have tea with me and asked where he was from. He was the tenzo from Ayuwang shan.

He said, "I come from Xishu but it is now forty years since I've left there and I am now sixty-one. I have practiced in several monasteries. When the Venerable Daoquan became abbot at Guyun temple of Ayuwang I went there but just idled the time away, not knowing what I was doing. Fortunately, I was appointed tenzo last year when the summer Training Period ended. Tomorrow is May 5th but I don't have anything special offerings for the monks so I thought I'd make a nice noodle soup for them. We didn't have any mushrooms so I came here to give the monks something from the ten directions."

"When did you leave Ayuwangshan?" I asked.
"After the noon meal."
"How far is it from here?"
"Around twelve miles."
"When are you going back to the monastery?'
"As soon as I've bought the mushrooms."
I said, "As we have had the unexpected opportunity to meet and talk like this today, I would like you to stay a while longer and allow me to offer Zen master tenzo a meal."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I just can't. If I am not there to prepare tomorrow's meal it won't go well."

"But surely someone else in the monastery knows how to cook? If you're not there it can't make that much difference to everyone."

"I have been given this responsibility in my old age and it is this old man's practice. How can I leave to others what I should do myself? As well, when I left I didn't ask for permission to be gone overnight."

"Venerable sir, why put yourself to the difficulty of working as a cook in your old age? Why not just do zazen and study the koan of the ancient masters?"

The tenzo laughed for a long time and then he said, "My foreign friend, it seems you don't really understand practice or the words of the ancients."

Hearing this elder monk's words I felt ashamed and surprised. I asked, "What is practice? What are words?"

The tenzo said, "Keep asking and penetrate this question and then you will be someone who understands."

But I didn't know what he was talking about and so the tenzo said, "If you don't understand then come and see me at Ayuwang shan some time. We'll talk about the meaning of words." Having said this, he stood up and said, "It'll be getting dark soon. I'd best hurry." And he left.


In July of the same year I was staying at Tiantong shan when the tenzo of Ayuwang shan came to see me and said, "After the summer Training Period is over I'm going to retire as tenzo and go back to my native region. I heard from a fellow monk that you were here and so I came to see how you were making out."

I was overjoyed. I served him tea as we sat down to talk. When I brought up our discussion on the ship about words and practice, the tenzo said, "If you want to understand words you must look into what words are. If you want to practice, you must understand what practice is."

I asked, "What are words?"
The tenzo said, "One, two, three, four, five."
I asked again, "What is practice?"
"Everywhere, nothing is hidden."

We talked about many other things but I won't go into that now. Suffice it to say that without this tenzo's kind help I would not have had any understanding of words or of practice. When I told my late teacher Myozen about this he was very pleased.

Later I found a verse that Xuedou wrote for a disciple:

"One, seven, three, five.
What you search for cannot be grasped.
As the night deepens,
the moon brightens over the ocean.
The black dragon's jewel
is found in every wave.
Looking for the moon,
it is here in this wave
and the next."


What the tenzo said is expressed here in Xuedou's verse as well. Then it was even clearer to me that the tenzo was truly a person of the Way.

Before I knew one, two three, four, five; now I know six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Monks, you and those to follow must understand practice and words through this and from that. Exert yourself in this way and you will practice the single true taste of Zen beyond words, undivided into the poisonous five flavours. Then you will be able to prepare food for the monastic community properly.


There are many old stories we can hear and present examples of monks training as tenzo. A great many teachings concern this because it is the heart of the Way.

Even if you become the Abbot of a monastery, you should have this same understanding. The Zen Monastic Standards states, "Prepare each meal with each detail kept clear so that there will be enough. Make sure that the four offerings of food, clothing, bedding, and medicine are adequate just as the Generous One offered to his disciples the merit of twenty years of his lifetime. We ourselves live today within the light of that gift because the energy of even a white hair between his brows is inexhaustible." It also says, "Just think about how to best serve the assembly without being hindered by thoughts of poverty. If your mind is limitless, you enjoy limitlessness." This is how the abbot serves the assembly.


In preparing food, it is essential to be sincere and to respect each ingredient irregardless of how coarse or fine it is. There is the example of the old woman who gained great merit through offering water in which she had rinsed rice to the Thus Come. And of King Ashoka creating roots of wholesomeness through offering half a mango to a monastery as he lay dying. As a result of this he realized the deathless in his next life. Even the grandest offering to the Buddha, if insincere, is worth less than the smallest sincere offering in bringing about a connection with awakening. This is how human beings should conduct themselves.

A rich buttery soup is not better as such than a broth of wild herbs. In handling and preparing wild herbs, do so as you would the ingredients for a rich feast, wholeheartedly, sincerely, clearly. When you serve the monastic assembly, they and you should taste only the flavour of the Ocean of Reality, the Ocean of unobscured Awake Awareness, not whether or not the soup is creamy or made only of wild herbs. In nourishing the seeds of living in the Way rich food and wild grass are not separate. There is the old saying, "The mouth of a monk is like a furnace." Bear this in mind. Wild grasses can nourish the seeds of Buddha and bring forth the buds of the Way. Do not regard them lightly. A teacher must be able to use a blade of wild grass to benefit humans and shining beings.

Do not discriminate between the faults or virtues of the monks or whether they are senior or junior. You do not even know where you stand, so how can you put others into categories. Judging others from within the boundaries of your own opinions, how could you be anything other than wrong? Although there are differences between seniors and juniors, all are equally members of the assembly. Those who had many faults yesterday may be correct and clear today. Who can judge "sacred" from "common." The Zen Monastic Standards states,
"Whether foolish or wise, the fact that one trains as a monk provides for others a gift that penetrates everywhere."

If you stand beyond opinions of right and wrong, you bring forth the practice of actualizing unsurpassable Awakening. If you do not, you take a wrong step and miss what's there. The bones and marrow of the ancients was just the exertion of such practice and those monks who train as tenzo in the future realize the bones and marrow of the Way only through just such exertion. The monastic rules set forth by great master Baizhang must always be maintained.


After I returned to Japan I stayed at Kennin-ji for around two years. They had the office of tenzo there but it was only nominal because no one actually carried out the real activity of this training post. They did not understand it as the activity of Awake Awareness so how could they have been able to use it to express the Way? Truly, it was very sad. The tenzo there had never encountered a living one who could use the office of tenzo as the functioning of Awake Awareness and so he carelessly idled away, breaking the standards of practice.

I watched the tenzo there quite closely. He never actually worked at preparing the morning and evening meals but just ordered about some rough servants, lacking in intelligence and heart, leaving to them all the tasks whether important or not. He never checked on whether they were working well or not, as if it would be shameful to do so like peeping into the private quarters of a neighbouring woman. He just hung about in his own rooms, reading sutras or chanting when he wasn't lying down or chatting. Months would go by before he would even come close to a pot, let alone buy utensils or make out a menu. He did not understand that these activities are the exertion of Awareness.

The practice of donning the wrap robe and offering nine bows before sending out the food was something he would never have even dreamed of; it just wouldn't have occurred to him. As he himself did not understand the office of tenzo, when it came time for him to teach a novice how to carry out the office what understanding could be passed on? It was very regrettable. Although one might have the fortune to hold this post, if one is without the mind which uncovers the Way and fails to meet with one who has the virtue of the Way, it is like returning empty-handed after climbing a mountain of treasure or entering an ocean of jewels.

Although you might not have the mind which uncovers the Way, if you meet one manifesting the True Person you can then practice and unfold the Way. Or, even if you cannot meet with one who is the display of the True Person, by yourself deeply arousing the seeking for the Way, you can begin the Way. If you lack both of these, what is the point?

In the many monasteries of the mountains of Song China that I have seen, the monks holding the various offices train in these posts for a year at a time, each of them in each moment practicing by three standards.
Firstly, to benefit others benefits yourself.
Second, make every effort to maintain and renew the monastic environment.
Third, follow the standards set forth by the examples of excellent practitioners of past and present and come to stand with them.

You should understand that foolish people hold their practice as if it belonged to someone else, wise people practice with everyone as themselves.

An ancient teacher said,

"Two-thirds of your life has passed
without clarifying who you are.
Eating your life,
muddling about in this and that,
you don't even turn when called on.
Pathetic."

From this verse we can see that if you have not met a true teacher, you will just follow the lead of your tendencies. And this is pathetic. It's like the story of the foolish son who leaves his parent's home with the family treasure and then throws it away on a dung heap. Do not waste your opportunity as that man did.

Considering those who in the past made good use of their training as tenzo, we can see that their virtues were equal to those of their office. The great Daigu woke up while training as tenzo and Dongshan Shouchou's "Three pounds of flax," occurred while he was tenzo. The only thing of value is the realization of the Way, the only time that is precious is each moment of realizing the Way.

Examples of those who long for the Way are many. There is the story of a child offering the Buddha a handful of sand as a great treasure. Another is of someone who made images of the Buddha and had reverence for them and thus had great benefit follow them. How much more benefit must there be in fulfilling the office of tenzo through actualizing its possibilities as have those excellent ones who have practiced before us?

When we train in any of the offices of the monastery we should do so with a joyful heart, a motherly heart, a vast heart. A "joyful heart" rejoices and recognizes meaning. You should consider that were you to be born in the realm of the shining beings you would be absorbed in indulgence with the qualities of that realm so that you would not rouse the recognition of uncovering the Way and so have no opportunity to practice. And so how could you use cooking as an offering to the Three Jewels? Nothing is more excellent than the Three Jewels of the Buddha, the Teachings, and the Community of those who practice and realize the Way. Neither being the king of gods nor a world ruler can even compare with the Three Jewels.

The Zen Monastic Standards states, "The monastic community is the most excellent of all things because those who live thus live beyond the narrowness of social fabrications." Not only do we have the fortune of being born as human beings but also of being able to cook meals to be offered to the Three Jewels. We should rejoice and be grateful for this.

We can also reflect on how our lives would be were we to have been born in the realms of hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, or jealous gods. How difficult our lives would be in those four situations or if we had been born in any of the eight adverse conditions. We would not then be able to practice together with the strength of a monastic community even should it occur to us to aspire to it, let alone be able to offer food to the Three Jewels with our own hands. Instead our bodies and minds would be bound within the limits of those circumstances, merely vessels of contraction.

This life we live is a life of rejoicing, this body a body of joy which can be used to present offerings to the Three Jewels. It arises through the merits of eons and using it thus its merit extends endlessly. I hope that you will work and cook in this way, using this body which is the fruition of thousands of lifetimes and births to create limitless benefit for numberless beings. To understand this opportunity is a joyous heart because even if you had been born a ruler of the world the merit of your actions would merely disperse like foam, like sparks.

A "motherly heart" is a heart which maintains the Three Jewels as a parent cares for a child. A parent raises a child with deep love, regardless of poverty or difficulties. Their hearts cannot be understood by another; only a parent can understand it. A parent protects their child from heat or cold before worrying about whether they themselves are hot or cold. This kind of care can only be understood by those who have given rise to it and realized only by those who practice it. This, brought to its fullest, is how you must care for water and rice, as though they were your own children.

The Great Master Shakyamuni offered to us the final twenty years of his own lifetime to protect us through these days of decline. What is this other than the exertion of this "parental heart"? The Thus Come One did not do this hoping to get something out of it but sheerly out of munificence.

"Vast heart" is like a great expanse of ocean or a towering mountain. It views everything from the most inclusive and broadest perspective. This vast heart does not regard a gram as too light nor five kilos as too heavy. It does not follow the sounds of spring or try to nest in a spring garden; it does not darken with the colours of autumn. See the changes of the seasons as all one movement, understand light and heavy in relation to each other within a view which includes both. When you write or study the character "vast," this is how you should understand its meaning.

If the tenzo at Jiashan had not thus studied the word "vast," he could not have woken up Elder Fu by laughing at him. If Zen master Guishan had not understand the word "vast," he would not have blown on dead firewood three times. If the monk Dongshan had not understood the word "vast," he could not have taught the monk through his expression, "Three pounds of flax."

All of these and other great masters through the ages have studied the meaning of "vast" or "great" not only though the word for it but through all of the events and activities of their lives. Thus they lived as a great shout of freedom through presenting the Great Matter, penetrating the Great Question, training great disciples and in this way bringing it all forth to us.

The abbot, senior officers and staff, and all monks should always maintain these three hearts or understandings.

Written in the spring of 1237 for those of coming generations
who will practice the Way by Dogen, abbot of Kosho-(Horin-)ji.



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CLICK for more photos


more translations
source : Tenzo kyokun


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Worldwide use

Anweisungen für den Koch
Zen für Küche und Leben:
Zen-Meister Dogen


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Things found on the way



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HAIKU and SENRYU


CLICK for crumbs of wisdom

tenzoo cooking -
we eat the crumbs
of wisdom

Nakayama Ishino, 1995


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mindful eating -
the Zen cook gets
an extra bite


Gabi Greve
February 2012

. Mindful Eating .


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rooshi 老師 Roshi, Zen Master
"old master"

I eat breakfast
and wash the dish -
my old Zen Master

breakfast -
before I finish drinking
my coffee mug empty


25 years ago, during my Sesshin ( a period of intensive meditation) in a Zen Monastery near Jerusalem, the Zen Master was quite old. He was from Kyoto. We called him Roshi.

After breakfast, wash your dish!
- Shared by Freddy Ben-Arroyo -
Haiku Culture Magazine, 2013


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Related words

***** Eihei-Ji Temple 永平寺

Fucha ryori, fucha ryoori 普茶料理 Chinese monk quisine
Temple Manpukuji

Vegetarian Temple Food (shoojin ryoori 精進料理)

Kaiseki Ryori 懐石料理 Kaiseki Meal

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7/31/2009

Bunraku and Joruri

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Bunraku puppet play performance

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic / see below
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation

The Japanese puppet theater has a long history.
Here first are some dishes in its memory.
There are quite a few restaurants in Japan using the name
BUNRAKU 文楽.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Jooruri, jōruri じょうるり【浄瑠璃】Joruri
the dramatic narrative which accompanies a Bunraku puppet show



wasabi to jooruri wa naite homeru
山葵と浄瑠璃は泣いてほめる


wasabi and Joruri puppet theater recitation are praized with your tears.

Good wasabi is so hot you start to cry.
Good bunraku theater performance is so sad that you cry.

 WASHOKU : Wasabi


CLICK for more photos
The Tayu 太夫 narrator has to act all the persons of a play, from young children to wailing mothers, lost lovers or desperate villains, and does it in such a perfect way that the audience is captured to tears by his recitation.
It takes long years of practise to become a Tayu, often a family tradition. Just to be able to sit for long hours during the play takes years of practise. He reads form a special script with indicators of how to use the voice in a certain situation, most of these books are secret family treasures.


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文楽新名物 Dishes remembering Bunraku


Bunraku no Natsu Soba 文楽の夏そば
with local chicken, Japanese style




shichifuku soba 七福そば
Soba noodles with sevenfold good luck
A new menu item for the Bunraku season, with seven toppings for good luck.

source : 麺酒房 文楽 奈良東向通店
奈良県奈良市東向南町19吉田ビル1F

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CLICK for more photos

quote
Bunraku, also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃), is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684.

Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance:

Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai - Puppeteers
Tayū たゆう【太夫】 - the chanters
Shamisen players
Occasionally other instruments such as taiko drums will be used.

The most accurate term for the traditional puppet theater in Japan is ningyo joruri. The combination of chanting and shamisen playing is called jōruri and the Japanese word for puppet is ningyō.

Bunraku puppetry has been a traditional activity for Japanese citizens for hundreds, even thousands of years. For many it is something which is of great excitement and something which ties younger generations to the ways of the past in Japan.

History
Originally, the term "Bunraku" referred only to the particular theater established in 1872 in Osaka, which was named the Bunrakuza after the puppeteering ensemble of Uemura Bunrakuken(植村文楽軒), an early 19th century puppeteer on Awaji, whose efforts revived the flagging fortunes of the traditional puppet theater in the 19th century.

The later prominence of the National Bunraku Theater of Japan, which is a descendant of the theater founded by Bunrakken, has popularized the name "Bunraku" in the twentieth century to the point that many Japanese use the term to refer generically to any traditional puppet theater in Japan.

Puppets
Bunraku puppets range in size from two-and-a-half to four feet tall or more, depending on the age and gender of the character and the conventions of the specific puppet troupe. The puppets of the Osaka tradition tend to be somewhat smaller overall, while the puppets in the Awaji tradition are some of the largest as productions in that region tend to be held outdoors.

CLICK for more joruri photos The heads and hands of traditional puppets are carved by specialists, while the bodies and costumes are often constructed by puppeteers. The heads can be quite sophisticated mechanically. In plays with supernatural themes, a puppet may be constructed so that its face can quickly transform from a nice lady into that of a fearful demon. Less complex heads may have eyes that move up and down, side to side or close, and noses, mouths, and eyebrows that move.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !



Chikamatsu Monzaemon 近松門左衛門
(1653-1724)
a famous writer of stories for the puppet theater

for example
Sonezaki Shinju 曽根崎心中
The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
with Ohatsu and Tokubei
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



. Kubi ningyoo 首人形 head dolls .
from Bunraku puppets


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one famous performance is the New Year Celebration with

Sanbaso (sanbasoo 三番叟)
It started in the ninth century as a dance to avoid earthquakes. Then it was performed in Noh, Kyogen and even Kabuki.

. Sanbasoo 三番叟 Sanbaso Dancers .


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CLICK for more photos Liquor called
Bungo Joruri

焼酎豊後浄瑠璃
Shochu, Made in Oita prefecture
25% alcohol




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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


Tokiwazu Moji Tayuu 常磐津 文字太夫 Tokiwazu Mojitayu (1709 - 1781)
The was a narator and reciter of Joruri and began the Tokiwazu-bushi in 1747.
He lived in the 檜物町 / 檜物丁 HimonoCho District in Edo.


source : ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/collections
襲名披露口上 四代目常磐津文字太夫 Tokiwazu 4th generation


- quote -
Tokiwazu-bushi 常磐津節
Tokiwazu-bushi is generally abbreviated as "Tokiwazu." Tokiwazu is a school of 浄瑠璃 Joruri, and originated in 豊後節 Bungo-bushi, founded by Miyakoji Bungonojo. Bungonojo was extremely popular in Edo, but because his works were mostly Michiyukimono (lovers traveling together) which culminated in double suicide, Bungo-bushi was banned by the Tokugawa Shogunate for the reason that Bungo-bushi corrupted public morals. After Bungonojo left Edo, Mojitayu an apprentice of Bungonojo, founded Tokiwazu-bushi.



In Kabuki, Tokiwazu is mainly responsible for Degatari (onstage performance) as the accompaniment for Buyo (dance). Tokiwazu group consists of reciters called Tayu, and Shamisenkata (shamisen players). The shamisen used are chuzao (medium-neck). The distinction of Tokiwazu-bushi is that it is slower-paced and more solemn than Kiyomoto music.
- source : ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/kabuki -


- quote -
- Tokiwazu -
Tokiwazu is a style of Joruri narrative music that is used in the Kabuki theater for dances and dance plays. It never appears with puppets. There are several styles of singing that ultimately derive from a style called Bungo Bushi. These styles include Tokiwazu, Tomimoto, Kiyomoto and Shinnai. Of these styles, Tomimoto has virtually disappeared and Shinnai almost never appears in the theater. So Tokiwazu is the oldest of the Bungo Bushi styles performed in Kabuki today. Technically Tokiwazu, Tomimoto and Kiyomoto are much the same, but they differ in atmosphere since their repertory reflects the tastes of the ages that produced them and the personalities of the singing stars that originally performed them. Bungo Bushi takes its name from Miyakoji Bungo-no-Jo who traveled from Kyoto to Edo, and became famous for his beautiful voice and fashionable clothing. He appeared in Kabuki, and seems to have mostly performed love suicide plays that were reworked versions of masterpieces by Chikamatsu. But love suicide plays were banned by the shogunate and, broken hearted, Bungo-no-Jo returned to Kyoto and in 1740, soon died.

Tokiwazu began when one of Bungo-no-Jo's students who remained in Edo began performing under the name Tokiwazu Mojitayu (1709 - 1781).
The first period of greatness for Tokiwazu was in the 1750's with long, colorful dance dramas like Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Seki no To (The Snowbound Barrier) and Modori Kago Iro no Aikata (The Returning Palanquin), both created to feature the dancing skills of Nakamura Nakazo I (1736 - 1790). In the first play, he appears as a boisterous barrier guard who is actually a pretender to the imperial throne. In the second play, he appeared as a palanquin bearer who is also actually a larger-than-life villain. Before Nakazo, dance was considered the exclusive preserve of the onnagata female role specialist and the music was usually Nagauta, but Nakazo opened the way for dances featuring male characters that used other styles of music......
- source : jtrad.columbia.jp/eng -

. Himonochoo 檜物町 HimonoCho District in Edo .


- quote -
Nagauta (長唄), literally "long song",
is a kind of traditional Japanese music which accompanies the kabuki theater. It was developed around 1740. Influences included the vocal yōkyoku style used in noh theater, and instruments included the shamisen and various kinds of drums.
The shamisen, a plucked lute with three strings, is a very popular instrument in nagauta. Nagauta performers generally play the shamisen and sing simultaneously.
Nagauta is the basis of the Nagauta Symphony, a symphony in one movement composed in 1934 by composer Kosaku Yamada.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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HAIKU and SENRYU


kigo for late summer
suzumi jooruri 涼み浄瑠璃 cool jooruri song
puppet theater performance, often by laypeople, outside in the cool evening air.


kigo for mid-autumn
Saikaku ki 西鶴忌 memorial day for Saikaku
Ihara Saikaku 井原西鶴 (1642-1693), August 10 according to the old calendar.
author of many ningyo joruri plays.


kigo for mid-winter
Chikamatsu ki 近松忌 memorial day for Chikamatsu
Soorinshi ki 巣林子忌
Soorin ki 巣林忌
On November 22 of the old calendar.




CLICK for photos of Ihara Saikaku

夕空を血の色に染め西鶴忌  
yuuzora o chi no iro ni some Saikaku ki

the evening sky
is colored in blood red -
Saikaku memorial day


source : Nao なを


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Related words

***** Memorial Days of Famous People, Celebrities

WASHOKU : General Information
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