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Shobu (菖蒲) / Iris

/ Mutsumi / 6 Comments

Shobu front

‘Koinobori‘ on my previous post is the traditional decoration on the ‘Kodomo-no-Hi‘ (Children’s Day/Boy’s Day) on the 5th of May in Japan. Another tradition on the day is that we decorate out house with ‘Shobu (Iris)’. So what is the reason behind this custom?

‘Shobu (菖蒲)’ on ‘Kodomo-no-Hi’

1280px-140614_Yagyu_Iris_Garden_Nara_Japan02bs5

Hana-shobu (ja.wikipedia.org)

First of all there are two types of ‘Shobu‘. One of them is ‘Hana-Shobu‘. It is Iris which we enjoy the magnificent flower with a striking colour and shape. The other one is medicinal ‘Shobu’ with very scented leaves but with insignificant flowers. They are totally different plants.

It seems like that people started using Shobu for this ceremonial occasion because …

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Sakura Junction’s Sweets in April at Wasoukan

/ Mutsumi / 10 Comments

As I mentioned in my previous post I have started supplying Japanese sweets to a Kimono shop Wasoukan in London. Each month I am going to develop and make 2-3 different types of Japanese sweets for them according to the seasonal theme.

For April the theme was ‘Spring’. With this theme there was only one particular thing in my mind for the sweet and that was ‘Sakura (Cherry Blossom)’ of course. However, there were many ways to use Sakura design in sweets so that I created many different versions and decided on one design finally.

Sweets in Wasoukan

My sweets at Wasoukan Cafe

Sakura (Nerikiri)

Sakura sideB

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Sakura Junction’s Sweet Served in a Special Space

/ Mutsumi / 6 Comments

This is an announcement, particularly to the people who live in London.

From this April you can enjoy Sakura Junction’s sweet served with tasty Japanese tea in a beautifully Japanese surrounding. This special venue is a Japanese Kimono shop Wasoukan which is located in the Notting Hill area just off Portobello Road. It is a continuation of the Portobello Market that is very popular to many tourists especially on Saturday.

Wasoukan front

The entrance of Wasoukan

Kimono Display

Beautiful Kimono display

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