On March 2nd, Shoko-san, K, and I went to a traditional Japanese tea house to see displays of ornamental Japanese dolls in honor of Hina Matsuri. It felt like a school field trip. We met at the Kurosaki bus station in the early afternoon. The event was a short bus ride away, about 20 minutes or so.
As we approached the tea house I could feel the energy in the air change. There were decorative banners, lanterns, and an assortment of ornaments hanging from the house. It was beautiful. I could hear the buzz of people "oooo-ing" and "awwww-ing" over the dolls.
I quickly understood why. The displays were breathtaking.
We signed our names in the guestbook, slipped off our shoes, and took our place at the tea table. We were served "amazake" --- fermented rice with a sweet flavor, it contains little to no alcohol. Of course, I loved the amazake drink. It had a sweet ginger flavor to it and it was so warm. I want to find a restaurant near me that serves it.
We stayed for about an hour and then made our way back to Kurosaki.
Before I headed back to my apartment, Shoko-san and I talked about our day in Japanese. She helped me form sentences about our day trip. She also challenged me to write them in hiragana, which I did somewhat successfully.
Those of you who know me know that history is not one of my favorite subjects. It just never has been. So when I wanted to find out the history behind Hina Matsuri, I used a kid friendly website. I'm not ashamed to say I wanted a simplified version.
Here are the pictures from the tea house ...
