Drew McManus

What’s New at Obon 2012

by

Last year we saw our biggest Obon ever. In just five hours, we welcomed almost 9,000 people.  The overwhelming popularity of our once-small event brought with it long lines, large crowds, barely enough parking spaces, and difficulty for guests and staff alike in navigating Morikami grounds.   While still a magical and unforgettable evening, this year we want to offer you an experience that’s more intimate, enjoyable, and just as exciting.  Lucky for us, you told us you want the same thing.  In the words of one visitor, “Perhaps it would …

Read more

Our Own Ikebana

by

Last week, Morikami staff and volunteers sat down to a display of flower stems, bright green stalks and a puzzling diagram of shapes and dashes – a blueprint for ikebana, Japanese flower arrangement.  Cheiko Mihori, Founder and Director of the Florida Branch of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana, would guide us in making our own. Ikebana is all about angles, we learned.  The three main elements of the arrangement stand at three different angles from a straight imaginary line down the middle.  But of course, we’re dealing with three dimensions; …

Read more

Chocolate and Kimono

by

If you haven’t gotten your sweets fix after this weekend’s festivities, check out the world’s first chocolate kimono.  New York-based chocolatier MarieBelle will reveal the kimono at its Kyoto store later this month.  While not an edible or even cocoa-scented garment in its final form, the kimono is painted with a dye rich in white chocolate.  “A sweet chocolate scent filled the air in the process of dying” said the wife of kimono designer Nobuaki Tomita.  The kimono’s pattern features a brown and blue cherry blossom display on a beige …

Read more

Artist in Residence: Mariko Kusumoto

by

Last month, Morikami wrapped up an exciting Artist in Residency program with Mariko Kusumoto, thanks to an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Art Works.  Kusumoto’s visit kicked off with opening of her exhibit in Morikami’s galleries, Unfolding Stories, and culminated with a workshop for the public at Morikami and at local schools for students and educators. In her work, Kusumoto transforms found objects and meticulous metal sculptures into miniature, whimsical – yet functional – constructions:  music boxes, clocks, and board games, to name just a few.  All …

Read more

Jeff Shore on Living Zen

by

Jeff Shore summed up a famous Chinese proverb and said, “after being Zennistic, let me turn to Disneyworld.” And just like that, he moved on to a trip with his elderly Zen teacher (Fukushima Roshi, whose work is featured in Zenmi – A Taste of Zen) whom many a tourist mistook for part of Epcot’s Japan Pavilion.  Jeff Shore, Professor of Zen in the Modern World at Hanazono University, Kyoto, Japan came to Morikami last Friday to discuss what it means to be “Living Zen.” The Disneyworld bit first seemed like a …

Read more