Kadomatsu

I had never been to the Terasaki Foundation Laboratory Building, so naturally I got lost looking for it. But just after the Chinese New Year, the Nibei Foundation - Japan Study Club was having a Kadomatsu show. It's pretty rare to see actual pine/bamboo/flower displays in LA, but I've understood them to be more common in Hawaii.

Ikebana instructor Youkou Kitajima of the Sogetsu School gave an interesting slide show lecture and demo of modern vs. traditional kadomatsu techniques. Of course, the best part was getting to make our own miniature kadomatsu. It was well worth the materials fee.

Kitajima-san is an awfully nice guy. He owns NK Nursery - specializing in Japanese pine - in the City of Industry. And he volunteers to prune the pines at the JACCC. He took questions and instructed us on the proper way to prune pine and fruit trees (which I never really understood til now).