Sogetsu Ikebana Exhibition

As I mentioned last week, I went back to Shinjuku on Sunday to see the Sogetsu Ikebana Exhibition. Coming to the event, I thought it was just going to be a display of Japanese flower arrangements. I can’t really say I was wrong, but it was so much more than that. It didn’t feel like I was looking at flowers, it was more like seeing true art. There were over 50 works on display, from a simple vase to an elegant display across an entire room. I personally enjoyed the large, flashy artworks because they looked really cool. My favorite piece was an explosion of red and white thin bamboo sticks shooting out like a firework. There wasn’t really much to it other than that, but something about seeing it up close really grabbed me in. I took way too many pictures to fit in one blog post, so I’ll just show my top five favorite flowers.

I was also extremely lucky to come to the event right when the mascot, Ikeru-chan, showed up. I didn’t know who she was before I got there, so I was very surprised to see a giant green flower right in front of the elevator. Apparently, Ikeru-chan only showed up for limited times during each day, and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. It was a nice bonus to an awesome day. Overall, the Sogetsu Ikebana Exhibition was extremely impressive. I’m really glad Temple was able to provide free tickets to the event, and I hope more opportunities like this come up in the future.

The Video Gamers Club is hooked on a new card game this week. Most of us just call it Card Monopoly because that’s basically what it is. Each player starts out with three coins and two starter properties. Each player then tries to buy more properties as more cards are drawn to either earn coins from the bank or steal coins from opponents. When a player gets enough coins, he or she can buy an upgrade card. These upgrades range from rolling dice in one turn to being able to earn 10 coins by not making a purchase during your turn. The winner is the first one to buy all of his or her upgrades. It’s a strange game (and it must sound even stranger without seeing the game firsthand), but it is a lot of fun and possibly my favorite game I’ve learned while in Japan. I may be a bit biased though, since I somehow won every game I’ve played so far.

I am really excited that my favorite anime of all time, Higurashi, is having an event this weekend to commemorate its 10th anniversary. I’ll get to see a recreation of the anime’s setting, Hinamizawa, and get a lot of exclusive merchandise. There’s no way I’m going to miss it! I’ll talk more about it in my next post, but until then, Sayōnara from Japan!