The four vivid seasons have great impact on Japanese culture and mentality. Each seasonal festival has been celebrated for hundreds of years among people, and typically notable in tea ceremony.
From old calendar, today Sep.9 is the "double-yang" day. People used to celebrate autumn chrysanthemum festival for wishing one's happiness and longevity. To drink petal-floating "sake", or to purify body with cottons, which absorbed overnight dew and aroma of chrysanthemum flowers, were the customs, but they are unfortunately no longer popular among us today.
Other seasonal festivals, such as New Year, girls day, boys day and star festival, are still very popular among Japanese people, and we cherish each celebration with traditional way. Too pity to leave chrysanthemum festival behind... why not having "sake" tonight?
I'll be at ISETAN Shinjuku on September 21st and 26th to demonstrate tea ceremony by using the tea-box shown on photo and some other fabulous utensils made by the artisans who represent traditional Japanese craftsmanship in contemporary style.
Hope to see anyone who's interested in entertaining guests, and of course yourself, too, with matcha in "true" but "casual" Japanese style.