Tea ceremony and Kimono Wearing

 First there is the under layer. This is tied with a string and then it's own mini obi belt.

 Then the kimono goes on. It is tied with a couple of strings.

 Then the obi is tied. Inside the back is a cushioned pad which is tied around the front. The front is kept straight with a plastic shaper and then a scarf is tied around. There follows a final string around the front of the obi.

This is the tea ceremony area set up inside Seki's culture hall. There were a lot of people there. Every single one of them stared at me. Many people stopped to congratulate my kimono wearing and people my students knew stopped to touch me. It was a very strange experience.

Tea ceremony itself involves drinking different kinds of tea (depending on the ceremony) and eating a small confection. There are many rules about bowing and rotating cups, placing dishes in different areas of the table etc. We were served tea by many kimono wearing people and there was a set that looked like a forest. The first time we drank a leaf filled cup of tea, the second we drank frothy macha green tea.

We went to Gifu for lunch. It was a many course affair and very delicious. It began with lotus roots and fish eggs, followed by tofu in a delicious sauce, followed by salmon on a radish rosti with mushrooms in a thin sauce, followed by rice and miso soup, followed by tea and green tea dessert.
We had a stroll around the old streets. Tottering about on our zori sandals wearing kimono and holding umbrellas in these untouched traditional streets was quite an experience. I felt like I was walking inside a movie. We had more tea at a traditional tea house where I could see the mountain that Gifu castle perches atop.