{IN PERSON} Hanafuda Through the Seasons, Quarter 1: Pine, Plum, Cherry

Using the framework of Hanafuda playing cards, we will look at various botanicals and their spiritual and historical significance in Japanese culture.  The class will include a history of Hanafuda and how it used in different games today.  Each suit in the deck represents a month and is assigned a seasonal botanical.  In this first class we will look at the first quarter of the year: January – pine, February – plum, March – cherry.  Participants are encouraged to bring their own Hanafuda decks if they already own one, but possession of a deck is not required for the class, as the content will be primarily focused on symbolism. If time allows, during the informal discussion session that follows the structured content, attendees are welcome to play cards.

Akemi is a Nikkei storyteller, writer, teacher and visual/experiential creative.  She has familial roots in Taiji-cho, Wakayama-ken, the neighborhood of Asakusa in Tōkyō-to and Terminal Island. She is the founder of Little Well Studio, an atelier driven by the principles of preservation, healing and education.  Her work actively nurtures traditions and stories through the visual/creative arts, embodiment practices and engagement.  Akemi’s artistic and spiritual path is deeply informed by her upbringing within the Japanese cultural art of karate-do from the age of three and her experience as a kata athlete.  She describes karate-do as her ethnic and spiritual identity in motion, at the intersection of tradition, ancestral wisdom and modern identity.  Akemi views ancestral work as a living, breathing relationship with those who have come before and traditions as a way to dialogue with the past.