On June 19, TUJ students participated in a workshop and made their own traditional Japanese windchime.
Japanese windchimes, or fuurin, originally come from China, where they began to be popular over 1000 years ago. During the Edo period, these windchimes became spread around Japan, being produced in both glass and metal.
The sound of these bells evokes summer, and so our students decided to take this opportunity to have one of them ready for this season.
The workshop took place at Shinohara Maruyoshi Fuurin. This place is one of the two workshops in Tokyo where wind chimes are still being produced with the same techniques used in the Edo period. The techniques have been passed down from father to son and our students had the privilege to use them.
In the first part of this workshop, the students blew glass to create the main bell In the first part of the workshop, the students blew glass to create the main bell of the fuurin. Blowing is very important, as blowing too hard can break the glass. Blowing too softly could result in a bell that is too small and would not produce an optimal sound.
After creating the bell came the funnest part of the workshop − painting the wind chime! The Maruyoshi Fuurin staff presented summer motifs as suggestions, although TUJ students used their imaginations to create unique designs.
For other TUJ Activities visit our calendar.
<By Luis Navarro Garcia, Office of Student Services>
テンプルこぼれ話 