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7th July - Tanabata festival.

One of my favourite Japanese traditional festivals and ancient rituals since I was a little girl. 

It's romantic, exciting, creative and intimate.

We connect to nature, season and universe. 

Today is the day to make wishes.

Write your wishes on nice coloured papers (origami) , it can be a poem (Haiku) and decorate the bamboo trees with your own creation. 

Go wild and be with your wildest dream.

Let your thoughts out.

Let your dreams out.

Let your wishes seen by the shining stars in the fresh summer sky, 

Well, I am going to share the story behind this romantic rituals and Tanabata festival today.

Creating Haiku is simply to be in the now and express what we see, feel the season we are in, as to connect with nature, objects and ourselves, creating consciousness moment.

What is Haiku?

What Haiku brings us?

What is Haiku moment?

I am going to explore the answers deeper in this article.

"What is the art of attention in Japanese?"

 asked, my client, MPG, Amstelveen/New York based marketing company, a publisher for Rituals Magazine.

The word I chose was KIKUBARI

気　“KI” :  energy of our life force

配り “KUBARI” : distribute

KIKUBARI is a Japanese word that describes the act of paying appreciative attention to the people around you without expecting anything in return.

KIKUBARI brings a subtle smile to the hearts of both the giver and the receiver.

It is a thoughtful gesture of giving and sharing the energy of love and kindness.

This is one of the beautiful values that I cherish and practice. It is all about love and kindness to people around yourself as well as ourselves. The Japanese Tea ceremony is one of the finest examples of KIKUBARI.

This gesture comes from our pure self and not from our mind. It is only possible when we have space in our mind and when we are not clouded by our thoughts.

Stillness - Inner Peace - Present.

When the mind is empty, we are fully in the now.

We can create these moments not only when we are meditating, but also any time, anywhere.

It is a practice that creates as much of these moments throughout our day.

It takes dedication and focus to master this practise and create "KIKUBARI" - distribution of loving energy, give appreciative attention during even the mosted heated meeting or arguments.  It is all about awareness and you will find amazing results to transform any situations. 

Now, back to Rituals Magazine, it was beautifully designed and I was very satisfied with how my calligraphy came out. Making Calligraphy is one of my favourite practices to create Inner Peace and to be in the now. It is with great gratitude that I have the freedom of sharing the beauty of KIKUBARI to the collective world.

The magazine has been distributed through Rituals stores internationally.

Create the moment of Inner Peace where you can give your compassionate attention to all.

Let us create Inner-Peace together.

With Love, 

 Azumi

Risk-averse, hierarchy, apply-rules, indirect, attention to the details, conflict avoidance….

These are some of the general Japanese characteristics that are embedded in their subconscious mind, influencing their behaviours.

Some are quite an opposite to the Dutch and I receive tons of questions about the Japanese business culture. Today, I share some Japanese business “rituals” that will be handy to know when you are welcoming your Japanese business relations to your office.

This article is written for AKTEOS Nederland B.V.. For the Dutch version, please click here.

太陽の

光と影が

和を作る

August

The sun

Creating light and shadow 

Making the harmony.

-Azumi

 "Japanese art"  -  I guess the first thing comes to your mind would be the famous woodblock prints of "Ukiyoe" "Painting of Floating World" of Hokusai or Hiroshige. Van Gogh and Monet were those who were mesmerised by the woodblock prints. There are incredible collectors and researchers in Europe. 

On the other hands, more traditional form, Byobu - Japanese Screens are less widely known but these are the art where the Japanese love affair with the nature can be seen and felt....

夏至の夜

輝く空に

静けさも

June

Midsummer, at night

In the shining sky

Stillness, there is 

-Azumi

Post TEFAF dinner party @ Japanese SALON

I enjoy hosting dinners and high tea, brining people together to share art, ideas and inspiration. 

After almost forgotten the buzz of TEFAF in Maastricht, we, international art enthusiasts, got together here in Bussum.

The highlight of the evening is Art, Foods & good conversation! 

五月の木

自然の力

ここにあり

May

Tree in May

The power of nature

Here it is

-Azumi

In January 2017, I resumed my coaching sessions at my Japanese SALON at villa "Oud Holland", Bussum.

色淡い

春の青空

安らかに

April

Colouring soft

Spring blue sky

In peace

-Azumi

春の庭

金に輝く

木の芽たち

In the spring garden,

Shimmering gold,

New sprouts in the trees.

- Azumi

しずけさに

あわくかがやく

はかない美

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4 February is 立春 the day that the spring begins in the ancient Japanese (and Chinese). 

Still cold, but the feel more gentle light in the morning.

Here is the art of the month and Haiku of the month.

"When we were planning our trip to the Tokyo Game Show 2016 and 2017 with 15 prominent Dutch Game Studios we wanted to have them prepped properly so they had the best chance of success while there and, naturally, we asked Azumi-san to help us."

年新た

白雪のなか

歩み出す

New year beginning

In the midst of white snow

Stepping forward.

- Azumi

Proudly present the exhibition "The Seasons" with 12 art works of Jiro Inagaki with my Haiku for each month. Brining Japanese nature into Dutch office.

A law firm in Amsterdam Zuid, a newly renovated office with beautiful straight lines with black steel and glasses, a minimalistic Dutch design welcomed this warm natural touch and soften the office atmosphere. 

Jiro' Inagaki's art works have brought the touch of nature into the office and soften the working environment with earthy natural handcrafted paper collage.  

Last Saturday, I gave my second TED talk.

It was really a valuable experience again and I am going to share with you 5 tips if you are to give a talk like in the setting of TEDx.