Mitsuba—Cryptotaenia japonica—is a perennial herb used in traditional Japanese cooking. It is also known as Japanese Parsley or Japanese Honeywort. The leaves have a mild parsley flavour. At Shizuka Ryokan, we use mitsuba in a very tradtional Japanese soup known as suimono—which translates as ‘things to sip’. Suimono is a clear broth. It is a […]
Sunday 9th February 2020 Shizuka Ryokan will celebrate Japanese textiles in February when Leanne O’Sullivan returns to teach a one-day boro workshop. Boro is a type of Japanese mending. Spend a relaxed day with Leanne learning how to hand-stitch, mend & quilt layers of recycled cloth to give them new life in the traditional Japanese […]
10.30am – 3.30pm Thursday, 14th November, or 10.30am – 3.30pm Saturday, 16th November Rieko Hayashi is coming to Shizuka Ryokan. Rieko is a nutritionist, chef and yoga teacher. Rieko’s one-day workshop includes: Welcome tea Yoga and breath work Healthy Japanese lunch–including fermented pickles, fish and bone broth, and biodynamic brown rice. * Healthy eating tips […]
I’m at Shizuka Ryokan watching Trish Ward arrange plants in a Japanese ceramic vase destined for the coffee table. It is a Wednesday. Shizuka, closed for the day, is a hive of activity—there are deliveries for the kitchen, a Japanese yoga teacher meeting with the owner to plan a future workshop, a bearded artist up […]
Boro are a type of Japanese textiles that have been mended or patched. The name comes from boroboro—meaning something tattered or repaired. Boro encapsulates the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi. The hemp fabric reflects the beauty of daily wear-and-tear. During the Edo period (1603-1868), hemp was more available in Japan than cotton. (Fabrics made from silk […]
At Shizuka Ryokan, we host retreats and workshops with a focus on Japanese tradition. One such retreat is the SAORI weaving workshop. Several times each year, Prue Simmons arrives fresh from her llama farm and dyeing studio, to teach people the art of SAORI weaving. In Japanese the word SAORI comes from sai–individuality, and ori–weaving. […]
Shizuka Ryokan is hosting a Japanese yoga retreat in early 2020. The focus of the 3-day retreat is Japanese yoga and macrobiotics. Japanese culture honours seasonal change. Japan has five seasons: summer, autumn, winter, spring and tsuyu—the rainy season. The Japanese pay close attention to the blessings of each season, and Japanese yoga poses change […]
At Shizuka Ryokan, we host many retreats and workshops throughout the year. One that we are very excited about is the 2019 Seasonal Summer Yoga Retreat. Over three days in November, Cate Peterson and Lars Skalman will be at Shizuka Ryokan teaching Japanese yoga and macrobiotic cooking. (The beautiful photograph accompanying this post is from […]
The Summer Seasonal Yoga Treat combines the ancient oriental wisdom of seasonal living, yoga practice, macrobiotic cooking and Japanese shiatsu massage. Join Lars Skalman and Cate Peterson for a weekend retreat at Shizuka Ryokan. “According to the Oriental view of the cosmos everything, including the seasons, are governed or described by what are known as […]
Spring is just around the corner at Shizuka Ryokan, the blossoms are budding, and excitement is building. Japanese tradition honours the seasons and the natural world. In the book A Flower Lover’s Guide to Tokyo, Sumiko Enbutsu explores fifteen iconic flowering plants. Enbutsu writes, ‘Of all the natural phenomena, nothing marks the seasons more than […]
