Japanese exhibition and event

On the first day of my week's holiday, I went to Glasgow to see an exhibition and event which were raising funds for Japan.

The exhibition was called The Way To Northern Cherry Blossoms, and consisted of work by five artists. One of the artists, Campbell Sandilands, had taught me Japanese woodblock printing a few years ago. Another artist, Stuart Kerr, is one of my Flickr contacts. The exhibition was in the studio of another of the artists, Blair Thomson. The art was lovely, and it was great to see Stuart's work close up after looking at it online.

The Japanese event was held at the STUC. I've been to a lot of Japanese events before, and thought this was one of the best organised. There was Japanese dancing, a kimono fashion show with about 20 participants, a Japanese man in a kilt playing the bagpipes, and a recitation of a lovely piece of poetry in both Japanese and English "Ame ni mo Makezu" which really captures the spirit of the Japanese people, especially at this time. There was also a local choir, singing a variety of songs, including one of my favourites, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring.