Pre-chakai jitters

Tonight, I will be putting on a chakai for Robiraki. My students will be attending their first tea event and I want to make it special. I will be doing a tenshin meal, koicha and usucha.

We will have tea by candlelight. For the meal, pressed rice garnished with furikake, grilled fish, sliced tuna in a citrus soy sauce, marinated oyster mushrooms, sweet potato cooked in dashi, and daikon radish cut in the shape of a chrysanthemum. The nimono or boiled soup dish will have taro root, carrot, mitsuba and hinoki mushrooms. I prepared zenzai (sweet bean soup) for sweets. I also made some pressed sweets in the shape of mushrooms and gourds.

Mr. Nishiura will be the honored guest and I am a little apprehensive because he is so accomplished in Japanese arts. I hope it will go well.