Ogasawara-ryu Art Workshop: Traditional Knot Tying

On Friday, June 30, 2023, JASH was honored to host an art workshop featuring Kiyomoto Ogasawara, 32nd generation of the Ogasawara-ryu school of archery, mounted archery, and Reiho (etiquette) of Japan. Many thanks to JASH Lifetime Member, Ms. Hiroko Dewitz for organizing and helping coordinate this very special workshop which was one of a series of events which happened between June 30-July 1.

Ms. Reyna Kaneko and Kiyomoto Ogasawara Sensei

Ogasawara Sensei opened the program with a presentation about his background and the Ogasawara-ryu school in Japan. This was not his first time in Hawaii as in 1996, at the age of 15 years old, he visited and performed mounted archery.

During this visit, he concentrated on teaching Reiho or etiquette, which dates back over 830 years! For this program in particular, he taught the class traditional knot tying. Back in the day, the way a knot was tied would tell a person what was in a package.

Ogasawara Sensei teaching traditional knot tying

.

Various styles of knots

Ms. Ayumi Adachi in foreground assisting students Ms. Hiroko Dewitz standing in background also assisting students

After the program, over 20 students chatted with Ogasawara Sensei and assistant, Ms. Ayumi Adachi and enjoyed light refreshments. Some students happily left the program with autographed Ogasawara-ryu books they purchased and had personalized by Ogasawara Sensei.