Hasamigiku

The past two weekends I attended a course on learning how to make Hasamigiku （はさみ菊）a nerikiri chrysanthemum made with scissors. Although I have taken couple of classes to learn this art. I never quite got the hang of it, and I never had the time to practice. So I finally decided to take it more seriously and took an online course from Wagashi Kobo Mochiko in Fukuoka which I found on Instagram.

The instructor who is a wagashi artisan looked very young in contrast to her works of a master. Because she never showed her face until the end of the class I thought she may be older than me, actually she looked as if she was in her twenties. Nonetheless, she was amazing!  I think her class was the best class for cooking class that I have taken so far. I would strongly recommend those who are eager to learn this art, if you speak Japanese, can hire an interpreter.

The class focused more on practice rather than demonstration, but a video was provided that we can see her in action later on. She would check one by one and tell us where we are doing wrong, and why it's wrong, and give advice on how to improve. 

The class started with making the nerikiri dough which is suitable for making the hasamigiku (another eye opener). and how to shape the dough that will be the base for the kiku. 

Then we would sit and listen to her lecture on the theory behind making the perfect hasamigiku. The last part of the first day would be to make one kiku while the instructor gives us advice.

The second session started out with review of the theory and made more hasamigiku, one big and  one medium size while she gave out more advices. 

After 8 hours of learning about Hasamigiku, I think I have learned a great deal and with more practice, I will be confident enough to hold my own classes and teach in her style.

The front row is from the second class and the rear row is from the first class. My first hasamigiku in this class started from the far left so there is a huge difference if you  watch  closely.