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If you have some openings in your social calendar for hanging out with friends and family in a Zen environment consider Morikami's events from October to December:

OCTOBER 2009

Sept. 29 – Dec. 6, 2009 – NEW EXHIBITION! Elegance in Iron: The Art of the Japanese Tetsubin In 18th century Kyoto, literary men with an interest in Chinese learning rebelled against the formalized manner of the Japanese tea ceremony and took up the Chinese habit of drinking steeped tea. By century's end, this act of defiance had led to the development of the tetsubin, the Japanese cast-iron teakettle. This exhibition draws from the outstanding collection of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kramer and features more than 90 tetsubin from the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the affluence of the urban merchant class, which had begun to enjoy steeped tea as well, supported the cost of producing tetsubin with raised decoration and inlays of precious metals. Elegance in Iron showcases the variety in shape and surface decoration of Kyoto tetsubin while also featuring kettles of northern Japan's Nambu region, where a folk tradition, little affected by Kyoto culture, fostered a dynamic aesthetic in iron tea kettles that complemented the region's robust lifestyle. Exhibition of Elegance in Iron is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Foundation and the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation.

Sept. 29 – Dec. 6, 2009 – NEW EXHIBITION! Moonlight Memories, Plum Blossom Dreams: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Collection of James Stepp and Peter Zimmer Plum blossoms and the moon were secondary motifs commonly depicted in Japanese woodblock prints of the 19th century. This exhibition features images of beautiful women, actors of the kabuki stage, and heroes from Japanese history and legend incorporating these motifs for their auspicious connotations or to set mood. Works are by such well known print designers as Utagawa Toyokuni, Tsunoda Kunisada, Ikeda Eisen, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, and Kobayashi Kiyochika. The exhibition is funded in part by Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation and the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation.

Oct. 8 - 9 • Thursday & Friday– The Morikami Presents: Ronin Taiko Cost: $20 members, $35 non-members Time: 7 – 9 p.m. Location: Morikami Theater Purchase tickets online at www.morikami.org or by calling 561-495-0233 x232. Seating is first come, first served. Ronin Taiko will awaken cultural spirits for a brand new season of arts and entertainment at The Morikami with an energetic two-hour concert. Featured at other Morikami events, such as Sushi & Stroll, Ronin's powerful performances feature Japanese taiko drums. Designed more than 2,600 years ago to intimidate enemies before a war and to celebrate at religious ceremonies and festivals, the powerful, ancient art of taiko has evolved into a cherished and popular form of musical expression and performance art.

Oct. 10 – Family Fun Program: Roly-Poly Daruma (All ages) Cost: $2 with paid museum admission Time: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Location: Classroom A Reservations are not required For more information, please call 561-495-0233 x 237. Family Fun Programs are for those who want to explore and learn about Japanese culture through hands-on arts and crafts projects designed for the whole family. Families can create projects in an open workshop.

Oct. 20 - Workshop: Stroll for Well-being: Garden Walks at The Morikami Begins on October 20, Second Meeting on November 17 and ends on December 15, 2009 Cost: $95 (includes one year Origami membership); Members: $40 Time: 10:30am – noon (three meetings only) Location: The Morikami Museum and Gardens Advance registration is required. For more information and registration, please go to www.morikami.org or call 561-495-0233 x 235. Participants will visit the Morikami Gardens for quiet contemplation as often as they wish over a 3-month period. A specially developed Journal, designed to enhance the experience, will be used as a guide and a means to record personal thoughts through the 12 themed garden strolls. There will be three meetings with the Journal's author, Associate Professor at the Christine E Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University. An explanation about the program will be provided during the first meeting; the second one, which will take place halfway through the program, will be used to answer any questions that may appear during the first few walks. Finally, the last meeting will take place at the end of the program and will include a discussion of participants' experiences.

NOVEMBER 2009

Nov. 5 • Thursday – Lecture: One Hundred Years of Sharing Paradise Cost: $10 (Members $7) Time: 7:30 p.m., Museum doors open at 6pm. Location: Theater • Speakers Dorothy Patterson, Sally J. Ling and Tom Gregersen Generously Underwritten by Mr. and Mrs. Donald Kohnken The Cornell Café will be closed. Advance Registration Required For registration and additional information, please visit www.morikami.org or call 561-495-0233 x 235. The past takes center stage at The Morikami as observers of local history exchange views on early Delray Beach, Boca Raton, and Yamato, the pioneering colony of Japanese settlers that once existed between the two cities. Speakers include Dorothy Patterson of the Delray Beach Historical Society, Sally Ling, author of Small Town, Big Secrets, and Tom Gregersen, Morikami Museum Cultural Director. The panelists will speak on community relations between the Yamato settlers and their neighbors, culminating in the removal of the last Japanese from their homes in 1942 and the establishment of the Boca Raton Army Airfield on former colony land.

Nov. 7, 2009 – New Permanent Installation! Japan Through the Eyes of a Child Elementary school-aged children, along with their families and classmates, can step into Japanese culture and experience it first-hand in this exhibition designed especially for them. Four Japanese "environments" transport young visitors from Florida to far-off Japan. First is a train station platform where the super fast "Bullet Train" the Shinkansen, has just pulled in. Next, an elementary school classroom shows kids what their Japanese counterparts are learning and how they are learning it. A street of shops follows, including an anime collectibles store, a toy store, a kimono shop and a bento box-lunch store. Finally, a Japanese house invites youngsters to take off shoes and walk on tatami floor mats, visit the kitchen to check out what is in the refrigerator, and see a household bath and toilet. The exhibition was developed by the National Children's Museum in Washington, D.C. and is funded by a grant from the Kohnken Family Foundation.

Nov. 7 – Tea Ceremony Workshop Cost: $35 Time: 1 - 3:30 pm Location: The Morikami Museum Seishin-an Tea House Advance registration is required. For more information and registration, please go to www.morikami.org or call 561-495-0233 x 210. The workshop will teach the basics of Sado - Tea Ceremony - necessary to know in order to learn more about the aesthetics of Sado or to better understand and fully enjoy the tea ceremony itself. Participants will become familiar with how to be a guest should one be invited to a Tea Ceremony and how to make a bowl of tea and serve it to a guest. The workshop is a prerequisite for those who have never taken a tea ceremony class but wish to start studying Sado.

Nov.14 – Family Fun Program: "Chigirie" – Paper Collage (All ages) Cost: $2 with paid museum admission Time: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Location: Classroom A Reservations are not required For more information, please call 561-495-0233 x 237. Family Fun Programs are for those who want to explore and learn about Japanese culture through hands-on arts and crafts projects designed for the whole family. Families can create projects in an open workshop.

DECEMBER 2009

Dec. 4 – Wine and Food Tasting Benefit for The Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens Cost: $10 donation at Customer Service Time: 6 – 8 p.m. For additional information, please call the Whole Foods Market at 561-447-0000. Location: Whole Foods Market, 1400 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431 Join us for a tasting of fine wine, food, live music and a silent auction in the Lifestyle Center. All proceeds will benefit The Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens. Participants will receive a complimentary wine glass with donation (while supplies last).

Dec. 6 – "The Way of Taiko - The Heartbeat of Japan" – Taiko Drum Workshop Cost: $50 Time: Three workshops to choose from - 10:15am – 12:15pm; 12:45 – 2:45pm; or 3 – 5pm Location: Morikami Theater Advance registration required For registration and more information, please call 561-495-0233 ext. 210. The workshop will include an introduction to the history of taiko. Participants will be taught how to understand sounds and movements, i.e., how to connect nature and the meaning of body movement. They will become familiar with the way of taiko and learn how to drum. Top performers from South Florida's Fushu Daiko will conduct the workshop. The group is recognized by Seiichi Tanaka, the master of San Francisco Taiko Dojo, who brought taiko to the United States and who trained senior members of the Fushu Daiko group. Please wear comfortable clothes and shoes; jewelry is not recommended.

Dec. 10, 2009 - Jan. 6, 2010 – Peaceful Holiday Season: Holiday Peace Tree (All Ages) Cost: Free with paid museum admission Time: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Location: Morikami Museum Library Reservations are not required For more information, please call 561-495-0233. Museum guests are invited to create origami doves for The Morikami's Holiday Peace Tree or to take them home for family and friends.

Dec. 12 – Family Fun Program: "Kirigami (paper cutting)" Ornament (All ages) Cost: $2 with paid museum admission Time: 11am – 3pm Location: Classroom A Reservations are not required For more information, please call 561-495-0233 x 237. Family Fun Programs are for those who want to explore and learn about Japanese culture through hands-on arts and crafts projects designed for the whole family. Families can create projects in an open workshop.

Dec. 22, 2009 – March 7, 2010 – NEW EXHIBITION! Ceramic Sculpture of Jun Kaneko Jun Kaneko is an energetic contemporary artist whose large scale ceramic sculptures in the form of stylized human heads created a sensation last year when they appeared on Park Avenue in Manhattan. The artist's other works include seven-foot-tall, half-ton "dangos", monolithic pieces that resemble the Japanese dumplings for which they are named. Seven dangos and two works titled "Head", featuring dynamic, colorful patterns of lines and dots animating their glazed surfaces, appear in the show at The Morikami, along with other ceramic sculpture, drawings and paintings produced over two decades. Funded in part by the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation and the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation.

Dec. 22 – Jan. 5 - New Year's Calendar Making (All ages) Cost: Free with paid museum admission Time: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Location: Museum Lobby Reservations are not required For more information, please call 561-495-0233.