Kaleidoscope is now open!

"Candle Kaleidoscope" is an online message board for pictures. Please visit at
http://www.candle-night.org/2005summer/home.html and click "Enter".

Participants can send photographs of their Candle Night taken by mobile phone cameras or digital cameras via e–mail, and those photos will appear on the board. And when you put a cursor on a picture, the attached message will also appear. The boards will be a mandala-like photo gallery of various images of the Candle Night event.

Time: June 18, 20:00 through June 21, 22:00 (Japan Standard Time)
e-mail address: photo@candle-n.org

Note: You can send the title (15 letters)
and a message (45 letters) with the picture.

candlenight : 10:01 PM

Event Information

*"Count Down Event" at the Tokyo Tower & Zojoji Temple
Time: June 19 (SAT) from 16:00 to 22:00
Place: Zojoji Temple, Minato-ku, Tokyo
http://www.daichi.or.jp/pc/candlenight/happyakuyatou05.html

*"Candle Night at Omotesando"
Time: June 19 (SAT) from 19:30 to 22:00
Place: Omotesando, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
http://www.candle-night.org/2005summer/event/view.php?id=214

*"GeshiFes 2005"
("geshi" means "summer solstice")
Time: June 21 (TUE) from 18:00 to 20:30
Place: Yoyogi Park, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
http://geshifes.cultivaders.com/event.html

*"Candle Night Summer Solstice in EXPO 2005 Aichi"
Time: June 18 through 21, from 11:00 to 18:00: Candle Workshop—handmade beeswax candles
June 21(TUE) from 16:00-20:30: Talk show & Music Live
Place: Earth Square, "NGO Global Village" in EXPO 2005 AICHI.

candlenight : 09:37 AM

A message from Australia

Greetings to Candle Nighters on the other side of the world.

Here in Nimbin, Australia we had our first Candle Night party in June 2001. Once again this year our house will be bathed in the ethereal glow of candlelight as we enjoy good food and the company of friends. And as it is mid-winter here in the southern hemisphere, our fireplace will have a roaring fire to ward off the chill of the night.

And once again this year we will be adding a small practical step to the symbolism of our candle night celebration:-

Greenfleet, an Australian not for profit organisation, has a website that makes it very quick and easy for us to neutralise the effect of the carbon dioxide released by our modern lifestyles.

By planting forests of biodiversity in areas that have been damaged by deforestation and land degradation, Greenfleet can offset the CO2 emissions of people living anywhere in the world.

For $20 or less anyone can have their whole year's electricity use offset; alternatively they can sequester the CO2 from their car usage - even their air flights!

By planting trees Greenfleet is not only helping to slow global climate change, but at the same time contributing to the greening the planet. And amazingly your tree planting contributions will only add between 2 and 3% to the utility bills, fuel costs and airfares that make our modern life so comfortable and convenient.

Until renewable, non-polluting sources of energy, and technologies for greater energy efficiency become widely available I recommend this small step to everyone celebrating the Candle Night. Visit the Greenfleet website at:
www.greenfleet.com.au

Wishing everyone an enjoyable Candle Night,

Nigel and Yoko

Nimbin, Australia

candlenight : 04:51 PM

Candlescape is now open!

http://www.candle-night.org/scape/

Participants can send their messages to the Candlescape. With the use of postal codes, the system can identify the participant's location and can visualize it on the map of Japan with their message. Please visit the site, click "status view" and see how it works. Currently we have only Japanese map, but we would like to expand it worldwide in the near future.

candlenight : 01:40 PM

Candle Night in South Korea --Candle Night Newsletter #3

Candle Night in South Korea

The preparation of the first "Candle Night" event in South Korea has been underway, mainly by college students in Seoul.

On the night of Summer Solstice, June 21, 2005, exterior lights of the youth culture center will be dimmed, and candles designed by art students will be exhibited. Various other plans such as music events and offering organic coffee samples are in preparation.

The students created a "community cafe", an online message board, asking others to join them. With the help and advice of other environmental NGOs and ex-journalists, they have tried to plan the first event in South Korea. The message board is found at: http://cafe.daum.net/candlenight

The students are planning to hold another Candle Night event in larger scale in October 2005. The Candle Night Newsletter will cover their initiative possibly in the future issues.

candlenight : 01:36 PM

Essay--Shinichi Tsuji--Candle Night Newsletter #3

Essay
Shinichi Tsuji (Keibo Oiwa)
Candle Night Committee
Cultural anthropologist, Professor at Meiji Gakuin University

Summer Solstice--it is the longest day of the year. Many traditional societies cerebrated, worshiped and prayed for it as a holy day. They were in awe and thankful--people at that time realized that they could only live thanks to the solar energy. However, no one today seems to remember those facts.

When you turn off the lights, darkness comes back. It has been a long time since the darkness disappeared from Japanese cities, where 80 percent of people live. Some people want to watch the moon and stars, or fireflies. Some might sit still in the darkness and some exchange their love for each other. Some make fire and others light candles. The flame of candles accentuates the darkness, and the darkness highlights the fire.

The majority of Japanese people eat dinner watching TV. Is this a sign of affluence? To me, this is simply a sign of cultural impoverishment. Let us turn out the lights and eat dinner under andlelight. Just a little act like that can give us a great opportunity: forming a circle, eating together and sitting by the firelight. Just think about it. Aren't these three major factors of culture to show what we, humankind, are all about?

I have had many opportunities to take my students to the ancient forests of North and South America. They looked happiest when they sat around a bonfire at night. Some even cried with a full smile on their faces. Then I realized--I took them all the way to see the moment. At the same time I was appalled by the fact that our "affluent" society could not give our children even that much joy. We seem to have pursued freedom under the fluorescent lamps.

We have been fixed in a strange idea that the more electricity we consume and the brighter the nights are, then society is more affluent and advanced, as the U.S. President Bush suggested 5 years ago that U.S. economy would be secured only if they construct one or two new power plants every week for the next 20 years. However, can we call it "economy" when its pursuit for money allows us to wage a war or to destroy the ecosystem that supports our lives?

Darkness, candlelight and bonfire will bring us a relaxing and peaceful time. Going with the flow of the time, we can come back to life from the madness of the "fast life" that has occupied us for a long time. Some might cynically say to us, "Such a little thing will not work for energy-saving," but we do not need to hold back. Candle Night can change me, and then the world, which I am part of, can certainly change, even though the change may be slight.

There is a folk legend that has been transmitted among indigenous peoples of South America.

"The forest was on fire.

All the animals, insects and birds in the forest rushed to escape.

But there was one little hummingbird named Kurikindi, or Golden Bird,
who stayed behind.

This little bird went back and forth between water and fire, dropping a single
drop of water from its beak onto the fire below.

When the animals saw this, they began to laugh at Kurikindi.
"Why are you doing that?" they asked.

And Kurikindi replied, "I am only doing what I can do."

--I am as little as the hummingbird, but I will do just what I can do, too.

candlenight : 01:33 PM

Candle Night Newsletter #2

The Candle Night Newsletter--#2
May 15, 2005, Copyright (c) 2005
Candle Night Committee

The Candle Night is an event under the slogan of "Turn off lights and take it slow" on the night of summer solstice. This is a voluntary participatory event, initiated by Japan's environmental non government organizations, or NGOs.

The Candle Night Committee hopes to extend this event from Japan to the world, to the "Global Candle Night" event. We will provide readers with information and activities of the Candle Night.

-------------------Information-------------------
The website of Candle Night has been updated to "Candle Night Summer Solstice 2005." This year's Candle Night will be enjoyed on the evenings of June 18 to 21, at 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p. m.

The contents of the website are to be updated as the night of Summer Solstice approaches. Stay tuned at http://www.candle-night.org/
----------------------------------------------------
This issue features the following stories:
Report--Candle Night at Harajuku Cat Street
Essay--"Yobanashi" Tea Ceremony

candlenight : 10:08 PM

Essay--"Yobanashi" Tea Ceremony--Candle Night Newsletter #2

"Yobanashi" Tea Ceremony
Madoka Mayuzumi
Haiku Poet

Japanese people love things that are in constant change. The shadow of fallen bamboo leaves reflecting on shoji (paper) screen. The look of dew on morning glories. Kuzufu, grass cloth, blowing in the wind and changing its shape. We are fascinated by the mutability of things that are transient, ephemeral and gone instantly.

In spring, tasting sake by the reflection of the cherry blossoms.
In summer, pondering at the waterside.
In autumn, traveling through the light of autumn leaves.
In winter, reading letters by the reflection of snow.

The promise made under the dim light through a paper screen or dating in the moonlight remains as sweet memory in one's mind. The shadow, accompanied with the glimmering light, also flickers. The whole thing in the memory is mutable. Images and memories can be reshaped over time.

"yobanashi e shigururu zari no oto tatete"
Yobanashi tea ceremony--
in winter drizzle,
sound of pebbles.

Last winter, I had an opportunity to attend a "Yobanashi" Tea Ceremony in Ohara, Kyoto, at the mountain villa of the long-established confectioner. The host of the tea ceremony was the owner of the villa. "Yobanash" Tea Ceremony is fully presented under candlelight. In the remaining red leaves of winter, guests were lead by handheld candles to the waiting place, walking on the wet pebbles and stepping stones. Whenever the candlelight flickers, wet moss on the stones glimmered. I felt as if I were deep in the water.

When we entered the waiting place, the host welcomed us with a flower and a haiku, as a head verse.

"chanohana ya makkurokuro ni shirosa kana"
A flower--
in darkness
shines white.

After the main guest added the wakiku (second verse) closely followed the host's hokku (the head verse), the guest rang the bell and entered the tea room.

My verse was:
"momijishigure no beni no naka nimo"
In drizzle, maple leaves,
reflects red.

As I was hurried by the other guests in the chilly evening, I had a hard time creating a verse to match the hokku. I used the contrast of colors, white tea flower, black night of darkness in Ohara, and red maple leaves in the winter rain.

The second verses of other guests were as follows:

"kokemederu kokoro o asobu chano shigusa"
Cherish moss
in mind,
the motion of ceremony.

"gankou kiyoshi kangetsu no niwa"
Geese fly in the night sky
moonshine in the cold garden.

"oozora e kumono tanabiku sanzenin"
In the sky,
clouds drift
over Sanzenin Temple.

"izure ro-ma no ano kuukan e"
Through space to Rome
at any point of time.

"ototatete tou o kizukishi yume o mimu"
Dreams of building towers
in sound.

"inishie yorino kaze o hakobite"
Carry winds
from ancient times.

"mirai e to iunano chawan yawarakaku"
Tea cup named future
soft and gentle.

kama naritakaku utsunemo kiyosi"
Sounds of the tea pot,
serene and pure.

The guests added their verses following the other's verse, while they were served tea. They focused colors first: white of a flower, black of darkness, red of maple leaves, green of moss, blue of sky. The verse jumped over space to Rome, and over time to ancient times. Then the teacup called "future" appeared. Following the ancient in the former verse, the host replied offering the teacup called "future". The guests were amazed with the host's witty reply. The whole process was going under the dim and sweet lighting of Japanese candles and flickering shadows. The only sounds were boiling water, serving tea and winter rain over the villa.

The decor and tea utensils by Kobori Enshu, the scroll of Shokado Shojo, a teacup of Rengetsuni, were all seen in the flickering lights and shadows reflected by the flame of candles. We talked and talked, and enjoyed the moment.

"Haikai poetry, the practice of composing linked sequences of waka poetry, is created by the poets' spontaneous ideas and the atmosphere the space provides. When wound up, an interesting play ends, too. I like the instant enjoyment as if I am watching a movie." It is a quote from Hiroshi Kojitani, one of the members of the ceremony.

The memory of the moment woven under the reflecting candlelight emerges more vividly as time goes by.

candlenight : 10:04 PM

Report--Candle Night at Harajuku Cat Street--Candle Night Newsletter #2

Candle Night at Harajuku Cat Street
Ayako Shimizu
Candle Night Committee

"Creator's Candle Design Exhibition," a new kind of event, was held at the "Candle Night　at Harajuku Cat Street" in Tokyo on December 21, 2004.

The “Candle Night at Harajuku Cat Street” has been held on the nights of Winter Solstice since 2002. Every year, design students decorate using candles under the theme of "Proposition to Reduce Excessive Lighting from Urban Nights."

In addition to the decoration, "Creator's Candle Design Exhibition" was held in 2004, in which creators in various fields such as graphic design and city planning, joined in and designed artistic candles for the exhibition.

The participants were Naoto Fukazawa, Ayumi Han, Taku Sato, Kazuko Fujie, Hidetoshi Ono, Kaoru Mende, Kazunari Hattori, Yasuhiro Suzuki, and Ryosuke Uehara & Yoshie Watanabe (D-BROS). Those foremost creators designed candles, seeking "a new candle design," which is a simple but challenging theme. Thus ten sets of unique art candles were created and showcased on the fifth floor of "Tree of Life "at Harajuku, a shop dealing with herbs, essential oils and so on. With the lights turned off, the candles were burning with dim flames in the dark exhibition site, displaying their design challenge.

Kaoru Mende, a lighting designer, created artwork named "Eroding Paraffin Lake," a flat white candle embedded with blue candles. As the candle burns, the blue and white wax melts
creating a beautiful blue lake spreading across the white shore with an orange flame flickering on the lake.

Yasuhiro Suzuki, an artist, focused on the dissolving nature of candles and created three art candles: "Balance Scale," "Cup and Ball," a Japanese traditional wooden toy and "Spoon." The balance scale made of candle wax was displayed first unbalanced, then its irregularly set wicks were lit and started to melt and ended up balancing at a certain moment. The moment was so fantastic and the visitors who happened to see it balance were excited with the intellectual performance.

Taku Satoh, a graphic designer, made a candle in the shape of plastic bottle bottom, named "Rutobotoppe", a back slang of "Pettobotoru," which means a "Plastic bottle" in Japanese. The uniquely designed candle molded a plastic bottle upside down with a wick in the center of the bottom of the bottle. The artist who designed package for a plastic beverage bottle before, wanted people to notice how beautiful the bottles are and also humorously expressed the phrase "being lit on one's bottom" meaning to be pressured to meet the deadline, because this exhibition was held on winter solstice, around the end of year, the busiest time of year in Japan.

There were other candles that creators designed focusing on the shadows of flames, expressing how candle wax melts. Those exhibited ten sets of art candles, reflecting each creator's idea and style, entertained people who visited the exhibition.

Even though, those ten sets of candles were artistic expressions by the creators, they gave visitors encouragement to enjoy nighttime in the dim candle light. We hope to keep on holding new types of events like this one.

"The Creator's Candle Design Exhibition"
Time: December 21, 2004
Place: Tree of Life, Harajuku
Participants: Naoto Fukazawa, Ayumi Han, Taku Sato, Kazuko Fujie, Hidetoshi Ono, Kaoru Mende, Kazunari Hattori, Yasuhiro Suzuki, and Ryosuke Uehara + Yoshie Watanabe (D-BROS),
Co-Sponsored by Kameyma Candle

candlenight : 09:56 PM

Candle Night Newsletter #1

The Candle Night Newsletter--#1
December 10, Copyright (c) 2004
Candle Night Committee

The Candle Night is an event under the slogan of "Turn off lights
and take it slow" on the night of summer solstice. This is a
voluntary participatory event, initiated by Japan's environmental
non government organizations, or NGOs.
http://www.candle-night.org/

The Candle Night Committee hopes to extend this event from Japan
to the world, to the "Global Candle Night" event. We will provide
readers with information and activities of the Candle Night.

This issue features the following stories:
-The report on the "Candle Night"-Summer Solstice 2004 in
Japan
-A Vow to "Diet of Light"
-Japanese stories on "candles" and invitation to the readers

----------------------------------------------------

Read more "Candle Night Newsletter #1"

candlenight : 10:56 PM