Hōchōdō Knife Ceremony at the 109th Exhibition of Kyoto Cuisine.

Today and yesterday (December 13 and 14), the annual “109th Exhibition of Kyoto Cuisine. (第109回 京料理展示大会)” was held. Outside of some delicious looking Kyō Ryōri (京料理) on display by some of kyoto’s most exquisite restaurants, different events where held. One of those was the famous Hōchōdō Knife Ceremony. It takes quite a bit of skill and a sharp knife to prepare the fish without touching it with your hands. Wiki says the following: Hōchōdō (庖丁道, the way of the cleaver) is a traditional Japanese culinary art form of filleting a fish. It is a Shinto ritual, properly an offering to the gods, and originates in the court cuisine of yūsoku ryōri, dating to the Heian period. The filleting is done using only a knife (庖丁) and a pair of metal chopsticks (真魚箸), without touching the fish with one’s hands. The chef is dressed in Heian period clothing, most notably an eboshi (烏帽子) hat and hitatare (直垂) robe. The hitatare features long sleeves and a drawstring, which is used to tie up the sleeves during the ceremony. The ma