- Following 623
- Followers 5.9K
- Engagement 2.02%
- Avg likes 107
- Avg comments 2
About Camellia
Camellia (@camellia.kyoto) is an Arts & entertainment creator on Instagram, also filed under Entertainment. The account has 5,864 followers and 1,570 published posts. Recent posts average 107 likes and 2 comments, an engagement rate of 2.02%.
Camellia belongs to the nano tier, the band usually drawn between 1,000 and 10,000 followers. Camellia follows 623 accounts, so the audience is roughly 9.4 times the size of the list followed. Camellia is set up as an Instagram business account. Flinque files Camellia under Arts & entertainment, with Entertainment as a secondary category.
The Instagram bio for Camellia runs to 16 words across 2 lines. The latest activity Flinque has on record for Camellia dates from June 2026.
Story Highlights
Unlocking shows the title and cover image of every story highlight this creator keeps pinned to the profile.
1,570 Posts
Of the 10 most recent posts shown for Camellia, 9 are carousels and 1 is a video. That mix leans toward carousels. Camellia has built a substantial archive of 1,570 posts. Against the audience, that is roughly 3.7 followers for each post published. Camellia also keeps 6 story highlights on the profile. All 10 carry captions, averaging 240 words each. The captions are written mainly in English. Words that recur across them include known, were, bamboo, rice and it's. The captions tag #kyoto, #和菓子, #wagashi, #minatsuki and #水無月.
One sweet that arrives just in time for the fierce summer heat is 'minatsuki' (水無月 aka 'minazuki').
Like many of Kyōto's mid-year confections, minatsuki are not themselves cooling, but were designed to turn our thoughts to ice and shade.
Minatsuki/minazuki (水無月) are made from 'uirō-mochi' (外郎餠), a steamed cake of rice or bracken flour and sugar.
The sweets are traditionally topped with a layer of red beans, cut into triangles, and wrapped in bamboo leaves.
It is customary to eat minatsuki for 'Nagoshi-no-harae' (夏越の祓) on June 30th, a summer purification rite during which people symbolically clean away any 'impurities' and protect themselves for the remainder of the year.
The sweets are named after the sixth month in the traditional calendar.
'Minazuki' (水無月) can be translated as the 'Month of Water', referring to the flooding of the fields in preparation for the planting of rice seedlings.
Appearing in the Muromachi period, minatsuki were created to mimic the ice eaten around this time by the imperial court as part of a festival to cool down during the onslaught of summer.
Ice was prohibitively expensive, so the sweets were cut into triangles to look like ice🧊
Symbolism of minatsuki...
⚪️White/clear uirō-mochi (外郎餠) = freshly fallen snow.
🫘Azuki beans = red is an auspicious colour said to ward off evil (especially important in summer when disease spreads easily).
📐Triangular shape = brings to mind ice and cools the body.
Unusual minatsuki...
Photo 1: Tsuruya Kakuju-an's (鶴屋鶴壽庵) twist on the minatsuki has the beans inside kuzu!
Photos 2 and 3: Kagizen (かぎ甚) plays with the colour of the beans and the flavours.
🤍🫘- delicately flavoured with yuzu-peel (白 - ゆず皮入り)
🤎🫘- hōji-cha (roasted green tea - ほうじ茶)
#minatsuki #Kyoto #和菓子 #wagashi #水無月
We send Nao-san and Atsuko-san to perform increasingly daredevil outdoor tea ceremonies🧗♂️🍵
The Doro Gorge (瀞峡 'Doro-kyō') straddles the borders of Nara, Mie and Wakayama prefectures.
Situated at the headwaters of the Kitayama River, the ravine is part of the Yoshino-Kumano National Park (吉野熊野国立公園), and is one of Japan's special natural monuments of scenic beauty.
Yamabiko-bashi (山彦橋) reaches across the Doro Gorge (瀞峡) from Nara to Mie. Constructed in 1984, the suspension bridge is 25m high and 83m long.
Astonishingly it was damaged in 2011 by Tropical Storm Talas (紀伊半島大水害), the river waters rising above the bridge!😲
Doro-kyō is a 31km jagged ravine, with steep cliffs soaring (some more than 50m high) above the turquoise waters of the Kitayama River.
From upstream the gorge is divided into the Okudoro (奥瀞 'inner'), Kamidoro (上瀞 'upper'), and Shimodoro (下瀞 'lower') sections.
'Doro' (瀞) in this case refers to a deep part of a river where the current is gentle. The Kitayama River reaches depths of 20m in some parts.
The lower section of the gorge is also known as 'Dorohacchō' (瀞八丁). It is lined with strange shaped rocks and caves.
And for lunch...
Hayashi rice (ハヤシライス) may not be the fanciest of dishes, but you can't beat this view!✨
Hayashi rice is a popular Western-style dish of beef, onions and button mushrooms covered in a thick demi-glace sauce. It's mostly unknown in Western countries🤔
The meal originated in the mining town of Ikuno, but was perfected by a French engineer working there in 1868.
#瀞峡 #dorogorge #Nara #Mie #Wakayama
Shisen-dō (詩仙堂) most likely had the first 'sōzu' (添水) in Kyōto. It is thought Ishikawa Jōzan was the first person to incorporate a 'shishi-odoshi' (鹿威し), meant for scaring animals away from crops, as a decorative garden feature.
Shishi-odoshi (鹿おどし) are simple devices used to startle animals away from fields.
A hollow bamboo tube is pivoted to one side of its balance point. At rest its heavier end sits on a rock. Water trickles into the bamboo until the tube's centre of gravity is changed...💦
Overbalanced, the bamboo is upset, causing the accumulated water to pour out. Lightened once more, the bamboo falls back down to its resting position, thwacking the rock.
The loud clap caused by bamboo on rock scares away any nearby animals.
The device is also known as a 'sōzu' (僧都 lit. Buddhist priest) and 'tenka-sui' (添加水 lit. 'adding water'). The name 'sōzu' comes from Genpin Sōzu (玄賓僧都 734-818), a priest of the Hossō Sect (法相宗), who is credited with inventing the device.
Genpin lived a humble life. He was showered with titles and wealth after helping emperors Kanmu (桓武天皇 735-806) and Heizei (平城天皇 773-824) to recover from sickness, but refused the titles and gave his wealth to charity.
In Tanba and Bitchū provinces farmers complained birds and deers were ruining their crops. Genpin set up a device that would scare away the animals when the farmers were not in the fields. Grateful, they nicknamed the shishi-odoshi (鹿おどし) 'sōzu' (僧都 'monk').
#Shisendo #Kyoto #鹿威し #京都 #詩仙堂
Ryōsoku-in (両足院), a sub-temple of Kennin-ji (建仁寺), is affectionately known as the 'Temple of the Hangeshō' (半夏生の寺) at this time of year, when the herb "Chinese lizard's tail" begins to bloom in profusion.
It is not clear how hangeshō got its name.
For some it's because the plant's leaves turn white around the last seed-sowing day, the 11th day after the summer solstice. July 2nd-6th in the ancient calendar, 'Hangeshōzu' (半夏生 'crow-dipper sprouts'), was named after the plant.
Others have suggested that hangeshō, written with slightly different characters '半化粧' is a reference to the leaves turning partly white during blooming season.
'半化粧' could be translated as 'half finished make-up' or 'wearing only half make-up'.
Other names for the plant include 'katashirogusa' (片白草 lit. 'incomplete white herb'), thanks to the unfinished look of the white leaves, and 'mitsushirogusa' (三白草 '3 white leaves'), because only the plant's three central leaves change to white.
In the language of flowers (花言葉 'hanakotoba') hangeshō symbolise 'shyness' (the flowers use leaves as their petals, only appearing white at the last moment) and the 'passion within' (the whitening leaves represent the appearance of previously hidden feelings)🤔
July 2nd, with the hangeshō coming into full bloom, marked the last day in the calendar for planting seeds. Farmers commonly believed that ill winds and poisonous air appeared after this date, and plants would not grow if their seeds were sown too late.
Nao-san was lucky to snap up one of Okashimaru's (御菓子丸) 'hangeshō-no-hōju' (はんげしょうの宝珠 "orb of lizard's tail"), sold for a limited time at Ryōsoku-in (両足院).
Last year she missed out, so she was eager to get her hands on a box of the popular sweets this year.
Hange-ame (半夏生) describes the heavy rain falling at the beginning of July (floods caused by these downpours are known as 'hange-mizu' 半夏水).
Typically marking the end of tsuyu, some believed the god of the rice fields departed the paddies at this time (planting now over).
#Kyoto #Ryosokuin #両足院 #半夏生 #御菓子丸
To while away those rainy afternoons...a game of 'kai-awase' (貝合わせ).
Traditional or seasonal scenes are painted in elaborate detail on the inside of shells. The aim of the game is to find pairs amongst the shells (each half related in some way).
Clam shells from Ise Bay were considered ideal for 'kai-awase' (貝合わせ) as they fit comfortably in a girl's hand (this pastime was mostly played by women).
Once polished, the interior of the shells were covered with paper and gold leaf, onto which scenes or images were painted.
The half shells were separated into 2 octagonal boxes (桶): 'shells to be played' (出貝), representing earth/yin, and 'shells fixed in place' (地貝), symbolising heaven/yang.
At its most elaborate 360 matched shells (1 for each day of the year) would be in play, with 20 players!
🐚19 'fixed in place shells' (地貝 jigai) were arranged in a circle (representing 12 months/7 days), with the remaining shells placed in 9 lines (the layers of heaven).
🐚1 of the 'shells to be played' (出貝 dashigai) was placed face down and the task of finding its partner began.
Now here's the tricky part. Players do not look at the underside, but rather guess based on the shell's plain top (and memory). Matching pairs would fit perfectly together. A player confirms a match by showing the related images on the underside (cheating was impossible!).
🌊'GIFT FROM THE SEASHORE'🐚
Kameya Norikatsu's (亀屋則克) 'hamazuto' (浜土産) is produced specially for the summertime.
As Kyōto city is far from the sea, the sight of shells reminds us of cool ocean breezes (and has us longing for the coast🥹).
Inside the shell a rich amber jelly encases a dark, pearl-like bean. This miso-flavoured hama-nattō (浜納豆) gives the sweet confection a salty kick🦪😋
Presented in a bamboo basket (fishing net) with cypress sprig (seaweed), hamazuto brings the sea to the tearoom.
In one video Atsuko-san shows us the best way to eat hamazuto...using the shell as a spoon!🐚🥣
It's a little tricky prizing open the shells, but that's what makes them the perfect container for sweets😋
#貝合わせ #Kyoto #shellgame #wagashi #和菓子
Natsukan-tō are made from whole natsumikan.
A hole is cut in the top so the fruit and pulp can be carefully scooped out.
Agar and sugar are added to the squeezed out juice to make a smooth, clear jelly, which is then poured back into the natsumikan as serving dish!😋
(it may look relatively healthy, but do not be fooled!)
Amanatsu (甘夏), aka natsumikan (夏蜜柑), first appeared in Yamaguchi (山口県) in 1740.
It's thought the seeds washed up on the shore, and local people then began to cultivate the fruit. The 'ancestor' of the current natsumikan trees is now a designated natural monument!
Hagi (萩市) is famed for its natsumikan.
After the new Meiji Government abolished the warrior class, the old Mōri clan (毛利氏) encouraged the jobless samurai of Hagi to take up natsumikan cultivation. Many fruit farms still exist today.
#Oimatsu #Natsukanto #夏柑糖 #Kyoto #citrus
An afternoon hike amongst the foxes of Fushimi Inari. Kitsune are familiars of the 'rice god' Inari Ōkami (稲荷大神), enshrined here.
Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) is perhaps best known for its network of torii (鳥居) that snake up Mt. Inari (稲荷山).
Collectively called 'Senbon Torii' (千本鳥居 'The Thousand Torii'), the gates are a form of votive offering that appeared in large numbers after 1804.
At the beginning of this 'tunnel' of gates, increasingly labyrinthine as you climb, the torii tower over the path.
The shrine popularised vermillion gates, a colour thought to protect against evil and associated with the fertile earth (thus related to Inari, 'god of rice').
This particular red is known as 'akani' (赤丹), and was originally produced using (toxic) cinnabar.
Hata-no-Irogu (秦伊呂具) was inspired to found Fushimi Inari Taisha in 711.
A large rice cake Irogu was using as an archery target changed into a white bird and led him up the mountainside.
When he finally caught up with the bird it transformed into a field of rice!🦢🌾🙏
#fushimiinaritaisha #伏見稲荷大社 #千本鳥居 #kitsune #torii
The early bird catches the worm, and the early morning photographer may well catch the bamboo groves peaceful and empty.
The sun rising beyond the bamboo was worth the sleepy start.
In Japanese the phrase "hayaoki wa sanmon no toku" (早起きは三文の徳 "waking up early gets you 3 mon") has the same meaning as "the early bird catches the worm"🪱🐦
Mon (文) was a unit of currency used in the Edo period (a bowl of simple soba was about 16 mon)🪙
It is a rare day indeed when you get to walk the Sagano "Bamboo Road" without crowds busily trying to catch that golden photo.
#Arashiyama #bamboo #嵯峨野竹林の道 #竹林の道 #Kyoto
In 811 Kūkai (空海) left his post at Otokuni-dera (乙訓寺) to visit the nearby temple of Yōkoku-ji (楊谷寺).
Whilst on retreat he noticed monkeys returning each day to a spring. Rather than drink, they washed the eyes of a blind infant🙈💦🤔
On the 17th day observing the monkeys Kūkai was shocked to see the infant's eyesight restored!
He took his tokko (独鈷), a single-pronged vajra used in esoteric rituals, and touched it against the spring's rock. It cracked and the trickle of water grew to fill a generous pool.
Just like nearby Yoshimine-dera, Yōkoku-ji is famed for its pure waters.
Above the inner shrine is a small spring known as 'Minori-sui' (神徳水 the 'Water of Divine Virtues'), once thought to be the key to perpetual youth (or at the very least a long life).
Nowadays the spring is more deeply associated with beauty, thanks to Yodo-dono (淀殿 ), the 2nd wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. During a visit to the temple she washed her face in the small pool, and almost immediately her beauty became linked to the waters.
Visitors to the spring nowadays purchase a towel before praying.
Just as Yodo-dono did all those years ago, pray (typically a beauty-themed wish), splash your face, and dry yourself off. The effect on the skin is said to be instantaneous🧐
When troubled by a disease of the eyes, Emperor Reigen (霊元天皇 ) visited 'Tokko-sui' (独鈷水), the older of the temple's 2 sacred springs.
He was cured, and for a long time afterwards the temple sent regular water offerings to the palace (even when it moved to Tōkyō).
For Tokko-sui to actually work, worshippers must follow a strict set of rules.
Begin by praying at the main hall, then travel up the 'Ajisai-no-michi' to the inner sanctuary to pray again. Return to the main hall to pray for a final time, and only then should you drink.
#Kyoto #楊谷寺 #Yokokuji #hydrangeas #紫陽花
One of the most unforgettable moments of our last stay in Kyoto was visiting our friends at Camellia Tea Garden.
They welcomed us with incredible warmth and offered us a private tea ceremony that will forever remain in our hearts.
At the end, we shared a small musical ritual with traditional Japanese melodies played on flute and violin.
Here's a two-camera recording that attempts to capture the atmosphere of connection and love for Kyoto that unites us.
Thank you for welcoming us
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Camellia's engagement
Camellia's engagement rate on Instagram is 2.02%, between 1% and 3%, or 1 to 3 likes and comments per 100 followers. On a typical post that comes to about 1 like or comment for every 50 followers. Likes outnumber comments by roughly 54 to 1, with 107 likes and 2 comments on an average post, so most reactions are taps rather than replies.
Engagement rate
2.02%
- Avg likes
- 107
- Avg comments
- 2
- Interactions : followers
- 1 : 50
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These answers about Camellia are generated from the Instagram profile data Flinque holds for the account.
Who is Camellia?
Camellia (@camellia.kyoto) is an Arts & entertainment creator on Instagram, also filed under Entertainment. Camellia is set up as an Instagram business account. The Instagram bio for Camellia runs to 16 words across 2 lines.
How many followers does Camellia have?
Camellia has 5,864 followers on Instagram (5.9K). Camellia follows 623 accounts, so the audience is roughly 9.4 times the size of the list followed. Camellia has built a substantial archive of 1,570 posts.
What is Camellia's engagement rate?
Camellia's engagement rate on Instagram is 2.02%, between 1% and 3%, or 1 to 3 likes and comments per 100 followers. On a typical post that comes to about 1 like or comment for every 50 followers. Likes outnumber comments by roughly 54 to 1, with 107 likes and 2 comments on an average post, so most reactions are taps rather than replies.
What does Camellia post about on Instagram?
Flinque files Camellia under Arts & entertainment, with Entertainment as a secondary category. Of the 10 most recent posts shown for Camellia, 9 are carousels and 1 is a video. The 10 recent Instagram captions Flinque holds for Camellia repeatedly use the words known, were, bamboo, rice and it's. Camellia's captions carry hashtags such as #kyoto, #和菓子 and #wagashi. Camellia writes those captions mainly in English. Camellia keeps 6 story highlights, which open with a free Flinque account.
How do I contact Camellia for a collaboration?
Camellia's contact details are not published on Flinque's public profile. The Instagram bio links to 1 external site, and a free Flinque account opens that link. The account is registered as an Instagram business account. Brands with a free Flinque account can shortlist Camellia and use Flinque's outreach tools wherever a contact route is on file.
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