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1
Condition the cedar tray. Wipe the sugi surface with a clean damp cloth and allow it to dry naturally in a well-ventilated space until the surface is barely cool to the touch and faintly fragrant. A tray that smells of soap or is visibly wet is unfit for service.
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2
Prepare the umi no mono elements. Scald the sea bream skin side only with near-boiling water for the yubiki — the skin firms and whitens while the flesh beneath remains translucent and raw-cool. Portion the komochi konbu into a single piece per guest; it should hold its form and carry the distinct, briny snap of the roe.
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3
Roast the ginkgo nuts over direct heat or in a dry pan, turning constantly, until the shells crack and the kernel within turns a translucent jade-green throughout. A nut that remains white at the centre is underdone; one that has gone yellow is past its moment.
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4
Compose the tray — this is where the dish lives or dies. Working on the conditioned cedar surface, place the largest or most visually commanding element (the crab claw in its shell) at the far left as the anchor of the composition. Arrange the remaining elements across the tray in an odd number of distinct groupings, allowing negative space (ma) to breathe between each. No element should touch another. The composition is read as a landscape: sea elements to one side, mountain elements to the other, seasonal botanical garnish placed last to fix the season in the eye. A crowded tray, or one in which items share temperature, colour, or provenance without contrast, has failed its purpose.
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5
Present the tray immediately. The wood should carry its natural cedar fragrance to the guest; if that scent has faded or been replaced by food odour from a previous service, the tray must be reconditioned. Sake is poured formally at this moment — the only course in kaiseki at which alcohol is served as a structural part of the course, not an accompaniment.