e-ShortNews

Appreciating Tea Ceremony with its Spirit of “Wakei Seijaku
Date: Sat. Mar.15, 2008 Place: Sakura Plaza / 21 attendees
Yoshiko Nakajima, Japanese Language Education Committee

One Saturday afternoon, when cherry blossoms were about to start blooming, “Invitation to the Tea Ceremony” was held, organized by Ms. Rumiko Iwasaki and Ms. Yasuko Kamata in charge of Japanese Class Exchange Programs. This program was planned mainly for Friendship members, and 11 Friendship members and 2 regular members joined. The program started in a tense atmosphere. The host (Teishu) was Ms. Masumi Saito. The guest of honor (shoukyaku) was played by Ms. Sachiko Kiriyama, the 2nd guest (jikyaku) by Ms. Takeko Hashimoto, and the 3rd guest (sankyaku) by Ms. Keiko Kajitani. Friendship members sitting upright with their legs folded under them looked seriously to what would happen next.
After the ceremony was over, kimono dressed Ms.Kiriyama, who played shoukyaku explained the spirit of “Wakei Seijaku” - harmony, reverence, purity and tranquility. Questions were also raised by Friendship members. As the atmosphere lightened Ms. Kiriyama explained the cake used in the ceremony, which was named “Cherry Blossom”, and how to drink the tea. And finally, the cake and the tea were served to everyone.
After a while, some friendship members who were chosen by lottery actually prepared tea as a host and experienced “the spirit of tea ceremony”. It was their first host performance (otemae), and they looked so serious, which we had never seen in Japanese classes before.
The tea ceremony took about 2 hours. “This was the most enjoyable tea ceremony I’ve ever joined”, “I enjoyed and felt relaxed”, and other comments were given by Friendship members. By those comments, even I, who only did the ohakobi (carrying a bowl of tea to each guest), was encouraged. I would like to express my appreciation to everyone who participated in this program.