One day Gary went to the International Center in Sendai to "check it out" and see what it offered in case our Missionaries could be of service in order to meet people. He noticed on the bulletin board this demonstration of an official Japanese Tea Ceremony and he decided to sign us up to attend. Sister Noonchester and Gary and I were the only attenders from the mission office. It was quite delightful.
Sister Noonchester waiting in the hallway before we entered the ceremony room.
A group of Girl Scouts were there to learn this tradition. It is dying out. As you enter
the room you place your little fan in front of you, put both hands together and bow
to the floor in front of the tea pot.
This little girl scout was so young and cute. I had to take her picture.
These two ladies were our sensai (teachers).
The server (girl in orange) is dipping hot water into the cup with a traditional wooden ladle while the other ladies spoon the green tea powder into the cups. Before this happened, the green tea powder was passed around the room for participants to admire it and smell it and appreciate it. This was done with great reverence, slowly and quietly.
This was a sweet bean treat that was served with the tea. Because it was Hina Matsuri time, they added pink flowers to the top for garnish. I'm not a fan of sweet bean but Japanese people love it.
Before this server girl stood up to leave, she always bowed to
the hostess with her hands in front of her.
This was our contact lady who helped us. She is such a nice lady. She has sons who have been involved in the scouting program as teens and were members of the Kamisugi Ward Scout troop. She knew where the church was and had been in it many times for scouting events. She realized who we were after seeing our missionary badges.
Cute little girls.
They demonstrated how to make "frothy" tea by whisking it with a bamboo brush. Then they allowed each of us to come and practice--but it was all very ceremonial. Gary went first
but the video I took of him wouldn't upload.
I went second. It was all fine and kind of fun --except kneeling with legs under you like Japanese do is impossible for me. I suppose if I grew up sitting like this all the time, it would be easy but since I did not, sitting on the floor is miserable for me.
At the end, it was time to take pictures of the group.
This box is a 200 year old traditional box to carry items for the Tea Ceremony.
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