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Kozue Ebina and Emi Arai await other guests to join them for the Japanese Tea Ceremony, which took place in the Charleston/Mattoon Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union on Wednesday afternoon. The presentation was the last of the year for the international forum.

International forum hosts tea party

By: Youngchi Chang/ Staff Writer

Posted: 4/21/05

Kind smiles and the aroma of green tea were in abundance Wednesday night at the international forum, where Eastern students and staff were introduced to Japanese culture.

The forum, a Japanese tea ceremony, was sponsored by the International Programs Office and provided a unique opportunity for students to understand and experience another culture. It was held in the Charleston/Mattoon Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Five Japanese international students and one guest participant introduced Japan and its culture through images of the country during the presentation. Eastern is currently home to eight Japanese students.

"It is very special how Japanese people traditionally make and serve teas," said Emi Arai, a sophomore sociology major.

Wearing the traditional dress called Yukata, the Japanese female students performed the ceremony, called Sado, on the table set instead of a traditional Japanese room, which is used to treat guests in a host's house.

"Audiences might have not only gained a greater understanding of Japanese culture but also a visual treat from the beauty of the event," said Sue Songer, international student adviser.

Kozue Ebina, a music graduate student, showed how to make the tea and serve it in traditional way.

The tea is served in a bowl called Chawan. Ebina poured hot water with Matcha, a bitter green tea powder, and stirred it with a Chasei, a stirring utensil. All tools introduced to make the tea were from Japan to show the audiences, Arai said.

The ceremony was first introduced in Japan in the ninth century from China for medicinal usage. Drinking the tea in the traditional ceremony had spread out to all levels of society by the 16th century.

"Actually, I didn't know well how to make the tea until preparing for this forum," Arai said.

Arai learned how to perform the Japanese ceremony from the Internet and Ebina's grandmother, who was a teacher at the Urasenke, which is a top school in Japan that has taught the ritual for more than three decades. The students gathered and prepared information about the Japanese traditional tea ceremony.

This presentation was a chance for guests to experience the unique ceremony first hand.

"(The green tea) wasn't bitter," said Doug Robinson, a senior marketing major. "I enjoyed it lot and was able to learn what Japanese culture is like. It was very great," he said.

However, the tradition has faded. Although many young people in Japan still drink the tea, they do not make the tea in the traditional way.

"My grandparents' generation drank the tea everyday," Arai said. "The old people have tried to keep the tradition, but today's people just use disposable tea-bags because (the traditional way) takes much time and needs patience."