Tuesday, Oct. 9 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the Susquehanna Room in Myer Residence Hall at Elizabethtown College, associate professor of Japanese Dr. Nobuaki Takahashi, gave a presentation titled “The Way of Tea, The Way of Life” on the history of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
The Way of Tea is an ancient ceremonial practice that is still being observed by about two million people around the world today.
The tea drinking custom first came from China in the seventh century from the tea master Rikuu, in which many people found spirituality. Over the next 12 centuries, the tea making practices developed into techniques that are seen now, like infusing tea leaves by boiling.
The traditional tea ceremony that Takahashi performs typically includes a powdered tea called matcha, a type of green tea. Matcha is especially popular today in mainstream society because of its rich taste and health benefits, including protection against heart disease and cancer and regulating blood sugar and pressure levels.
Matcha was imported from China by Eisai and connected tea to Zen Buddhism through meditation. Matcha also helped keep people awake and alleviate pain.
This tea ceremony was originally only used by monks and samurai warriors, but after the Meiji restoration and westernization, women also began to practice the art.
While a traditional Japanese tea ceremony was quite common in the past, it is now mostly used for special occasions.
The main purpose is not the tea itself, but the preparation, choreography and the connection made with the guest(s) of the ceremony.
In completing the set rituals of the ceremony, the host gives up what they think is best in exchange for only doing something if the guest will like it or approve.
This practice is called omotenashi, or a “mindfulness of hospitality,” according to Takahashi. Both the guest and the host are responsible for knowing the procedures of the ceremony and are expected to behave as if that is the last time seeing that person. Takahashi described this as “one lifetime, one meeting/gathering”, or “Ichi-go ichi-e.”
Executive Director of College Engagement Opportunities Mark Clapper began the event with some of Etown’s affiliations with Japan. This includes Nihon University, which the College’s president, Dr. Carl Strikwerda, visited and hosted multiple Japanese scientists at Etown to study after the Three Mile Island incident occurred.
Takahashi was then introduced and delved into the background of the ceremony and its preparation.
While Takahashi did grow up in Japan, he admitted that he was never really interested in traditional tea ceremonies. He was more interested in “playing baseball and listening to heavy metal,” more western cultured than traditional Japanese ceremonies.
But, after coming to the United States about 20 years ago, Takahashi has found a new appreciation for the art form not through the eyes of a native Japanese man, but through more objective, American lenses.
Takahashi began practicing the way of tea about a year and a half ago from an American tea teacher in York where he receives lessons either weekly or bi-weekly.
As he becomes more and more experienced in the Japanese tea ceremony, Takahashi said he hopes to one day pass down the art form to his students here at Etown as well.
He is in the midst of writing a proposal to the school, which includes an idea for a new class pertaining to tea. The course would consist of a lecture-based history of the Japanese tea ceremony and an interactive portion with practicing the rituals and making of the tea.
Takahashi said he believes that by learning about the art of Japanese tea ceremonies, one can have more global and cultural appreciation and grow as a person.
The whole ceremony is about putting others’ needs before yourself and understanding those needs. These are the lessons that Takahashi said he hopes to instill in his students, not just for their education, but to practice in their daily lives as well.
“It will take a lot of self-respect to be humble,” Takahashi stated.
