The following are some of the basic items we use in tea ceremony. There are many more items, and they can vary considerably by the tradition one practices, Omotesenke, Urasenke, Mushanokojisenke, etc. While I practice Omotesenke tea, I have also included a few examples from other schools. In most of the photos you can see […]
A teahouse meant to be, in the Penryn countryside
March 28, 2020 by Leave a Comment
When Sumie Ward arrived in Los Angeles in 1959, she had no idea she would eventually become a meiyo shihan (distinguished master) in the Urasenke tradition of Japanese tea ceremony. She was more concerned about her soon-to-be-born first child and establishing her roots in a country where most people did not speak Japanese. “The American […]
Tea for two
March 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment
In San Francisco’s Outer Richmond district, Larry Sokyo Tiscornia, 69, and Kimika Soko Takechi, 68, teach tea as members of San Francisco Urasenke Tankokai. The couple met while taking Saturday tea classes with Soko Kobara, founder of the Tankokai, and have since been together, teaching all aspects of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Prior to […]
Learning tea at San Francisco State University
April 1, 2016 by Leave a Comment
San Francisco State University offers two unique classes to undergraduate and graduate students of its Japanese Program. The university is officially registered to teach its students the Omotesenke School of Tea, and has been doing so since 2009. Midori McKeon, professor of Japanese and an Omotesenke lecturer, teaches semester-long classes on Japanese tea ceremony, or […]
Zen living in Oakland
August 20, 2015 by Leave a Comment
OAKLAND, Calif. — Aside from running the renown jazz club and Japanese restaurant Yoshi’s in Oakland, Calif., the club’s owners and former married couple Yoshie Akiba and Kaz Kajimura share a uniquely Japanese home in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland. The home, built in the early 1960s next to a great brick Catholic priory, features […]
Japanese cultural arts classes
April 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Editor’s Note: Don’t see your cultural group listed? Contact us at cbfguide@nichibeiweekly.org to add your group to our cultural arts class listings. Daion Taiko Location: Orange County Buddhist Church, 909 S. Dale Ave., Anaheim, Calif. Contact: (714) 827-9590, daion78@gmail.com, ocbuddhist.org Drum Revolution Location: Belmont, Calif.; Orinda, Calif. and El Cerrito, Calif. Contact: (510) 926-9780, info@drumrevolution.com, […]
Forging a path for tea ceremony in the United States
April 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The Urasenke tradition of tea ceremony in the San Francisco Bay Area is strongly affiliated with the Kobara family. Meiyo Shihan (Distinguished Master) Soko Kobara and her late husband Seiji Kobara co-founded the Chado Urasenke Tankokai San Francisco Association 55 years ago and have been an instrumental part of the Urasenke tradition of tea in […]
Japanese cultural classes
April 4, 2014 by 2 Comments
Taiko San Francisco GenRyu Arts Location: Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, 1840 Sutter St., S.F.’s Japantown Contact: (415) 420-3151, info@genryuarts.org, www.genryuarts.org Maikaze Daiko Location: Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St., S.F. Contact: (415) 513-7798, info@maikazedaiko.org, www.maikazedaiko.org San Francisco Taiko Dojo Classes: 212 Ryan Way South San Francisco, CA 94080 Contact: (415) 928-2456, […]
MUSHAKOJI SENKE: The Third Way of Tea
April 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Following the creation of the Japanese tea ceremony by Rikyu Sen in the 16th century, the school eventually split into three. The most well-known of the three are the Omotesenke and Urasenke schools, both with branches in San Francisco. The third and smallest school, practiced only by a handful of people on the West Coast, […]
OMOTESENKE: The appreciation of tea
April 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It is customary when greeting guests to first serve tea in typical Japanese custom. This longtime tradition of Japanese etiquette and culture is, at its core, an artform that concentrates on fulfilling the role of being an excellent host, says John Larissou, tea instructor for the Omotesenke school of tea. “The term ‘tea ceremony’ is […]
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