1:00 - 3:30
Learn how ceremonial Japanese tea is served. Space limited. Registration is required. Registration link will become available on Wed, 2/11/2026, 8 am, PST.
The program begins with a screening of a short video created by Omotesenke, titled Chanoyu: A Visual Poem, Weaving the Four Seasons.
According to Japanese Tea Culture: The Omotesenke Tradition, Chanoyu "is filled with assorted rules on the handling of tea utensils, proper etiquette, and the repetition of set movements, which lends it a weighty air of formality. Formality is not, however, the most essential quality of chanoyu. The phrase "tea ceremony," which has often been used as a translation for chanoyu, is thus somewhat misleading....The rules of chanoyu must be understood not as mere formalities but as a kind of training that is focused upon in order to reach a specific goal."
Tea Ceremony, known in Japanese as cha no yu (literally, "hot water for tea") and chadō, or sadō ("the way of tea"), the formal service of tea to guests as a performing art. The study of the tea ceremony involves such arts as ceramics, calligraphy, poetry, and architecture, as well as historical, philosophical, and religious dimensions."
"Tea Ceremony." In Encyclopedia of Asian History. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988. Gale In Context: World History (accessed December 3, 2025). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/BT2358201817/WHIC?u=sfpl_main&sid=bookmark-WHIC&xid=0dee928c.
NR, 29 mins, 2007.
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