Tea Ceremony

　Thank you for the tea ceremony　I will remember this day as the day of　learning one of significant and important tradition of Japanese people. I saw in tea ceremony great politeness and respect in the way of treatment with the guests. And this tradition of tea ceremony as I understood was not only to drink tea with the company, you felt unity with everyone who was present on the ceremony.

　It was great pleasure to me to wear Kimono, I even felt myself like Japanese woman. When you wear Kimono you even move in the way like Japanese do.

　Such events like this tea ceremony gives an opportunity to people from different countries to share their cultural values with each other and enhances knowledge of each other traditions.

Natalya Volhina from Ukraine

The Japanese Tea Ceremony, which was organized for the 14 JICA participants by the Kosaka International Society on 27 June 2004, was very fascinating. The occasion was sentimental and fascinating for the participants to be feted on traditional Japanese tea prepared in the same way, as it has been for the hundreds of years strictly observing every detail.

The occasion was an honourable welcome to people of diverse cultural backgrounds to learn the well-preserved culture that has defied all odds of Japanese societal modernity. The venue of the ceremony, the residence of the last Samurai of Kosaka, and the presence of the young girls serving the tea added to the splendour of the ceremony.

Natalya VOLHINA from Ukraine donned a kimono for the occasion and looked more Japanese than Ukrainian. She looked so elegant that fellow participants could not recognize here at
first glance in the kimono. She was inducted to the tea preparation and serving procedure by the Sensei who was the key person in the tea preparation and kept explaining each step of the process. Although Natalya had difficulties to muster all the techniques, she prepared and served her tea anyway, to the delight of the participants. This alluring ceremony will create lasting memories in all participants.

By Zion San - Zambia　30 June 2004