Japanese Tea Ceremony

In Japan when important guest come to visit, it is accent tradition to serve them tea.

This is a very formal ceremony. There is always a preparer, a bowl carrier, and the guest. Every action in the ceremony matters. Even how you stand up from sitting.

Today we learned how to be guest and servers in the tea ceremony. The guest will have on the traditional kimonos.

 

 

They will then kneel down on these pillows and wait for their tea to be served.

They use a green tea powder and mix it with hot water. The tea is bitter. In order to sweeten it, you eat the sugar candy before taking a sip.

A good guest will make a slurping sound with their tea to indicate that they enjoy it. 

 

 

I have really enjoyed learning so many traditional Japanese customs. I have only been in Japan for four days, and am blown away with how much I have done/learned. I can not wait to see what the next 4 weeks has in store.