Event notice: tea ceremony, Sat. March 30

The “Kōka” teahouse in the garden of the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, an Important Cultural Property

Experience an authentic tea ceremony with English explanation in a historic teahouse within a beautiful Japanese garden. Saturday March 30, 2019 at 1:00 pm. Hosted by the Mushakōji Senke School of Tea at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, guided/interpreted by me.  Sign ups (in English) will begin Monday March 4, 2019 from 10 am on the museum’s English-language website.  Look for the notice it in the “programs” section.  (It’s not up yet as I write this so I can’t provide an exact link.)

Location: “Kōka” Teahouse, in the garden of the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum

Host: a tea master from the Chōsō group of the Mushakōji Senke School of Tea, one of the three historical households directly descended from the 16th century tea master Sen no Rikyū.

The garden is beautiful in all seasons. It was recently restored, after a closure of several years.

Capacity:  20  (reservations will be closed as soon as a session reaches capacity). This will fill up quickly so if you’d like to attend, please don’t delay in signing up.

Fee: 1,000 yen per person for one session (includes a serving of “usucha” tea and a traditional sweet). You will also need to purchase regular museum admission (900 yen), which gives you access to the museum, the current exhibition and the gardens. You’ll be able to see the beautiful Art Deco house that is the museum’s main building and the current exhibition of surreal photo collages by Okanoue Toshiko.  Or you can buy just the  garden-only admission (200 yen).

Picture from an earlier tea ceremony event with English.  There is time to admire the utensils and ask questions, and photography is ok (before and after the ceremony).