A Taste of Tea Part II

Earlier this year we had written about the Chado Tea Ceremony demonstration last February at the Japanese American National Museum. After speaking with our host Mrs. Miki Gill who spoke on behalf of Mrs. Sofu Hamano, Member of Urasenke Tankokai LA Association, we were offered an opportunity to participate in a private Tea Ceremony where we could embellish the experience in the proper setting of a real Japanese tea house. As such opportunities do not come often; we kindly accepted their offer this time bringing my wife along who had won a chance to partake in the last demonstration but were unable to. Talk about make up gifts! What we were in for far exceeded our wildest imaginations. As you read on, you will understand why.

We have seen many elaborate Tea Ceremony depicted in films and Television going back to James Clavell’s Shogun but nothing can possibly compare to experiencing a formal Tea Ceremony in its proper setting. To put it figuratively, we were entering the domain once privately reserved for powerful warlords of the likes of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Despite being situated outside of Japan, the minute we crossed through the small wooden gate reminiscent of those still found in old Samurai mansions carefully preserved in Kagoshima, the veneer of being in Southern California slipped away as we stepped back in time into another world; - A world of the great Tea Master Rikkyu of the Warring States Period and to a reality of its own. 

My wife & I had followed Mrs. Cheiko into a small Zen like tatami lined room which we found upon appearance indistinguishable from the serene inviting tea rooms seen on NHK documentaries. Instantly, we were instantly greeted with the fresh aroma of pine and tatami that reminded us of our last visit to the Grand Tsubaki Shinto Shrine up north in Washington State. So tranquil a setting, the modern world outside no longer existed and the best part was yet to come. Once situated, we would enter our names into their guestbook and wait to be taken to the main room via a small stone lined path of a small hidden garden. As guests, we cordially followed the instructions in the time honored etiquette of our hosts. In such a setting, one cannot stress enough the importance of etiquette in such a formal setting which made us feel right at home and not out of place in traditional Japanese attire. Both hosts and guests are expected to adhere to tradition which makes for a welcome formality leaving no one feeling out of place. 

From this point on we had immersed ourselves into this beautiful hidden world an ocean away from Japan’s shores and yet feeling as if we were truly there. Every detail from the carefully placed stepping stones, to the simple yet meaningful flower arrangements let you know where you were. We were in the presence of a real tea master whose linage could be traced back to the great master himself. As for her students, not one detail is remiss. They move with dignified grace with their carefully choreographed movements and skills respective to their master’s teachings which has been perfected over generations. When the student achieves this level of mastery, every gesture flows in a delicate yet tranquil balance like the way a Sakura petal flows atop a stream. This art form has taken generations of tea masters of the Urasenke Tradition to perfect going back to the 16^th Century Tea Master Rikkyu. One could clearly see how this combined blend of ceremony & ritual attained its cultural prominence in Japan which lucky for us endures to this day. As I looked out to the open panel towards the distant mountains and the surrounding Los Angeles basin, I could not help but think of what magnificent view Takeda Shingen must have had atop his mountain castle in Kai from such a setting. The thought and preparation to create such a space that evokes such imagery is part of what makes Japanese Tea Ceremony so unique.

For people who still do not understand Japanese Tea Ceremony, there is more to this than simply preparing tea. There is careful consideration and great care given to every detail from the choice of implements to the choice appropriate tea cups to be served to meet the specific individual guests. What we cannot tell you is the exact step by step procedures nor could we properly describe it any way that could do it justice. The reason being it takes a long time to train these techniques and to understand the intricate meanings behind every motion and dignified gesture. That being said, there is no way in the course of one day one could possibly learn enough to share with you nor would we try to attempt to. But what we can tell you in layman’s terms is that Tea Ceremony is a precise living embodiment of the Zen like aspiration to achieve the perfection of the one thing. And in that purpose Hamano Sensei had masterfully succeeded in achieving that goal. We at American Mishima were deeply honored to Hamano Sensei for giving us this opportunity to experience such a beautiful Tea Ceremony which we will treasure for a lifetime!

If you would like to learn more about the fine art of Japanese Tea Ceremony or wish to learn how to serve tea in the Urasenke Tradition here in the United States please visit their beautiful website at:

Urasenkela.org 

一日の画像 - Picture of the Day

Seen here is the real "Ichiro" (aka the author of American Mishima) from the Oxnard Air Show 1978. 

Who knew this would one day be the inspiration for our little book Ichiro Dreams in Color.

一日の画像 - Picture of the Day

President Obama dedicate Ema at Meiji Shrine.

Picture of the Day: Ritual Essance

As part of an ongoing tradition dating back to the Age of Myths, Emperor Akihito is seen here in court ceremony and ritual harvest festival 2014. Ritual is as important as in times past. They say as the Emperor prays for peace and rich harvests, the essence of the Emperor is ritual. Such rituals are the spirit of Japan.

First Excerpt from My Dad's War in Vietnam

On my dad’s way to Vietnam that summer of 1965, the ships carrying the men of the 1^st Air Cavalry Division namely my dad’s D Company 15^th Transportation Corps arrived in Hawaii for a brief stopover. And like many of the young men whose first time in Hawaii was to go out and see the sights, my father visited Waikiki Beach to take the obligatory photograph with the iconic Diamond Head in the background. What happened next was rather unexpected. You see being from Mexico City, it was not so common to run into people outside of Mexico to be speaking Mexico City Spanish much less in of all places Waikiki Beach. But low and behold the familiar dialect my father had known since youth beckoned him to approach the two older sunbathing ladies conversing in the tropical sun to ask them where they were from. They instantly recognized my father’s Spanish as being from Mexico City and rejoiced to have met a fellow countryman so far from home. They asked him what he was doing there in which my father revealed he was on his way to the jungles Vietnam. The idea of seeing a young man on his way to war must have struck a chord with them as they revealed they had just visited the Vatican in Rome. They presented my father with a small medallion they said was blessed by Pope Paul VI and asked that he wear it so that he would come home alive. My father true to his Catholic faith wore this medallion and it is still with us today.  

History's Unexpected Find: Japan's Sole Titantic Survivor

When people think of the century ago tragedy of the RMS Titanic, one conjures up the images of the wives and children of aristocrats rowing away in half empty lifeboats while the poor Irish passengers from steerage cling to the ships stern for some slim chance of survival in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. While it was known there were other European peoples on board the ship, what many people do not know is that there was a sole Japanese man aboard the ill fated ocean liner. More astonishing, he survived!

His name was Masabumi Hosono. As history records Hosono was a 42 year old man who worked for the Ministry of Transport who two years earlier had been sent to out then Imperial Russia to study their railway system. His journey took him from Russia to London to his passage aboard the fabled doomed liner as a Second Class Passenger. When he was awoken by a cabin steward to alert Hosono that lifeboats were already being launched, the steward assumed he was a Third Class passenger. Hosono made past all the obstruction to the boat deck where he made note of the careless firing of flares which he described as being ceaseless, hideous, and terrifying. The desperate scene aboard the boat deck had left him to contemplate his fate and the thoughts of never seeing his wife of children again when suddenly an opportunity for survival opened up.

As Lifetboat No.10 was lowered someone shouted "Room for two more!" Hosono observed a man jumping into the boat inspiring him to take a leap of fate that would save his life. Of course he would still have to endure the extraordinary sounds of explosions of the ship breaking apart and the screams and cries of those who would die with the ship. By his own account he recalled: "After the ship sank there came back again frightful shrills and cries of those drowning in the water. Our lifeboat too was filled with sobbing, weeping children and women worried about the safety of their husbands and fathers. And I, too, was as much depressed and miserable as they were, not knowing what would become of myself in the long run."

While such an account of survival such as Hosono's would have been found to be remarkable in the West, he was ostracized and subjected to Mura-Hachibu as well as being heavily condemned as a coward by the Japanese Press for "Betraying the Samurai Spirit and not going down with the ship." He had been described as a stowaway by one survivor and subject to racial prejudice in the inquiry that followed the disaster where one crew member accused Hosono of disguising himself as a woman to escape aboard Lifeboat No.10, an accusation that was false yet played heavily in the Japanese Press of that time. Hosono would lose his job but soon re-employed by the ministry because he was too valuable and would continue to work for it until his death in 1939. However this did not stop Japanese textbooks from using him as an example of how to be dishonorable.  Hosono would die in obscurity that same year of 1939. His family would never speak of it for it had become a source of family shame until the 1990's. After James Cameron's Titanic was released, two private letters detailing Hosono's accounts were made public which as declared by Hosono's grandson Haruomi Hosono restored the Hosono family honor.

一日の画像 - Picture of the Day

Los Angeles Koyasan Buddhist Temple members make Hanamatsuri sweet tea offering to mark the Buddha's birthday.