Tea Ceremony

Today we woke up early to go to Mishima. Before coming to Japan I expressed my wished to take part (or whiteness) a traditional tea ceremony (not conducted for tourists). After many back-and-forth e-mails, we managed to set a date for this sacred ceremony. Today was that day.

When arriving at Mishima station, we were greeted by five blooming elderly women. These greeted us with a series of pictures, which mostly included a large print of my face on them with the caption: “Sonia!”. Not only did they plan to take us to the tea ceremony, but also had a whole day planned to take us through Mishima.

First we visited a Japanese Garden, in which stood a house that used to belong to the Japanese Emperor family. Some floor tiles in this house were so expensive that other houses could be built with the same money. Therefore, we were prohibited from touching anything or to make pictures. Nevertheless, I still managed to get a decent outside-shot from the house.

Afterwards, they decided to take us to the Mishima museum where we then exchanged gifts. Our family was presented with a homemade Japanese-learning card game, while our hostesses were presented with cheesy Brussels souvenirs.

This now takes us to the Tea ceremony. After having had a traditional Japanese meal (sushi on tatami), we went to the religious center of Mishima – a place I had been at twice before already: 

Shichi go san (celebrating my three years of life) 

Mishima Taisha

In the center was a small temple. In the inner circle of the temple, only the most important Japanese residents were allowed to sit (including the previous Mishima Mayor). We were placed on the outside of the temple, to be able to watch the sacred craft that is Tea. Slowly (taking about 10 minutes per Tea cup), an elderly woman started preparing the macha tea. These pictures illustrate the atmosphere of the ceremony:  

Preparation of Tea

Guests in the Temple

After the ceremony we were sat down a few meters away from the temple and all guests were handed iced macha tea with traditional Japanese sweets on the side. The tea itself  (from the ceremony) was not actually consumed by anyone, but given to the gods (by my understanding).

After a brief session of bowing and thanking our Japanese guests, we returned to Numazu. There we went to the beach and bathed in clear, still water. It felt like being in a giant swimming pool. In the evening we went to the summer fest in Mishima once again and ate many traditional Japanese dishes from stands on the street. This also meant saying goodbye to Takao for the next couple of days, since our journey will now take us to Miyajima (west of Japan).

Song of today:

The Ballad of John and Yoko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obEtgWkksU4