I attended the kid's tea ceremony.
The junior high schools are encouraging students to have various experiences through school club activities. My youngest daughter belongs to the tea ceremony club of her junior high school. Today a tea ceremony party was held. The party was hosted by kids who belong to the tea ceremony club of their school or learn it privately.
British people are famous for loving tea. In fact, they take their tea seriously, but they don't have to go to college for a long time. In Japan, if you want to know how to handle the tea ceremony, you have to have someone as your private teacher and you will be given a diploma.
By the way, the guests were shown to their seat after paying the entry fee. They had to conduct themselves decently. Just after taking a seat, Japanese traditional candies were served to everyone by kids who behaved modestly and decently. All the kids were so polite.
The tea ceremony party (Chanoyu) is a drama as well as a drink. Watching the precision of my daughter --- folding and re-folding the napkin, wiping the bowl, ladling the water and whisking the tea --- makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
I turned my bowl, once, twice. I drank. The tea (matcha) was bitter, but perfect after the sweets.
The tea ceremony must be one of the great traditions of Japanese culture.
The photo shows my youngest daughter. The photo was taken by an additional camera of my cell phone, so the image is not clear.
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