#WingedWordsWindsday: 12/15/2021 -- My First Visit to Japan House

 WINGED WORDS WINDSDAY

Compiled by Rob Chappell (@RHCLambengolmo)

Vol. 1, No. 7: December 15, 2021

 

 

“My First Visit to Japan House”

By Rob Chappell, M.A.

Reprinted & Slightly Updated from the April 2008 Illinois Administrative Professionals’ Newsletter

                In December 2007, ACES James Scholar Shannon O’Laughlin invited me to visit Japan House to take part in a tea ceremony hosted by its Director, Professor Emerita Kimiko Gunji. Shannon, a longtime member of the James Scholar Media Team (JSMT), was enrolled in Gunji-sensei’s ARTJ 209 (Chado: The Way of Tea) course during the fall semester. According to its catalog listing, the course:

 

Explores the Japanese Tea Ceremony and its relevance to everyday life. Students will acquire a better understanding of Japanese culture and a new appreciation of their own cultures through the study of the Tea Ceremony and the Zen worldview that informs it.

 

Shannon was eager to share her experience of chado with me, so I was pleased to accept her invitation.

                On a cloudy Thursday afternoon [December 13, 2007], we arrived at Japan House, which is located at 2000 South Lincoln Avenue in Urbana (not far from the College of Veterinary Medicine). As Shannon and I hung up our coats and removed our shoes in the cloakroom, we (along with the other guests) were greeted by a Japan House volunteer: Dr. Morton Weir, Chancellor Emeritus of the Urbana campus. Dr. Weir gave us a tour of the house (including the tearooms) and showed us (through the large glass windows) the gardens that surround it (a traditional Japanese garden on one side and a Zen rock garden on the other). We then entered the classroom where academic courses are taught; there, we were introduced to Gunji-sensei and received an overview of the tea ceremony before it began.

                The Japanese tea ceremony is a beautiful and complex art form that has been developing in East Asia for over a millennium. Gunji-sensei, as our host, prepared the tea – a special variety of green tea called matcha, imported from Japan. Before the tea was served, however, we each received and ate a small sweet; then, after the tea had been prepared with a bamboo whisk and other ceremonial utensils, tea was served to each guest in a bowl decorated with traditional designs (such as flowers). It is customary for the guests to take a few moments to admire the artwork on the bowl before drinking the tea. We then proceeded to savor the matcha tea, which was delicious! J

 

In this photo from 12/13/2007, taken by Japan House staff, I am pictured at far left, and Shannon is sitting next to me, as we receive bowls of tea during the ceremony from Gunji-sensei.

 

                The tea ceremony created an atmosphere that was both contemplative and mindful. It was wonderful to participate in a time-honored ritual that opens the door to new levels of intercultural understanding. Each portion of the ceremony was conducted gracefully and graciously by our host, and although the basic form of the ceremony is fixed, it was unhurried, and the format invited each participant to watch, learn, and appreciate the ceremony in every detail. One lesson (among many) that I took away with me from the tea ceremony is that “simple” things, such as enjoying tea with friends, can have a numinous beauty all their own, and so we need to keep our eyes open for this “everyday numinosity” lest we miss out on the enchantment that it can bring into our daily lives.

 

Editor’s Note

                There are many hidden gems on campus, and adding them to your bucket list can be a truly rewarding experience. My favorite “hidden gem” is Japan House, which I first visited in December 2007 for an experience of chado (the way of tea) in the Japanese tea ceremony.

                The greatest tea master in Japanese history, Sen Rikyu (1522-1591), described the four ideals of chado over 400 years ago: harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility. The core concept behind the tea ceremony is the realization of the principle, “Ichigo, ichie” (which means “one life, one opportunity” in Japanese). Through applying this principle (and the four ideals of chado) in everyday life, we can learn how to savor the numinosity in each moment of our days, because that moment is truly unique and will never come again.

                I would like to encourage everyone to visit Japan House’s website (listed in the webliography at the end of the article) to learn about all the excellent programs that they are currently offering. Japan House and its wonderful staff continue to carry out their intercultural educational mission with online resources to enrich our lives and our appreciation for the numinosity that can be found in our everyday world.

 

I have revisited Japan House many times over the last several years. This photo was taken on 2/20/2014 following a tea ceremony. From left to right: Professor Jennifer Gunji-Ballsrud (current Director of Japan House), Maria Pauls Flannagan (ACES James Scholar Class of 2014, Bronze Tablet Scholar, & JSMT President Emerita), and myself. (Photo Credit: Japan House Staff)

 

Webliography

·         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_tea_ceremony (Japanese Tea Ceremony)

·         https://japanhouse.illinois.edu (Japan House)

·         http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tea.htm (The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura [1863-1913])