Peer Life Coaches host Tea Ceremony in Yukata experience
The International Exchange Team of the Peer Life Coaches, a group of student staff affiliated with the Student Success Support Section of the Student Support Center at Tokyo Tech,* organized the Tea Ceremony in Yukata experience on July 23 at Taki Plaza on Ookayama Campus.
This event was born after the Peer Life Coaches wondered whether Tokyo Tech’s international students would like to experience some common Japanese customs. Most of the yukata and obi belts were donated for the event by Tokyo Tech faculty and staff members, and the yukata dressing instructor kindly brought in extra sets to make sure there were enough for everyone. Guidance for the tea ceremony and dressing event were provided by volunteers from Tokyo’s Meguro City.
Prior to the event, the Peer Life Coaches edited three kinds of cultural materials for the participants to study in both Japanese and English: a) the history of yukata, b) the relationship between tea ceremony and the Sengoku warlords, and c) tea ceremony utensils.
The workshop space was divided into two areas by partitions – half was used as a changing space, the other half as a tearoom. The participants and Peer Life Coaches made two groups. After wearing yukata, half of them sat around tatami mats and took turns serving and enjoying tea. One of the coaches translated the words spoken by the tea master during the tea ceremony. This enabled non-Japanese speakers to learn how to lift and turn the teabowl, and how to drink their tea in a traditional manner. The other group experienced the tea ceremony in the same way. In this group, another coach acted as an interpreter for the participants.
After the tea ceremony, the participants and Peer Life Coaches took photos together and shared their thoughts about the cultural experience. Feedback from the participants included the following:
- Good experience of tea ceremony for the first time.
- I enjoyed the tea ceremony and yukata at the same time.
- It was nice to have a series of experiences from choosing a tea bowl to making tea by myself.
- It would have been great if there was more time to talk and build a connection with others. Also, a list of what to say during the tea ceremony would have been great.
Tokyo Tech's Peer Life Coaches appreciate the feedback and look forward to organizing more enjoyable, culture-rich events in the future.
- Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Tokyo Institute of Technology merged on October 1, 2024, to form Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo).
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Student Success Support Section, Student Support Center