The Japanese Culture Center is excited announce the next 4 Week Course on Chanoyu/Tea Ceremony this spring!
Space EXTREMELY is limited
General Information:
Classes will start Friday, March 15, 2024 through April 5th.
- Fridays from 5:30 – 7:00 pm
- Exact class dates are: 3/15, 3/22, 3/29, and 4/5
- Business casual attire and white socks are required.
- There is 2 person minimum for class.
Introductory Chanoyu 1
This four week course focuses on step-by-step instruction of the foundation skills required to make a simple bowl of matcha. By the end of the course, students will be able to serve tea in the tray style (Ryakubon). We will also cover the basics of the tearoom and the manners of a guest.
The students will be shown:
• How to bow while sitting.
• How to properly drink from a tea bowl
• How to properly take tea sweets
• A few phrases in Japanese
• How to make a bowl of usucha*Students will likely not drink tea until the 3rd or 4th class.
The Instructor
The course will be lead by Omar Francis Sensei, who began his study of Chanoyu over 20 years ago at University of Illinois. Since then he has continued is study under Joyce Kubose, which has included countless tea presentations and training at the Urasenke Headquarters in Kyoto, Japan. He has also hosted and helped with dozens of tea demonstrations and events including:
Japan House (U of I), Japanese Information Center, Chicago Botanic Gardens, Mid America Japanese Club, Anaba Tearoom (Milwaukee), Osaka Garden, Loyola University, and Norte Dame University.
Francis Sensei is a certified instructor in the Urasenke Tradition of Chanoyu and Vice President of Urasenke Chicago Association. He was awarded the Japan America Society of Chicago’s 2017 Cultural Acheivment award for his contributions to Japanese arts and thier education.
“Holding Chanoyu classes and presentations here at the JCC is a wonderful chance for us all to discover and enjoy the inter-connective nature of traditional Japanese arts and culture. Through our classes and presentations I hope to show that Chanoyu is not an ancient practice but a way of life that has continued to bring people and the arts together for hundreds of years”
