Japanese Tea Ceremony

Event details Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2026 Time: 5:15 PM to 6:15 PM Location: Japan House Type: Ceremony/Service About this event General Events Calendar home Calendar search Share on Facebook Tweet Email add to calendar contact add an event Event subscriptions General Events Japanese Tea Ceremony Japanese Tea Ceremony Oct 14, 2026 5:15 - 6:15 pm Japan House Ceremony/Service Sponsor Japan House Cost $18.00 for students/Tomonokai; $20.00 for general public Registration Registration Required on EventBrite Views 45 Originating Calendar Japan House Events Chado , or the Way of Tea, is one of the most ancient and revered arts of Japan and is at the very heart of Japan House. It is a ceremonial way of preparing and serving matcha (powdered green tea) that benefits both the host and the guest through mutual respect, non-verbal communication, and a calmness, or sense of peace, away from everyday life. There are many different variations of this revered 500-year-old art form. Traditionally, guests sit in the seiza posture on the tatami mats (kneeling with legs folded underneath and resting on the heels). There is also a variety of tea ceremony in which one sits on a chair while drinking the tea called ryūrei style, or table-style tea ceremony. Historically in Japan, people didn't use chairs. They sat on elevated tatami flooring for most everything, even to eat meals. The r yūrei style of tea ceremony was created by Gengensai Seichū (1810-1877), the 11th head of the Urasenke School of Tea, for an exposition held in 1872 in Kyoto. Many foreigners visited Japan for the first time during this expo, so the government requested that an effort be made to modify the traditional form of tea ceremony as a way of making it more accessible. The main feature of ryūrei style is that both host and guests sit on a chair. The seiza posture is no longer used, but utensils are used in the same way as in a normal tea ceremony. Although this one aspect of the ceremony is altered, the ryūrei style is otherwise the same as a tea ceremony seated on tatami using the seiza posture. Even Japanese people, who use the seiza posture much less than in the past, embrace the ryūrei style of tea ceremony because it places less of a burden on the legs and is more physically accessible. We will be alternating weekly between r yūrei (sitting on chairs) and on tatami mats (sitting cross-legged on the tearoom floor). Seated on t atami mats, sitting cross-legged or kneeling September 9 September 23 October 14 October 28 November 11 Ryūrei style - seated on chairs September 16 September 30 October 21 November 4 November 18 __________ What To Expect After a brief tour that includes history of Japan House on the campus of the University of Illinois and information on the tea ceremony, watch as the host carefully and thoughtfully prepares each piece of equipment, chosen specifically for that day and season. Each guest will be served wagashi , a traditional seasonal Japanese sweet, Official event details: https://calendars.illinois.edu/detail/7/33561914