Chanoyu, the Japanese Tea Ceremony
With Speaker Allan Sōsei Palmer, Professor of Urasenke Chanoyu
PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE SNOWSTORM, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CHANGED TO MARCH 20 AND THE LOCATION CHANGED TO THE 20th FLOOR of 50 MILK STREET
Lighthouse, 50 Milk St. 20F,
Boston, MA 02109
Tuesday, March 20, 2018 from 12 - 1PM
Tea has been prepared in Japan in various ways for more than fifteen hundred years. Arguably the most influential is what we know as the Japanese Tea Ceremony: Chanoyu (茶の湯, tea’s hot water), which in simple terms is whisking powdered green tea together with hot water in a bowl. Depending on the utensils and circumstances, there are many different ways to present Chanoyu, and doing so requires knowledge of history, food, gardens, religion, ethics, architecture, design, incense, clothing, art, and more.
Join us to learn about The Japanese Tea Ceremony as Professor of Urasenke Chanoyu Allan Sōsei Palmer shares his extensive knowledge of and experience with Chanoyu, along with stories of his life-long passion for tea.
Professor Palmer studied the Tea Ceremony in Kyoto at Urasenke, a family of Tea Masters dating back to the 16th century, starting in 1971. In 1976, he was asked by the headmaster to teach the ceremony in Boston, and was given the Tea name, Sōsei, 宗清, Sect-pure. Prof. Palmer taught Chanoyu to the members of the Urasenke group in Boston, as well as at the Five Colleges in Amherst. He has over 40 years of experience giving presentations of the Japanese Tea Ceremony at various institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, the Gardner Museum. He later returned to Japan to further his study of Chanoyu, teaching groups of foreigners as well as teaching the Tea Ceremony in English to groups of Japanese teachers who came for intensive study. He has come back to Boston to teach and present Chanoyu once again, and to continue his research.
Please note that this is a conversation, and not a demonstration of the tea ceremony.
Please note that the we often take pictures at events for our records and sometimes for use in public media such as Facebook and blog posts. Registering for an event generally signifies acknowledgment that your likeness may be used in these ways. If you are not comfortable with this, please let us know and we can accommodate you.
THE JAPAN SOCIETY OF BOSTON