Tea Ceremony Lecture & Demonstration

MTC: Polsky Theatre • 11:15 AM

Tea Ceremony Lecture & Demonstration

Demonstrated by Yoko Hiraoka and Yuri Iijima

Attendees will have the opportunity to witness, and several attendees will have the opportunity to participate in, a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Attendees will all have the opportunity to learn about the history and practice of the Tea Ceremony, as well as observe a demonstration of this special practice.

About Yoko Hiraoka

Yoko Hiraoka began her study of the Japanese Tea Ceremony at the age of 14 in the Ura-senke style, later moving to the Omote-senke tradition in Kyoto Japan. Her core training took place in Shõgaku-ji Temple in Hyogo prefecture. She is an Omote-senke licensed teacher with the tea name: ‘Sôrei’, meaning ‘Clear Awareness’.

She now teaches tea from her home in Colorado where she has a traditional tea garden and teahouse named ‘Busshin-an’ (House of Buddha’s Heart). She is a senior master performer/teacher of classical Koto, Biwa, and Shamisen music.

About Yuri Iijima

Yuri Iijima is a Tea Master from Maebashi, Japan, trained in the Edo-senke school of Tea Ceremony. She has studied tea ceremony for 40 years and is a licensed tea master holding a Shinnodaisu certification. In addition to her tea training, Yuri holds licenses for Ikebana (flower arranging) in the Sougetsu school and is also a Kimono specialist. She is a retired Junior High art teacher and owns and operates a school for Japanese cultural arts called Nagomi-ryu Bunkadou, located in Isesaki, Japan (Springfield, Missouri’s sister city). She provides instruction in Tea, Flower arranging, wearing Kimono, watercolor, and other arts.