Our Japanese program has been offering a tea ceremony once or twice a year in a classroom at SBCC or at the tea house in the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden ever since 2003 as a cultural event for the students. The tea ceremony master in the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is a certified Urasenke Tea School instructor, Sokyo Kasai. Thanks to her efforts to give SBCC students the opportunity to experience the tea ceremony, we have been organizing the events with the support of our department, the School of Modern Languages and SBCC.

At the event Master Sokyo Kasai first demonstrates the tea ceremony with all the formal procedures to make a cup of tea along with the dialogue to be made with the main guest. Mrs. Wakita, who is one of our Japanese language instructors, has been playing the main guest role in each event.

While the demonstration is going on, the students hear what is happening or what the dialogue between the host and the guest means to understand the tea ceremony better. When the demonstration is over, the master answers questions from the students. Each student receives sweets and a cup of tea that Master Kasai has made.