Sacramento State hosted its first ceremony in a series of Japanese tea demonstrations Tuesday by San Francisco’s Urasenke Foundation in the Sokiku Nakatani Tea Room and Garden.

Tube Magazine media specialist Melissa Uroff participated in the ceremony on the platform known as the Tatami area, where the tea is prepared and served to guests.

She said her experience was interesting and magical, although silent.

“No one had to say anything,” Uroff said. “I still felt included and connected.”

Director of the Urasanke Foundation Christy Bartlett said the way of tea is a cultural practice with different benefits to individuals and society by learning to balance as an individual versus a group.

“(Chado) is an engaged and respectful study of the past and present,” Bartlett said. “In Japanese culture they are full of humanity, compassion, solidarity and they engage with others and values are expressed.”

Bartlett said in the Japanese culture they live by the saying “to love the past is to know the present.”

Before entering the tea ceremony, each guest met in the garden where they washed their hands to represent purity. All jackets and shoes are removed because anything that is not needed during the ceremony is considered to be the dust of the world.

The host, who normally does not drink the tea with the guest, serves each of them with an exclusively designed bowl. She strategically picked out the utensils and décor for the guests to observe and ponder their interpretations.

Senior economics major Eric Hernandez said it was an interesting experience that displayed the respect and formality, which is often associated with Japanese culture.

“It seemed like a meditation type (of) experience,” Hernandez said. “It was very calm, slow and deliberate.” B

artlett hopes to one day offer classes at Sac State that will prepare and teach students about the Japanese culture tea etiquette.

Opened in spring 2007 and built with funds of an anonymous donor, the tea room and garden was named in honor of Sokiku Nakatani, a longtime resident of California and teacher of Chado, or the way of tea.

The Nakatani Tea Room and Garden serves as a classroom and a setting for cultural programs, lectures and special events, and is used as a demonstration room about six days each semester.

“I schedule the tea ceremonies around class schedules,” said Community Outreach Coordinator Sally Hitchcock. “Teachers have integrated (tea ceremonies) into their curriculum and they bring their students.”

For more information about The Sokiku Nakatani Tea Room and Garden facility, visit www.library.csus.edu/tearoom or call (916) 278-5954. For media assistance, call Sacramento State’s Public Affairs office at (916) 278-6156.