In May of 2010, 40 students from Jamaica High School attended tea ceremony at Urasenke Chanoyu Center on the Upper East Side of Manhattan after hearing hibakusha testimony at Hunter College.  The hibakusha in attendance were Kunihiko Bonkohara, Hirosi Iso, Keiko Murakami, Shigeko Sasamori, Setsuko Thurlow, Michiko Tsukamoto and Takahisa Yamomoto.  Students learned the principles of tea: harmony, tranquility, purity and respect and then participated in a traditional tea ceremony.

Setsuko Thurlow congratulates a student upon drinking his entire cup. The tea tastes strange to young people not accustomed to its bitterness.
Introductory words are spoken by the tea master
The cleaning of the utensils begins
All the utensils are ceremoniously cleaned before use
Each participant receives a sweet served on rice paper
The honored guest is served first
A student is instructed to rotate the tea cup twice before drinking
Everything about the experience is elegant
The experience challenges students to try something new
The tea is served by women dressed in traditional Japanese kimonos
Students, teachers and hibakusha alike share in the ceremony
The tea is high quality green tea, bitter and foamy
Hirosi Iso and students drink tea
Students bow as tea is served

Photos by Janis Lewin, © 2013 all rights reserved

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