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Chanoyu (literally “hot water for tea,” sometimes called the “tea ceremony”) is much more than ritual—it is a living, embodied intersection of art, history, design, and social interaction. In this onsite workshop, K–12 educators will enter the tranquil setting of the Shoseian Teahouse to participate, observe, and reflect on what makes chanoyu both a mindful cultural practice and a deep historical tradition. Through the gestures of preparing and sharing tea, participants will experience first-hand how shape, movement, and silence convey meaning.
You will engage with the material culture of the tea gathering: teabowls, utensils, hanging scrolls, seasonal flower arrangements, and more. Each object is charged with aesthetic decisions, symbolism, and cultural value. As you inhabit the roles of host and guest, you will feel how attention, etiquette, and presence arise in practice, not just in theory. You’ll brainstorm ways to bring these embodied elements into classroom design: observation activities, object-based inquiry, role rotations, and interdisciplinary projects. Observe deeply. Participants will be invited to slow down and attend to each object not only visually but through touch and movement. By the close of the session, we will all gather think about how to bring chanoyu-inspired learning into your classroom through artifact discussions, descriptive writing, mindful transition routines, collaborative inquiry, or silent observation exercises. You will leave with curated resources and a lens for making Japanese culture palpable, reflective, and alive for your students.
This program is made possible by the support of National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), the US-China Institute, and the Japan Past & Present Project—organizations that share our commitment to immersive, culturally grounded teacher learning. All the support enables us to create a space where educators can observe, inhabit, reflect, and design ways to bring chanoyu’s material world and mindful rhythms into the classroom.
Guest Speaker - Dr. Rebecca Corbett
Rebecca Corbett is Associate University Librarian and Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Southern California. Her book Cultivating Femininity: Women and Tea Culture in Edo and Meiji Japan (University of Hawai'i Press, 2018) analyzes privately circulated and commercially published texts to show how chanoyu tea practice for women was understood, articulated, and promoted from the eighteenth through early twentieth centuries. She is currently researching early Western involvement in chanoyu tea practice during the Meiji period (1868-1912).
