E-TEAM Tokyo News Archive 2009 Tea, anyone?

June 22nd, 2009

We've had a long day that started out with a very important piece of Japanese culture: the tea ceremony. We had the honor of going to a master's home and participating in the ceremony as well as learning from her students for a while. Even with my limited insight I could tell that the ceremony is extremely intricate and detailed with no movement unplanned. Even the way the napkin is folded is learned step by step. As I said, this was a great honor and privilege. There are many Japanese who have not participated in an authentic tea ceremony.

After this was finished we met up with Dale and Sandra Bishop at Big Boys’ restaurant. Following lunch the Bishops took us to downtown Tokyo to see the sights and especially to visit the Meiji Shrine situated right in the heart of Tokyo behind a train station. The grounds were beautiful and peaceful but it is a Shinto place of worship so even though it is enclosed with nature there was still a sense of emptiness as we watched a few people praying in the inner hall.

After leaving the shrine we walked around downtown and eventually stopped at the Oriental Bazaar, a large tourist store. Most of us bought an item or two as we began to notice our stomachs growling. Dale quickly solved that problem and took us to a sushi restaurant that has a conveyor belt that moves trays of fresh sushi around the room. Each plate has a certain cost and customers simply take one as it passes. I ate some mackerel, tuna, salmon, and salmon eggs (all raw) as well as an orange and a cheesecake. Many of us enjoyed the sushi, though I was glad to just keep it down.

We meandered around downtown after eating and spent an hour or so on some streets that cater to the young and fashionable then began our hour-long journey home.

Tomorrow is likely to be very tiring and hopefully fun and interesting. We are going on a trip with Kazama sensei, a friend of the Baileys. He is taking us a little ways out of the Tokyo area to see the countryside.

Thanks again for all your prayers. We are getting worn out but most of our days won’t require as much movement as today and especially tomorrow.