TOKOTOKO'S

A thick tea ceremony was held for each serving in the tea room of the Tansoan. The scroll is "Unmon Kyakani ari" "Above the Clouds, Below Your Feet" and was written by the 15th head of the Urasenke school, Master Hounsai. The last of the autumn flowers were placed in a sooted bamboo basket. A long black board is used as the tea ceremony seat, and chestnut burrs harvested in the surrounding area are placed on the Yoshino window. The tea served was "Kinrin" from Koyamaen, and t

Oliver and Isabel Stein purchased 18 acres (approximately 73,000 square meters) of land to build a summer home. Impressed by the exhibits at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915, Isabel visited Japan that same year. During her stay in Japan, she was so moved by the beauty of Hakone that she decided to create a Japanese garden modeled after it on the grounds of her own home. She invited landscape gardeners and architects from Japan to desig

Our Tokotoko shachu held our annual Vallejo-Akashi sister city commemorative tea ceremony. Vallejo, located east of San Francisco, is a city with deep ties to Japan. The hull of the Kanrin Maru, the ship used by Katsu Kaishu when he crossed the Pacific Ocean at the end of the Edo period, was restored at a shipyard in the city and returned safely to Japan. Vallejo is also known as a shipbuilding town. In the past, over 200 Japanese and Japanese-Americans lived in Vallejo, but

Occasionally, students ask me to invite guests. I have been living here for 35 years, and I can personally feel that the number of people interested in Japanese culture is increasing every year. Many people feel an affinity to Japan for various reasons, such as "I've been to Japan," "I grew up watching Japanese manga and anime," and "I love Japanese food." When welcoming such guests, we often try to provide not only tea and sweets, but also simple meals as a form of hospitali

The Obon Tea Ceremony Demonstration at the Oakland Buddhist Church is held every year on the first Saturday of August. We are delighted to see the number of people coming to watch increase every year. The tea ceremony took place on a Misono tana, and everyone listened intently to Michael's introduction to the tea ceremony and its history. After the demonstration, we will offer sweets and tea to everyone as time permits. We feel that this is also a small act of service that we

The other day, the woman we call " Great Teacher " celebrate her 99 Birthday (born Taisho 15) at Berkeley Jodo Shinshu Center. We celebrated the 99th birthday of Mrs. F, who was born on New Year's Day, January 2025. She is truly an admirable person. How has she managed to always be so proactive, far superior to most of us in terms of physique, memory, stamina, and energy? I have been watching her closely for over 30 years, and I can't help but wonder, "Perhaps this is d

Our group, Tokotoko shachu, visited 4th and 5th grade classes at Synergy School, a private school in San Francisco, and introduced tea...

For those who lived through the Showa era, this tree truly evokes feelings of exoticism. It brings to mind the melody that everyone has...

June 15, 2025, San Francisco Japantown, Peace Plaza, 2nd floor

The Japan Coast Guard training vessel Itsukushima recently made its first port call in San Francisco, where it stayed for about a week. Compared to the previous training ship Kojima , Itsukushima is noticeably larger. We hold deep respect and gratitude for their ongoing patrols around the waters near Okinawa, an area of heightened tension at present. Interacting with these earnest young cadets also gave us a sense of reassurance — a comforting reminder that Japan still has

We have been steadily carrying out our events up until now. Today, we will report on one of our biggest events, the Urasenke First Tea...

Seating. We entertained 10 guests with kaiseki. First, they waited in the waiting area. In the small garden, there were many Satsuma...

The annual big event will be held on Sunday, January 12, 2025, the day of the Shachu's first tea ceremony. Please take a look.

The first Hakone Grand Tea Ceremony in four years since the end of the COVID pandemic! This year, the number of participants more than...

On Saturday, August 3, 2024, the annual tea ceremony demonstration was held as part of the Obon festival at a Jodo Shinshu temple in...

Here are our class cheerleaders. They are very good. They wait quietly outside the door. Every now and then, when they get the chance,...