EXPERIENCE TEA:
During the Exhibition, members of various tea groups will be presenting three kinds of tea experiences, which will take place in the temporary tea room which will be constructed in the center of the gallery. Each is described below:
INTRODUCTION TO TEA CEREMONY
Chado, also known as chanoyu and commonly referred to as the Japanese Tea Ceremony in English, is a spiritual and aesthetic discipline for refinement of the self. Chado centers on the activity of host and guest/s spending a mutually heartwarming time together over a bowl of matcha tea. The host aims to serve the guest an unforgettably satisfying bowl of tea, and the guest responds with thankfulness, both of them realizing that the time shared can never be repeated, that it is a “once in a lifetime” occasion. The present day Chado was established approximately 400 hundred years ago and is also often called a comprehensive art. It includes not only pottery, but also knowledge of urushi Japanese lacquerware, metalware, calligraphy, incense, flower arrangement, cooking, gardening, architecture, kimono, etc. which all are carefully made by skilled artisans.
*If you have any food allergies, please let us know when you register. We also have a limited amount of caffeine-free matcha-alternative tea.
TEA DEMONSTRATION
Chado demonstration with plenty of time for Q&A. You will be served a freshly hand-made sweet and matcha tea. Space is limited.
*Please specify if you would like to sit on the tatami mat in the tearoom or on a chair surrounding the tearoom. Space is limited to 17 participants.
Duration: 1.5 hours
Fee: $40
Dates / Times: Please pre-register through the website by clicking below or call the office at 610-566-1713.
2/8 – Saturday, 1pm – with Omotesenke from NY/Princeton purchase tickets
2/15 – Saturday, 1 pm – Mimi Pakenham from NY purchas tickets
2/22- Saturday, 1 pm – with Mioko Miller from DC Urasenke purchas tickets
DROP-IN TEA TIME
While visiting the Exhibition, please drop in and relax with sweets and matcha tea. Representatives from various tea groups will be making tea for guest during these times.
Duration: 20-30 min
Fee: $10
Sundays, 2/2, 2/9, 2/16, 2/23 from 2-4 pm
Please come in enough time to stop by the office to pay prior to the drop in time.
ABBRIVIATED CHAJI
Urasenke Philadelphia will present a shortened version of a chaji, including several food dishes, sake, two different kinds of sweets and two different kinds of matcha tea. To fully enjoy the abbreviated chaji, attending one of the tea demonstrations beforehand is highly recommended.
Duration: 2.5 hours
Fee: $125
Date / Time: 3:00pm on Sat March 1st purchase tickets (snow date is Sunday, March 2nd)
*Please specify if you would like to sit on the tatami mat in the tearoom or on a chair surrounding the tearoom. This is limited to a total of 10 participants.
2025 Philadelphia International Tea Bowl Exhibition Bios
Keijiroh Yamaguchi
Cultural Advisor
The Yamaguchi family has a long history of enjoying matcha tea over some generations, including a couple relatives who even became teachers of Japanese Tea Ceremony, or the Way of Tea. One day, in his living room in Media, PA, while admiring a few tea bowls crafted by his uncle and father, Keijiroh Yamaguchi felt a strong calling to pursue the Way of Tea. He began studying under Mariko Lafleur-Sensei and Taeko Shervin-Sensei, and later attended a seven-month intensive course at the Urasenke School in Kyoto. He received the title of Chamei (Tea Master) from the 16th Iyemoto Grand Master in 2018. Following Taeko-Sensei’s retirement, Yamaguchi-Sensei took over teaching in Kasei-An, her tea room in King of Prussia. Over the years, Yamaguchi-Sensei has led numerous tea demonstrations and gatherings in the Greater Philadelphia area, including at Shofuso Japanese House and Garden, various universities, and the Sunkaraku-An tea room at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He has also organized nodate (outdoor tea ceremonies) along the Kamo River in Kyoto since 2018. He has been actively involved with the Philadelphia International Tea Bowl Exhibition since its inception in 2020, leading and supporting the tea events and serving as advisor on cultural aspects of the exhibition.
Mark Tyson
Curator
Mark Tyson is a faculty member and the manager of the wood kiln at the CAC. He is also a member of The Potters Guild, since 2013. Mark has been collecting ceramic art for over 40 years. He began creating with clay in 1993, later deepening that practice with a great deal of focus on tea bowls and related objects. After finishing undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 1975, Mark graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1980, and had a 36 year career as a veterinarian.
Victoria Schmidt-Scheuber
Creative Advisor
Victoria Schmidt-Scheuber first encountered chado (the Japanese way of tea) at Wa Shin An tea house on Mount Holyoke College campus. Concurrent with her art history training at MHC and Columbia University, this living tradition has resonated with her for over a decade, and she promotes its importance in cross-cultural dialogue. She served as Director of the NY Grand Tea Ceremony, the main event of Chanoyu Week in New York City (2023). “Ocha Zanmai”, the International Forum on Chanoyu and Tea Culture conference series of San Francisco State University, selected her “Touring Chanoyu in the American Northeast: A Travel Guide for Chajin and Cha-curious” presentation for the 10th edition (2024). She implements her experience as curator, art collector, educator, and archivist to help creative organizations further their missions.
Mariusz Mikulec
Creative Advisor
Mariusz Mikulec earned his MD in Europe and his MS in Oriental Medicine in the USA. An educator and a clinician, he spent over two decades in academia including research activities and teaching at Columbia Medical School and other higher education and clinical settings. Mariusz recognizes how interconnected and interdependent we all are. Through altruism in action and philanthropy, he cultivates a meaningful life and actively supports innovative educational and health initiatives focused on the well-being of diverse populations around the world. He is a collector of Asian art, a world traveler and a lifelong practitioner of Chado (The Way of Tea), Shodo (The Way of Calligraphy), and Kyudo (The Way of the Bow). He lives and works in New York City.
PRESENTING LECTURERS
Frank Chance
Professor at University of Pennsylvania. Ph.D, University of Washington. From 1991 to 1998, Dr. Chance was the Director of Shofuso, a Japanese House and Garden in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. He has curated exhibitions of Japanese prints at various institutions. From 2002 until 2015 he served as the Associate Director for Academics of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
Hank Glassman
The Janet and Henry Richotte 1985 Professor of Asian Studies, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and cultures at Haverford College. Ph.D, Stanford University. His scholarly research largely focuses on religion and gender in the history of medieval Japanese Buddhism. Courses he teaches include Buddhism, Religion and Gender, East Asian Religions, Japanese Literature, Language, and History.
PRESENTING TEA GROUPS
Chado Urasenke Tankokai Philadelphia (Urasenke Philadelphia)
Chado Urasenke Tankokai Philadelphia is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to supporting and promoting awareness of Japanese tea ceremony (Chado or Chanoyu in Japanese) in Philadelphia and the surrounding region. The group was founded by the late Brother Joseph Keenan (1932-1999), a member of the Christian Brothers Catholic teaching order and a professor at La Salle University. With the support of the former Grand Master (Hounsai Dai Sosho) of the Urasenke school, a tea house was built on campus in 1987. La Salle discontinued the tea program in 2007, but the group found a new home at Shofuso, the Japanese House and Garden in Fairmount Park, where it continues to offer tea demonstrations. Currently, there are three instructors who are teaching in their residences, at Columbus NJ, Drexel Hill, and King of Prussia. Sachiko Houck was born and raised in Japan. She moved to the United States in 1986 and has been a registered nurse/nurse practitioner for the past 20 years. Her mother was a tea ceremony teacher in Japan, though she herself did not begin till she found a teacher in the US in early 2000s. In 2024, she studied directly at the Urasenke school headquarters in Kyoto, Japan for a four month intensive session. Sachiko serves as a chief of administration in Chado Urasenke Tankokai Philadelphia and enjoys sharing the joy of the Way of Tea by teaching formal classes and doing demonstrations.
Omotesenke Domonkai Eastern Region USA, Philadelphia Special District
Omotesenke Domonkai Eastern Region, a Section 501(c)(3) organization, was established in June 2010 as a not-for-profit, public benefit educational organization. In 2018, Philadelphia Special District was created to promote Chanoyu of Omotesenke in a broad perspective regardless of the geographical division. When the chapter was established, Dr. Ryuji Ueno, president of the branch, noted that it would work closely with Fushin-an in Kyoto, Japan, the heart of Omotesenke activities. Mr. Sen Soin, who later became Yuyusai Sen Sosa, the 15th Iemoto (Grand Master) of Omotesenke, expressed his hope that the chapter’s efforts would serve as a bridge between Japan and the United States, bringing the two cultures closer together.
Mimi Pakenham and her friends from NY Urasenke
The year the world lost John Lennon, out of the blue an invitation to study Chanoyu in Kyoto presented itself. Japanese pop idol Matsuda Seiko’s childlike looks and songs were everywhere. I arrived very late at the Chinese Hour of the Boar. A friendly man bowing constantly came running down the stairs to open the door of the Urasenke dormitory. He happened to be a Beijing University Professor and in the same program. “The office told me that you were coming”, he said. Over the years, we talked about Yin and Yang and how Daoism teaching has seeped into tea, as Chanoyu language is binary. If you are able to see the demonstration, I hope you will discover the enigma of Tea.
Chado Urasenke Tankokai Washington, DC
Since the early 1960s, the Chado Urasenke Tankokai Washington DC Association and its predecessor organizations have been dedicated to promoting the appreciation of Chado in the Washington area. The Association maintains an authentic tearoom, and its volunteer teachers offer tea demonstrations, lessons, workshops, and other tea-related events. The Association is part of a network of similar organizations, including Urasenke Philadelphia, supported by Tankokai North America, an overseas branch of the Urasenke School of Tea based in Kyoto, Japan.