The first thirty attendees will sample green matcha tea called usucha and sweets called higashi. We will also have demonstrations of formal Japanese tea ceremony sessions for three designated guests. The principles of the tea ceremony are tranquility, respect, purity, and harmony.

 

The tea ceremony demonstration will be hosted by Miyu Takahashi, a Japanese exchange student at WSU currently majoring in English Literature at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo. Since the age of eight, Miyu has been practicing the tea ceremony, with a focus on the Urasenke school. She holds various qualifications in this traditional Japanese art form and continues her practice under the guidance of teacher Soyu Nimi.

 

Artist Chiyoko Myose’s ongoing art installation “A Thread X A Thread” will be on view in the McKnight Art Center atrium from April 12th through April 26th. Since it was first showcased in Wichita, KS, in 2013, it has been exhibited in 18 locations including Kansas City, MO, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, OK, Greenwich, CT, Billings, MT, and Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, and Chiba, Japan. The installation keeps evolving and welcoming interaction of the audience with the addition of threads. This time, it will return to Wichita and WSU, her alma mater.