Environment harmony and Tea!

9th November 2012

Japan may be the most industrially and technology driven nation, but their concern for the environment and harmony with the nature is appreciable. Professor Takeshi Hara highlighted the role of religion and environment. The shrines of the Shinto religion are basically surrounded by the trees, very much like the “Devrai” in Goa, signifying the ecological sustenance. Further, a lot of importance is given to water. The natural flowing bodies are well protected and densely forested, especially in the highland areas. One of the most interesting thing that is visible in the country side in Japan is the highlands are undisturbed and maintained in their pristine state.

The “Tea Ceremony” stands unique to the Japanese culture. The tea ceremony was hosted by the Tea Ceremony Student’s Study Group of the Waseda University. (The university has various students’ clubs, enabling the student to engage themselves in any cultural activity)The Japanese tea ceremony, called Chanoyu, Sado or simply Ocha in Japanese is a ritual of preparing and serving Japanese green tea, called Matcha, together with traditional Japanese sweets to balance with the bitter taste of the tea. Preparing tea in this ceremony means pouring all one's attention into the predefined movements. The host of the ceremony always considers the guests with every movement and gesture. Even the placement of the tea utensils is considered from the guests view point (angle), especially the main guests called the Shokyaku.

By Rachel Coelho do Amaral