Members and guests of Chado Urasenke Tankokai Hawaii welcomed 2016, the “Year of the Monkey,” with its traditional Hatsudate Shiki, or first tea of the year. The ceremony was held Jan. 17 in the Seikoan Tea House at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i.
Guests at the first ceremony included Consul General Yasushi Misawa and his wife Yoko; Chado Urasenke Tankokai Hawaii Association president Akemi Kurokawa and his wife Misako; former Hawai‘i Gov. George Ariyoshi and his wife Jean; Japan-America Society president Lenny Yajima; Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i president and executive director Carole Hayashino; United Japanese Society of Hawaii president Cyrus Tamashiro; former University of Hawai‘i Center for Japanese Studies director Dr. Robert Huey; and Satoru Izutsu, Ph.D., vice dean and director of admissions for the University of Hawai‘i John A. Burns School of Medicine.
The ceremony was followed by an osechi ryöri lunch of traditional Japanese New Year’s foods.
