The Chado Urasenke Tankokai Hawaii celebrated the “Year of the Rooster” with a traditional Hatsudate Shiki, or first tea of the year, in the Seikokan Tea House at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i on Jan. 15.
Guests at the first ceremony included Tankokai president and former Hawai‘i governor George Ariyoshi and his wife Jean; Consul General of Japan Yasushi Misawa and his wife Yoko; first lady of Hawai‘i Dawn Amano-Ige; past Tankokai president Akemi Kurokawa and his wife Misako; Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i president and executive director Carole Hayashino; Honolulu Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce president Sydette Higuchi; and Dr. Mary McDonald, Dr. Satoru Izutsu and Dr. Robert Huey from the University of Hawai‘i.
The ceremony was conducted by teishu (tea ceremony host) Takemi Nakasone and hanto (assistant and narrator) Wayne Muromoto. Guests later enjoyed an osechi ryöri lunch of traditional Japanese New Year’s foods.
