The Omotesenke Domonkai held a Hatsugama tea ceremony in the Seiköan Tea House at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi on Feb. 15. The ceremony commemorated the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the Hawaiʻi branch. Two tea masters from the Omotesenke in Kyöto, Masaki Kimura-Soshö and Hiroyuki Sugata-Soshö, served the first tea to the guests, who included Consul General of Japan Koichi Ito and his wife Misako, former Hawai‘i Gov. John Waihe‘e and his wife Lynne and the leaders of various Japanese community organizations in Hawai‘i.
A special seating was also held for the faculty and current and former Pacific Buddhist Academy students. Gakko-Sado (tea ceremony at school) is part of PBA’s curriculum and a required class for the school’s ninth grade students.
