Winter Chakai Celebrating the New Year

We cordially invite all enthusiasts of Japanese culture to a special tea event celebrating the New Year.

The coming of the New Year is celebrated with a wide range of customs, traditions, and religious rituals all over the world. This is no different in the case of Japan, where Christmas—somewhat evoking Christian customs but primarily focused on glitter and spectacle—is followed by the most important holiday of the year, the New Year, which entails many Buddhist and Shinto rituals. Participating in traditional tea ceremony is among the customs marking the beginning of the year.

On this day, the local community of the Urasenke tea school offers visitors an opportunity to gain insight into Japanese culture. Following an approximately half-hour illustrated lecture on New Year traditions, guests are seated in the authentic Japanese tea room of the Hopp Museum in groups of five, and are served traditional New Year sweets and matcha tea by members of the Urasenke tea school.

On this special occasion, we would like to give as many visitors as possible the opportunity to experience the atmosphere of the tea room decorated for the occasion. Therefore, unlike our regular tea ceremonies, five guests are invited to the tea room, seated on the floor—only remaining there for the time it takes to serve and enjoy the sweets and the tea (approximately 10 minutes). Entering the tea room dressed in New Year's ornaments, all the while keeping in mind the notions described in the lecture, guests are sure to find peace and tranquility despite the brevity of the visit.

Those who would like to experience the ceremony in its entirety, in a smaller group and for a longer duration, possibly while seated on chairs, are warmly invited to take part in our regular tea ceremonies.

Programme:

12:00: lecture
12:30-13:00 tea tasting (5 guests / 15 minutes)

Participation fee: 7500 HUF / person + daily pass for the exhibition
In order to participate, guests are required to make a payment via bank transfer to the account of the Urasenke Association.
Register at info [at] urasenke.hu.
When registering, please indicate number of participants, as well as the name, home address and email address of the person making the reservation (for invoice purposes).

For the daily pass, all discounts apply.