Events We Love: Japanese Tea Ceremonies at the Hammond Museum

The Japanese Tea Ceremony series at the Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden is a tradition originally pioneered by Natalie Hays Hammond in 1966, in an attempt to bring together the traditions of Eastern and Western culture in a single, beautiful garden setting. Located at 28 Deveau Road in North Salem, New York, the ceremonies take place in the Hammond Museum’s Ryu Sui Ken room on select Saturdays from 1 PM to 3 PM. The next two ceremony workshops are September 10 with Shoko Masuda and October 8 with Yasuko Hara.

Class fees for Museums members are $35 ($45 for non-members). According to the website:

“The Japanese Tea Ceremony, or Chanoyu, originated in 16th century Japan. This was a period of intense creative turmoil in Japan as trade opened up to new ideas from China, Korea and India. Chanoyu developed from Chinese styles of serving powered green tea, like Zen developed as a distillation of Chan Buddhism. Sen Rikyu was the master who perfected Chanoyu as the art form we see today.

“This class will teach you the basic principles of Japanese tea… It will also give you the experience of being a part of an art form that is intended to inculcate the Tea virtues of Harmony, Respect, Purity and Tranquility.”

The basic idea of chanoyu is to invite guests and enjoy a get-together for tea. The garden is beautifully trimmed and swept. The tea room is simple, yet artistically decorated. Burning incense adds fragrance to the flowers which are beautifully arranged. Here you can enjoy quietness and share friendship. Forgetting the harshness of life outside, one can enjoy the refreshing aroma of powdered green tea.

This class will teach you the basic principles of Japanese tea and its practice of being a perfect guest inside the Japanese Tea Room setting at the Hammond Museum’s Tea Room. It will also give you the experience of being a part of an art form that is intended to inculcate the Tea virtues of Harmony, Respect, Purity and Tranquility.” 

For more information or to register for the workshop online, visit the museum’s website.