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The 9th episode of the Elements of Tea will focus on MATCHA, the unique form of green tea at the center of CHANOYU, the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Mike Harney , Principal of Harney Tea will join us to discuss what Matcha is and what is different about it.

The museum was established in the late 1950s by Natalie Hammond.

Our February Elements of Tea will focus on wagashi, the art of Japanese tea sweets, where the heart of Japanese art is observed in the relationship of culinary and aesthetic considerations. The program explores seasonal tea sweets, paired with images of Japanese art, highlighting the distinctive place that wagashi occupies in Japanese cultural contexts as well as in the enduring practice of Japanese tea ceremony. We are honored to have Marybeth Welch, licensed instructor of Urasenke Tea and seasoned artist of wagashi traditions, as our guest speaker, leading this presentation and conversation.

The Hammond Tea Club, the Ryusuikai, will present digital programs on the fourth Tuesday of the month examining the individual elements of the Chanoyu to understand how they contribute to the ceremony, then in the Spring of 2022, we will gather in the Hammond garden to bring the elements together in the celebration of an actual chanoyu. Zoom Presentation: Tuesday, November 30, 2021, at 7:00 pm Episode 7: WAGASHI – The Art of Japanese Tea Sweets This demonstration will highlight the history of WAGASHI, covering the detailed ingredients and techniques that are essential to this exquisite work of art. Yoshitaka Nishino, the owner and head confectioner of Matsukawaya, a Japanese confectionery, joined the JICC to present this history of WAGASHI at the Japan Information Culture Center (JICC) on February 20, 2018, sponsored by the TEAISM and the Japanese Embassy of Washington DC. Stephanie Benefield, a tea instructor of the Omotesenke School of Tea, was the Japanese translator for this event on behalf of the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C. She will be our special guest to host this element for the Hammond Museum’s Tea Club.

This two-part demonstration will highlight the artistic form and traditional movements of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. UsuCha Temae the practice of “Thin-Tea” Ceremony, will be highlighted and explained by Ed Papantonio, practitioner of the Omotesenke School of Tea. MuanCha Temae will focus on the highly stylized motions of this art form by conducting a tea ceremony without a bowl. This unique demonstration will be performed by Tea Master Kazuo Komatsu of the Urasenke School of Tea.

Elements of Tea, Episode Five: CHAWAN - The Art of the TEA BOWL by Miyao Hisashi and Otsuka Matsuko A zoom presentation of the Hammond Tea Club, hosted by the Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden in North Salem, NY, September 27th, 2021. Miyao and Otsuka discuss how socioeconomic forces from Muromachi era to the modern Japan have shaped and influenced the concept of beauty of tea bowls. "Beauty is in the eye of beholder" Tea bowls which were treasured often reflect signs of the time.

Elements of Tea, Episode Four: Flowers as in the Fields by Hazue Tamura Rogers This episode of Elements of Tea, which was presented by the Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden in North Salem, NY on August 24, 2021, explains and illustrates the floral displays in tea rooms during the Japanese Tea Ceremony and contrasts them with the better known floral arrangements of Ikebana.