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GEORGE NEWS - Five George residents had a pleasant surprise when they arrived at a lunch to discover they were the guests of honour. The highest respect was bestowed on them when they were served green tea in a time-honoured Japanese ceremony.
The lunch marked the 10th year that a Japanese contingent, led by Dr Shouken Murata, the president of the Seifu Academy in Tokyo, came to plant trees in the botanical garden as a gesture of friendship, accompanied by the sincerest prayers and good wishes.
The chakai tea ceremony was carried out by three Japanese women dressed in ornate kimono dresses who showed the guests how they prepare a bowl of tea from the heart.
The ceremony at the George Arts Theatre took place during a lunch to which Murata had invited staff members of the Garden Route Botanical Garden (GRBG), the trust chairman Roger Bath, as well as former SA ambassador to Japan Christo Prins and journalist Pauline Lourens.
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In his welcome speech, Murata said the lunch and the tree-planting ritual this year were a dream come true as it coincided with the commemoration of Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday. "To be able to pay tribute to Mandela is the fulfilment of a sincere and heartfelt ideal. To live in complete harmony with earth, one must pay respect to our environment." This year 170 proteas were planted on the western borders of the garden, where they take a place of honour next to a long row of trees and commemorative stones placed over the past decade.
A time-honoured Japanese tea-serving ceremony was part of a special lunch held to commemorate the tenth year of the Seifu Academy group planting trees in George. Front, from left: former SA ambassador to Japan Christo Prins and president of Seifu-Academy Dr Shouken Murata. Back: tour guide Archie Stripp, GRBG staff Priscilla Burgoyne,GRBG manager Finn Rautenbach and tea masters Sachiko Nakano and Karoi Ishida. Photos: Pauline Lourens
Ambassador
Addressing the Japanese visitors, the ex-ambassador, Christo Prins, said he is privileged to have travelled extensively during his three years in Japan. He was thrilled about being included in the tea drinking ceremony and fully appreciated the gravity with which it was executed.
The tea master Sachiko Nakano accompanied the Japanese group to demonstrate the ceremony involved in serving tea to honoured guests. The event took place at the George Arts Theatre.
Guests enjoyed the choreographic ritual of preparing and serving Japanese matcha tea, together with traditional Japanese sweets to balance the bitter taste of the tea. Prins expressed the hope that the friendship between the Seifu Academy and the people of George would continue to blossom.
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