THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 21, 1995 TAG: 9505190200
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
A Japanese tea ceremony does not compare with Southerners chatting over tall glasses of iced tea, a slice of lemon parked on the rim.
Nor, according to Yoshiko Kusumoto, should the tea ceremony be viewed as a stiff, stilted occasion.
It is a time of solemnity amid quietness. The polite and gracious ceremony offers an atmosphere for reflection, a brief respite in the company of friends.
Not only has Kusumoto invited numerous Americans to her Virginia Beach home for the tea ceremony, she has reconstructed it at nursing homes and at Old Dominion University. She even provided a tea ceremony at a charity auction.
Kusumoto, who moved here six years ago when her husband was named vice president of Mitsubishi Chemical in Chesapeake, also helps other Japanese women brush up on the tea ceremony. Three times a month, she makes the hourlong drive to Christopher Newport University in Newport News. There she teaches the specifics and intricacies of serving tea to about 10 members of Friends of the Tea House, most of whom are wives of the Canon corporate family.
The tea house was moved to the university campus in 1989 after it was on exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
``The cup of tea in the ceremony includes a lot of elements of hospitality, art and culture,'' she said. ``Our lives are so busy and eventful. But in the tea room, all is calm, clean, quiet and warm.''
At the end of the spring semester, Kusumoto went through the hourlong process of dressing in a bright melon-colored kimono. As though taking a step back in time, she tip-toed along the stone path to the Japanese tea house near the university entrance.
She stooped to crawl through the building's narrow opening traditionally designed to humble even emperors or warriors.
Inside, the decor included a scroll engraved with Japanese characters, which read, ``The pine tree leaves do not change forever.'' Beneath the scroll was a typical Japanese floral arrangement that contained only three iris and sparse branches.
Tatami mats covered the floor. Walls and ceiling were woven from materials such as bamboo.
With special care, Kusumoto, the hostess or teisu, chose utensils for the occasion - the brazier in which she heated water, ceramic pots. Even the shape of the bowl from which tea is sipped has significance.
Host and guests alike must know and abide by the many rules and nuances that have passed down the tea ceremony's 400-year history, Kusumoto explained.
Everyone is very polite. Host and guests bow frequently. Guests express their admiration and appreciation for every aspect of the ceremony, including the utensils.
Kusomoto's mother, Masumi Yamagata, who still operates one of the most prestigious tea schools in Japan, was her mentor. Once the American government invited her mother to demonstrate the tea ceremony at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.
It was after she came to America that Kusumoto came to appreciate the tea ceremony. Only then did she realize that she had something special.
``The tea ceremony is kind of old-fashioned,'' Kusumoto said. ``In my mother's generation, it was a must to learn to hold a tea ceremony before marriage. Now other things are more fun. Other things are more important even to my generation and younger Japanese women. We are chasing the American/ European culture.
``I'm a little bit conservative in all the things I love to do,'' she said. ``That is a very different viewpoint from many other people.''
In addition to teaching about the tea ceremony, she has demonstrated origami to Girl Scout troops and block printing to third-graders at John B. Dey Elementary school.
Since she came here, Kusumoto also has taken advantage of many opportunities to learn American culture. She has taken classes in tap dance, Spanish, ceramics, sailing, stained glass, quilting and all the English classes offered by the Adult Learning Center. She has even picked up idioms such as ``Get on the ball.''
``Anything Yoshiko does she goes at with intensity,'' said pottery teacher, Elaine Goulart.
``She wants her pottery to reflect the Japanese idea of function,'' said Goulart. ``In Japan, pottery is thought of very highly as an art form, not a craft.
Kusumoto also has taken up quilting. Whether she's quilting or making ceramics, her work tells a story and is alive with color.
Like the cat quilt that hangs on a foyer wall in her home. Because cats love fish, she added a border of fish near the patchwork cats and added balls of twine for play.
For several years, Kusumoto has quilted with the women's guild at Virginia Beach United Methodist Church.
``We're so old,'' said guild member Helen Waller. ``There are about 20 of us. Most of us are in our 70s. Yoshiko works like a streak of lightning. You've never seen anyone who can make a needle fly like she can. If anything stumps us, she can figure it out. . . .'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JANELLE LaBOUVE
Yoshiko Kusumoto, who moved to Virginia Beach six years ago, travels
to Christopher Newport University three times a month to teach the
intricacies of a Japanese tea ceremony.
by CNB