Please join Japan House for tea ceremonies and learn about Japan House's history and vision for the future with the Ogura-Sato Annex.

Japan House's annual Fall Open House resumes on Saturday, October 10 featuring Japan House's Past, Present, and Future with a preview of the Ogura-Sato Annex.

At 12pm, there will be a free presentation by Professor Emeritus Kimiko Gunji who was the previous Japan House Director and current Japan House Director Jennifer Gunji-Ballsrud. Professor Gunji will speak about the original Japan House and how the current Japan House was established, and Director Gunji-Ballsrud will speak about her vision for the Ogura-Sato Annex. There will be a Q&A to follow. The presentation is free, but donations are welcome. Space is limited to 40 guests.

From 11am-4pm, traditional Japanese tea ceremonies will be offered by the Chado Urasenke Tankokai Urbana-Champaign Association at 11am, 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm.

Guests may select from ryurei (table-style) tea ceremony (seated on chairs) in the Ogura-Sato Annex tearoom or the indoor tea ceremony on tatami (seated cross-legged) in the Japan House main classroom. Please dress appropriately as legs are covered traditionally in Japan. All guests will be asked to remove shoes when entering Japan House, and to wear socks if participating in a tea ceremony.

For the ryurei tea ceremony in the Ogura-Sato Annex, Japan House is pleased to showcase a new tea table called washin-dana (???). This tea table was designed by Zabosai, the 16th Generation Grandmaster of the Urasenke School of Tea. Consisting of three nesting shelves, it is designed to be adaptable for tea ceremony to be practiced in traditional and contemporary settings. All guests will be seated in chairs in the Ogura-Sato Annex for the tea ceremony.

Tickets per person ($16) are required to attend a tea ceremony; there are limited walk-in sales where space allows to ensure a tranquil experience for guests. The tea ceremony will take approximately an hour.