Attending Tea Ceremony hosted by Tom Sachs
I have attended Tea Ceremony hosted by Tom Sachs from New York City held in Tokyo Opera City Gallery. He seems an orthodox successor of Sen no Rikyu, the founder of Tea Ceremony about 400 years ago, proposing a unique style in hospitalization of guests with a slight flavor of contemporary art.
It seems preferable for guests, especially for beginners, to learn the basic flow of tea ceremony in advance by watching video. But actual flow of ceremony could flexibly change depending on season, weather or the relationship between guest and host.
Tea utensils are important part of tea ceremony. So take your time to check and enjoy the items manually prepared by the host one by one from industrially ready-made products.
Carefully watch the selection of hanging scrolls because it could contain important nonverbal message from the host.
It might be a good manner for guests to show gratitude by sending short message to the host using social media before or soon after leaving the ceremony.