Sadou-the way of tea

Sado（茶道） is a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, and it is literally translated into “a way of tea” this traditional ritual is not aboutit drinking tea with your friends obviously. But usually trained sadou-ka make and serve matcha for her guests. Her every movement is observed by the guests as tea ceremony is about being able to use prescribed gestures and the proper way to make and have tea. Sadou is an important part of Japanese cultural activities, and some young women jokingly said to me that they better take some sadou lessons to help them prepare for a future marriage. Women learn much about etiquette during the tea ceremony so it is very interesting. But it takes many years of training for having to learn everything from every movement to flower arrangement. Many professionals continue to participate in Sadou for the rest of her life, and learning continues.

I have been to Sadou once with my parents. My mother’s friend lived in a very traditional old house and he wanted to serve us very bitter matcha. So it wasn’t a full course Sadou but Matcha was extremely bitter! So having that with some sweets helped balance the bitterness and sweetness.

I highly recommend that you find out to see if your town has any Japanese cultural events. Then, Sadou must be one of the events hosted in your city and you should definitely go. Not only that you can have some interesting drink, it is a new experience. Actually I should go there myself too. 🙂