Anderson Japanese Gardens is honored to offer a rare opportunity to participate in a yukimi chakai, a traditional Japanese Snow Viewing Tea Ceremony, on Saturday, February 4th, 2012. The demonstration will take place in Anderson Japanese Gardens’ 16th century Sukiya style Guest House.

Upon arriving, participants will gather in the Visitor Center where they will enjoy a hot cup of genmaicha, roasted rice flavored tea while viewing the picturesque beauty of the Gardens below. Following this warm introduction, guests will be guided through the winter landscape to the Guest House. At the conclusion of the ceremony, participants are invited back to the Visitors Center to view an extraordinary display of tea bowls and other tea ceremony related items which will be available for purchase.

Kimiko Gunji, Professor Emeritus of Japanese Traditional Arts and Culture and the former Director of Japan House at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, will be the host of this event. The tea bowls are crafted by Jason Armour, one of her esteemed students. Jason’s goal is to help people “find beauty in plainness and tranquil simplicity through set naturalistic aesthetic values” – a concept derived from his interpretation of the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi.

Professor Gunji states, “as technology continually advances, human beings are so enraptured by its power and capability; however, through this captivation, they often succumb to surrendering the very element that makes them human: the use of their five senses. My concentration is to impart to those with whom I encounter through my teachings and my art, the significance of becoming a fine human being through the vitalization of the senses and the natural manifestation of one’s kokoro.” The Japanese word, kokoro, can be translated into “mind, spirit and heart”.

Traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony Times:
10:30 – 11:10 AM
11:30 – 12:10 PM
1:00 – 1:40 PM
2:00 – 2:40 PM

The cost to participate is $25 per person. Reservations are required. Space is limited to 15 participants for each of the Tea Ceremony times. For reservations or for more information about the traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony, please contact Julie Pastore by phone at 815.229.9390 ext. 10 or by email at Email ]]> http://andersongardens.org/2012/teaceremony/feed/ 0 http://andersongardens.org/2011/hospice-care-of-america/ http://andersongardens.org/2011/hospice-care-of-america/#comments Sat, 20 Aug 2011 16:12:14 +0000 kboyd http://andersongardens.org/?p=1520 HospiceCare of America Grief Support Group

A journey where you can encounter beauty and peace in the midst of grief. Travel with others in the in the tranquil beauty of Anderson Japanese Gardens.

Contact Barb Martin at 815-316-2700 to register for this weekly free event.

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Imaginary Trip to Japan with Keiko Hall a native Japanese speaker from Tokyo.
Students will gain additional insight about Japanese culture and customs inside the traditional Japanese guest house.

Activities include:

Origami: Japanese paper folding.

Raking: Design own “Kare san sui ” Dry Rock Garden”

Japanese Snacks will be provided

This will be a very unique experience for those who sign up for this event. Great for home schooled students.

This trip is limited to six students, ages 9 years and up.

Date: TBD

Time: 1:00 – 3:00 pm

Cost: TBD

To reserve your spot you may contact Keiko (815) 654-0422 or email keikokhall@yahoo.com

japaneselanguage tutoring

Now there is a chance for people who are interested in Japanese and would like to learn more about the culture as they start to learn how to read, write, and speak Japanese. Instructor Keiko Hall is a native Japanese speaker from Tokyo. The course will cover reading and writing of Hiragana and Katakana. There are three different character sets in Japanese. Hiragana is basic syllables. Katakana is the same, except it is used for words adapted from other languages. At the end of the course students will begin to study Kanji. Kanji is the use of Chinese characters or ideographs. Each Kanji has one or more meanings and several pronunciations. Students will learn greetings, numbers, time, simple sentences, and noun and verb usage. The classes will include many crossword puzzles and word searches that make it fun to practice Japanese writing. For extra practice, students will be introduced to on-line computer games in Japanese. Also included will be a tour of the gardens and the Guest House,where the students will learn more about Japanese culture and customs.

For ages 11 years and older limited to six students

Dates: Starting Every Thursday beginning April 5th through May 24th 2012.

Time: 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Location: Visitors Center Conference Room lower level

Cost: $22.50 per person per session

For contact information you may contact Keiko Hall at 815-654-0422 or email to keikokhall@yahoo.com