Japanese Summer Festival – Tea Ceremonies – July 18 & July 19

Tea ceremonies are hosted by Kimiko Gunji, Professor Emeritus of Japanese Arts & Culture in the School of Art & Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Anderson Japanese Gardens Tea Study Group. Gunji Sensei is also the retired director of Japan House at the University. Advanced Registration  is required and space is limited at each tea ceremony.

There are three designated tea ceremony locations, The Guest House, Tea Hut, and Gazebo

Tea Ceremony Registration includes admission to the Garden for the date of your Tea Ceremony

Participants are asked to check in at the registration cart in the Guest House Circle 20 minutes before their tea ceremony time.

$35.00 for Garden members | $40.00 for non-members

Special Tea Ceremony with Professor Gunji

$40.00 for Garden members | $45.00 for non-members

Registration can be found on the Japanese Summer Festival Website HERE

Professor Gunji has been a regular presenter and lecturer for the Anderson Japanese Garden since 2012. She has given season-by-season tea ceremony demonstrations, various Japanese art-related workshops such as wagashi (Japanese sweet) making, kimono dressing, and Japanese cooking.  She conducted with Tim Gruner, AJG garden curator, a special weekend seminar, Kokoro and the Gardener: Health for Spirit, Body and Community in the summer of 2019 at AJG.  In 2023 & 2024, she was invited to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin to lead a Kokoro seminar and will return there this summer for another session.

She initiated the Anderson Japanese Garden Summer Festival in 2014  and established the tea study group in 2015. Her mission has been to introduce Japanese aesthetics and the tea spirit to the public, helping to promote a better understanding among all of us and making this world a better place to live.