<![CDATA[SaBi Tea Arts

<![CDATA[SaBi Tea Arts - NEWS]]>Sun, 01 Mar 2026 21:51:55 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Nitobe Garden Immersive Tea Experience Returns]]>Sun, 01 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.sabiteaarts.com/news/nitobe-garden-immersive-tea-experience-returnsThis summer, our immersive experience through the outer garden (roji) of the teahouse at Nitobe Memorial Garden has returned for another chance to slip into "garden sandals" to navigate the stepping stones, sit in the "waiting arbor," rinse your hands at the tsukubai stone basin, and enter the tea room through the nijiriguchi “crawling entrance.” This time, each session is limited to 5 guests and tea is being served in the small 4.5-mat tea room at the back of the tea house.

Sessions are offered through The Dojin Japanese Arts Society on the second Sunday of each month from June through September.

]]><![CDATA[Immersive Tea Ceremony Experience of the Ichibōan Tea House and Roji Path at Nitobe Memorial Garden]]>Thu, 04 Jul 2024 19:50:04 GMThttps://www.sabiteaarts.com/news/immersive-tea-ceremony-experience-of-the-ichiboan-tea-house-and-roji-path-at-nitobe-memorial-gardenThis May, we were pleased to lead guests on an immersive experience through the outer garden (roji) of the teahouse at Nitobe Memorial Garden as the space would traditionally be used. Everyone had the chance to slip into "garden sandals" to navigate the stepping stones, sit in the "waiting arbor," rinse their hands at the tsukubai stone basin, and enter the tea room through the nijiriguchi “crawling entrance.” Once inside the tea house, guests enjoyed a matcha tea service with a special seasonal wagashi sweet prepared by Saki Fukuda.

We are grateful to Nitobe Memorial Garden for making this program possible and for allowing us the opportunity to offer this program again in the remaining summer months. Check out The Dojin Japanese Arts Society for offerings on the second Sundays of July, August, and September.

]]><![CDATA[Table-style kumikō incense gathering at Nikkei Centre]]>Mon, 29 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.sabiteaarts.com/news/table-style-kumiko-incense-gathering-at-nikkei-centre

Zankakō 残花香 Late Cherry Blossoms
at Nikkei Centre

In conjunction with the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre Month of O-Hanami cultural programs, we were very pleased to partner with The Dōjin Japanese Arts Society to offer two sessions of a sakura-themed kumikō (incense appreciation exercise), where guests had a chance to experience and compare three types of highly fragrant woods in a game that incorporates seasonal and literary references. It was a wonderful opportunity for guests to engage their senses while learning about kōdō, the Japanese Way of Incense.

Led by Hitomi (Tōkō) Ginnan sensei, these sessions were held in the ryūrei 立礼 style -- seated at long tables. This accessible format provided a different kind of experience from our usual classes, which are held on tatami mats.

For more information about our incense ceremony classes and programs, see our Experience Kodo page or contact us by email at kodo [at] sabitea
For more about the various Japanese cultural programming hosted by Dōjin Arts, see their website at: www.dojinarts.org or follow them on social media @dojinarts

]]><![CDATA[Nerikō-making workshops with Dōjin Arts]]>Mon, 26 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.sabiteaarts.com/news/neriko-making-workshops-with-dojin-artsThis weekend, we had the pleasure of hosting three hands-on nerikō-making workshops for The Dōjin Japanese Arts Society. Guests had the opportunity to learn about the significance of nerikō and its use throughout Japanese history before blending and rolling their own incense to take home. Each participant made one of three specially formulated recipes: one of two of the "six classic scents" (六種の薫物）, Baika 梅花 (Plum Blossom) and Kurobō 黒方 (Black One), and an original blend for 2024 Zuiun 瑞雲 (Auspicious Clouds) specially crafted by the Senzan Goryū school of kōdō (incense ceremony) in Kyoto, Japan.

Thanks to everyone who attended. We hold these workshops once or twice a year in the winter months. To find out about future offerings, please join the Dojin Arts mailing list to receive notice of future programs.

]]><![CDATA[Open House with Dōjin Arts and the Sogetsu School of Ikebana]]>Fri, 06 Oct 2023 00:09:17 GMThttps://www.sabiteaarts.com/news/open-house-with-dojin-arts-and-the-sogetsu-school-of-ikebana

We are pleased to announce a new partnership with The Dōjin Japanese Arts Society, a newly founded non-profit dedicated to building understanding and community through the appreciation of Japanese cultural arts and traditions.

To launch the Dōjin Arts program series, we are pleased to host an exhibition of ikebana arrangements by members of the Sogetsu Vancouver Branch (Sogetsu School of Ikebana) in our tea room space at SaBi Tea Arts.

Please join us for a bowl of matcha and traditional sweet as we celebrate these sister art forms that flourished under the influence of Zen Buddhist aesthetics and philosophy during the Higashiyama era (late 15th century). Members of Dōjin Arts and the Sogetsu School of Ikebana will be available to chat and answer questions about their organizations.

To allow visitors time and space to view the flower arrangements, this will be a relaxed, open house setting, not a formal tea service. Donations in support of The Dōjin Japanese Arts Society are welcomed.

Sunday, October 22, 2023
11:00 am - 5:00 pm
at SaBi Tea Arts

We look forward to introducing you to Dōjin Arts.

]]><![CDATA[SaBi x Yuwa summer patio collaboration featuring wagashi by Saki]]>Tue, 11 Jul 2023 04:59:15 GMThttps://www.sabiteaarts.com/news/sabi-x-yuwa-summer-patio-collaboration-featuring-wagashi-by-sakiTea on the Patio at

We are thrilled to collaborating with Yuwa Japanese Cuisine, serving matcha on the patio and featuring a selection of traditional Japanese confections by Yuwa's own in-house wagashi artisan, Saki Fukuda.

Date: Monday, August 7 (BC Day)
Time: Session 1 - 1:00 pm
Session 2 - 2:30 pm
Maximum of 16 guests per session
Tickets: $46+tax

Enjoy a leisurely summer afternoon on the patio with a guided outdoor-style presentation of Japanese tea ceremony by SaBi Tea Arts and learn about the importance of colour, ingredients, and texture as they relate to seasonality in Japanese tea ceremony sweets.

Ticket price includes ceremonial matcha & three seasonal wagashi sweets. Choose one to have with your tea and take the others home with you.

Space is limited, so please register early to ensure your spot.

Featured Artist Profile:
Saki Fukuda

Born in Nagasaki 1994
After graduating from high school, moved to Kyoto to study wagashi-making
2013-2015: trained at Okashitsukasa An in Kyotango city, 2013-2015
2015-2019: worked at Kameya Yoshinaga, a traditional Kyoto sweet shop established in 1803
Working on the kitchen staff at Yuwa, Vancouver, since summer 2019

]]><![CDATA[Tea Ceremony at Roedde House Museum]]>Sun, 14 May 2023 22:57:39 GMThttps://www.sabiteaarts.com/news/tea-ceremony-at-roedde-house-museum

On Saturday, May 13, we had a lovely time sharing tea at two sold-out sessions of visitors at Roedde House Museum, serving tea table-style and stepping back in time to the vibrant period of cultural awakening between East and West around the turn of the 20th century.

Roedde House was built in 1893, at the same time that Ernest Fenollosa and later Okakura Kakuzo were introducing Japanese arts and philosophy to the West. Okakura's seminal Book of Tea (pub. 1906) and its reception attest to the deep interest in Japan and Japanese culture in the West at this interesting historical moment. Thanks to Roedde House for the opportunity to share tea in this historic space!

]]><![CDATA[Experience Kōdō Incense Ceremony May 21-22, 2022]]>Fri, 25 Mar 2022 23:00:08 GMThttps://www.sabiteaarts.com/news/kodo2022SaBi Tea Arts presents two days of public Kōdō (Japanese incense ceremony) gatherings to
celebrate spring and Asian Heritage Month. Guests will sample several kinds of aromatic
woods then try to distinguish among them in a traditional Kumikō exercise.

Sessions are hosted by a certified instructor of the Senzan Goryū School of Kōdō (Kyoto)
and are limited to 8 participants per session.

This event is part of the explorASIAN Festival.

]]><![CDATA[Arts of the Tokonoma lecture series]]>Sat, 05 Mar 2022 23:13:50 GMThttps://www.sabiteaarts.com/news/arts-of-the-tokonoma-lecture-seriesWe are pleased to be presenting the Spring 2022 virtual lecture series Arts of the Tokonoma in conjunction with the Canadian Society for Asian Arts over three sessions in March, April, and May.
Please visit the Current Programs page or click on the image below for more details.

]]><![CDATA[Ocha Zanmai #2: The Tea Collections of Matsudaira Fumai]]>Mon, 07 Jun 2021 22:37:59 GMThttps://www.sabiteaarts.com/news/ocha-zanmai-2-the-tea-collections-of-matsudaira-fumaiThe Ocha Zanmai series continues this Friday, with additional lectures each week through the end of June. The next four lectures will be in Japanese with optional English interpretation.

7th OCHA ZANMAI San Francisco International Conference
on Chanoyu and Tea Culture
-- Tea in the Edo Period (1603-1867) --
Lecture #2
Friday, June 11, 6:30 pm PDT
Register at: https://sfsu.simpletix.com/e/70203

MIYATAKE Yoshiyuki is author of numerous articles with special focus on tea utensil collections and the movement of tea objects during the Edo period, including a serialized column on tea utensils of the Mizoguchi collection (50-part series) in Sadō zasshi (2016-2020), a series on Yoshimura Kan'a in Enshū (7-part series) in 2018, and a column on Matsudaira Fumai (12-part series) in 2018.

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