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.

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. 

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

 ​               ​​

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!

SaBi 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.​

We 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.

The 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 

Our heartfelt thanks to Dr. Patricia Graham for an in-depth examination of Japanese sencha culture during the Edo period for the first lecture of the 7th Ocha Zanmai series on Friday evening. If you missed the lecture, be sure to check out her book "Tea of the Sages: The Art of Sencha" at your local university library. Her latest book "Japanese Design: An Illustrated Guide to Art, Architecture and Aesthetics in Japan" is being released in a new revised edition this summer.

Program

​​The official language of this conference is English.
Presentations in Japanese will be accompanied by optional English simultaneous interpretation.
Please note: Recordings of sessions will not be available after the event.

Friday June 4, 18:30-20:00 PDT
(日本時間6月5 日午前10時30分〜午後12時00分)
USD $15
Welcome Messages from the Co-hosts 主催者の挨拶:
Andrew Harris, Dean, College of Liberal & Creative Arts, San Francisco State University
Charles Egan, Chair, Department of Modern Languages, San Francisco State University

Lecture 1 (in English only)
Searching for the Spirit of the Sages: The Japanese Tea Ceremony for Sencha
by Patricia J. Graham
Research Associate, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas
「賢⼈の精神を探ねて: ⽇本における煎茶道」 （英語のみ）
パトリシアJ.グラハム
カンザス大学東アジア研究所研究員

Lecture 2: Friday June 11 18:30-19:30 PDT
(in Japanese with optional simultaneous English interpretation)
(日本時間６月１２ 日午前１０時３０分〜午前１１時３０分)
USD $15
 Keen Eye, Cultivated Taste: the tea tradition and utensil collections of Lord Matsudaira Fumai
MIYATAKE Yoshiyuki
Joint Research Associate, Kyoto and Tea Culture Research Center, Doshisha University
｢松平不昧公の茶の湯と茶道具 ─見極め、育てる─｣（日本語）
宮武慶之
同志社大学京都と茶文化研究センター共同研究員
　　　　
Lecture 3: Friday June 18 18:30-19:30 PDT
(in Japanese with optional simultaneous English interpretation)
(日本時間６月１９ 日午前１０時３０分〜午前１１時３０分)
USD $15
A New View of Kobori Enshū: exploring the concept of kirei sabi
FUKAYA Nobuko
Independent scholar, tea history
｢新しい小堀遠州像 ─『綺麗さびの茶』とは？｣（日本語）
深谷信子  
茶道史研究家  　
　　　　
Lecture 4: Friday June 18 19:45-20:15 PDT
(in Japanese with optional simultaneous English interpretation)
(日本時間６月１９日午前１１時４５分〜午後１２時１５分)
USD $10
The Roji Tea Garden as presented in Nanpōroku: with attention to Tachibana Jitsuzan's interpretation of the sōan ‘grass hut’ tea house
SAKURAMOTO Kaori
Doctoral candidate, Waseda University, School of Graduate Studies
Research Fellow DC2, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
｢『南方録』における「露地」―立花実山の「草庵」の解釈を手がかりとして―」（日本語）
櫻本⾹織
早稲田大学大学院博士後期課程・日本学術振興会特別研究員DC2

Lecture/Presentation 5: Friday June 25 18:30 – 20:30 PDT
(in Japanese with optional simultaneous English interpretation)
(日本時間６月２６ 日午前１０時３０分〜午後１２時４５分)
USD $25
Lecture:  Hosokawa Sansai: tea of the feudal daimyo
and first-ever Hosokawa Sansai School Demonstrations of tea preparation procedures
UMEMURA Naoko
Deputy Iemoto, Hosokawa Sansai School of Tea
講義　｢細川三斎　〜大名の茶の湯〜」（日本語）
​と点前実演 （史上初めて公開）
梅村尚⼦ 
細川三斎流家元代理 
　　
Advance registration is required for all sessions.

The final lecture in the Masterworks of Japanese Tea Tradition lecture series will explore the aesthetics of daimyo tea master Furuta Oribe. Considered a bit of an eccentric in his time, Oribe is known for having taken the wabi teachings of his master Sen no Rikyu to further extremes. This session will highlight famous tea wares that are representative of Oribe's taste and will consider them against the wabi aesthetic of Rikyu that was discussed in the previous lectures.

​The series "Masterworks of Japanese Tea Tradition" is presented in conjunction with the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre. All lectures are presented by Maiko Behr of SaBi Tea Arts. 

​Recordings of all sessions are currently available for viewing to registered participants until November 30th. Please contact us for more information.