EVERETT – About 20 people sat with their legs doubled. The faint smell of tatami, a floor mat woven of rice straw, wafted from the floor. On the wall, a hanging roll with Japanese letters from the top to the bottom read in English: “All seeking leads to one truth.”
Dan Bates / The Herald
The room was quiet enough to hear the chirping of birds outside.
Haruko Nagai, dressed in a kimono, opened the door and bowed to the guests. They bowed back.
“Thank you for coming with your busy schedule,” said Nagai, of Mill Creek, in Japanese.
The greeting set in motion a Japanese tea ceremony Saturday afternoon at the Nippon Business Institute on the Everett Community College campus.
The institute has held the tea ceremony since 1998 as a community outreach program so people in Everett can get a taste of Japanese culture and traditions, said Mayumi Smith, the institute’s director.
“The goal is to have them experience” Japanese culture, Smith said in Japanese.
The event also provides a socializing opportunity for Japanese people who live in the area, Smith said. Because of language and cultural barriers, they tend to be isolated, she said.
Before the tea ceremony, guests took a quick tour of the institute’s Japanese garden and had a potluck of Japanese food, including rice balls, colorful pickles and rolled eggs.
The formal ceremony proceeded quietly. One by one, a bowl of green tea was served on the floor before each guest, who picked it up and turned it around with both hands before bringing it to their mouth.
Dan Bates / The Herald
“Very interesting,” Grace Thomas whispered, standing just outside the room. “I like the slowness rather than rushing it all.”
Thomas, 70, of Marysville and Merianne Cummins, 87, of Everett are friends at the Everett Senior Center. They have never been to Japan, but came to the ceremony out of curiosity.
“Oh, it’s wonderful. We’re so impressed,” Thomas said.
As the tea was served, Smith introduced a Japanese saying that captured the gathering’s preciousness.
“Ichi-go, ichi-e,” she said, explaining that the saying means in English, “One meet, one chance.”
Thomas said she had never heard the expression before but liked its essence.
“One moment here, not again,” she said.
Part of the reporting for this story was conducted in Japanese and translated into English by reporter Yoshiaki Nohara.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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