Tea Ceremony Club (4): Serving Tea to Others

Why Do Students Serve Tea to Guests?
The tea ceremony is not complete until matcha is served to others, and students are no exception.
While matcha is usually prepared and shared among club members and teachers, it is especially important to have opportunities to make and serve tea for guests. In my high school tea ceremony club—and likely in many high school tea ceremony clubs across the country—we had such an opportunity during the school cultural festival, where we served tea to visitors.

School Festivals and Hospitality
In autumn, Japanese schools hold cultural festivals. Homeroom classes run food stalls or game booths such as ring toss or haunted houses, and clubs present their activities—for example, photo exhibitions by the photography club, fashion shows by the sewing club, and musical theater performances by the drama club.

For the tea ceremony club, this meant serving traditional sweets and matcha to guests.

Every year, for this special occasion, we ordered traditional Japanese sweets called nerikiri, shaped like our school emblem, from a local Japanese confectionery.
Visitors entered the tea room, sat quietly, and were served the sweet first, followed by a bowl of matcha prepared by the students. Everything was done according to traditional etiquette. It was our chance to put what we had practiced into action.

Looking back on those days, the focus tended to be on showing what we had learned, but it was truly a valuable opportunity to learn about hospitality.

Farewell Tea: Kisaragi-kai
In February, we held a farewell tea gathering called Kisaragi-kai for graduating students. Second-year students served tea to third-year students, who were in their final year.

This role reversal is important. One day, you are learning from your seniors; the next, you are responsible for welcoming other members.

While many students go on to higher education, one girl who was a year ahead of me—and who had always been a reliable and dependable club leader—told us that she had decided to work for Hoshino Resorts, now one of Japan’s leading hospitality companies, after graduation. At the time, I barely understood what that meant. Now, it feels fitting.

Remembering Those Days
That was what life in a high school tea ceremony club was like for me.
It was quite a long time ago now, but those experiences still feel close somehow. If more memories come back to me, I may write about them again.