A Whirlwind Tea Ceremony: From Kimonos to Rickshaws — A Memorable Encounter with French Visitors in Kyoto
Guided by interpreter guide Ms. Onishi, two French women in kimonos arrived at Komurasaki An. They smiled back at my exclamation of “How beautiful!” and entered the tea room. They had traveled all the way from Kuwait, and just thinking about what kind of country Kuwait was, a distant land, made my heart race.
Interpreter guide Ms. Onishi also joined the tea ceremony. It turned out that Ms. Onishi was a graduate of the same university as my wife Naoko and I, and I was a little proud and happy when she called me “Senior! Senior!”.
Today’s tea ceremony was a “challenge against time” to finish the workshop and give them a certificate of completion for workshop with their own photos in just one hour. However, even in this short time, they nodded to our words, laughed, and expressed empathy, making it a truly enjoyable time. I’m sure they really enjoyed the tea ceremony.We had them sit on stools for the tea ceremony, which was probably easier than sitting on the tatami mats.
The workshop was over and the next reservation time was approaching. It was an experience tour to explore the Arashiyama area by rickshaw. It would be too late to walk to the rickshaw stand, and it would be impossible to find a taxi. “Okay, I’ll take you there in my car!” Everyone smiled and agreed happily.
I drove them to the stand and said goodbye, “Please come and visit me again anytime!” They replied, “All right, and I’ll send lots of people from Kuwait to you!”
