XVIII. Tea

Although I try hard not to think too much about it, the end of the Japan stay is gradually coming into view. June will be a very busy month at work, with me spending the first two weeks at different divisions. After that, I will be busy helping to organize the HISTEP conference, and little time will remain for my own research into CSR. In July I will be working on my final presentations (in addition to the JNI presentation, I am also expected to give a presentation at Hitachi). All this means that I am now working hard to finish a draft version of my Corporate Social Responsibility research report before the end of May.

I must say that I am looking forward to working with the other divisions for a while. My own division, GBR, is great, but it would be nice to get a broader view of the company’s activities. The first week in June I will be working with Hitachi’s internal branding division. The second week will be spent with advertisement. Last week, someone from branding came over to discuss my tasks for the four days I will be spending with them. This turned out to be a fine example of the non-communication that can occur in a Japanese setting. According to the schedule he had received, I had supposedly spent several weeks with different divisions already and given numerous presentations in Japanese. I was surprised- my schedule had the same date stamp on it, but was completely different. Assuming that I had lots of experience giving presentations in Japanese, the branding colleague proposed I conduct several surveys and use the results for a 20-minute powerpoint presentation- in Japanese, of course. Seeing my surprise, he suggested that if this was a problem, I could also give a presentation in English. But then he added that 80% of the audience probably wouldn’t be able to follow it. Indirect communication, anyone? In the end we decided that I would send him a summary of my work at the GBR division, and have another meeting to further discuss what I can do at branding. I hope my boss will be there as well, so they can straighten out their miscommunication errors.

With the “finish line” in sight, I have also made a list of non-work related things I should go see and experience. This week, I have been able to cross several off my list. Last Wednesday I went to the Kanda festival, to go see an open-air Nōh performance. Like natto, uni sushi or karaoke, Nōh is an acquired taste. Many people think this art form too highbrow or longwinded. But I was mesmerized. The hypnotic music, the fantastic costumes, the highly stylized dances and the simple story lines make for a unique form of fairytale-like theatre. The performance lasted three hours and consisted of a Gagaku performance, two acts of Nōh theatre and one Kyogen comedy piece. Unfortunately the seats we could afford were located at the back of the festival tent so we had to look over several heads- if I ever get the opportunity to go see a Nōh performance again, I will select better seats.

Another must-see on my list was the Sanja Matsuri at Asakusa, which I visited on Saturday. Moving through the crowd I felt as if I was in the train at rush hour; the place was packed. Luckily I was taller than most female visitors and therefore able to see most of the procession of Mikoshi. What a great experience! As the Mikoshi passed by, people were almost dancing, clapping their hands and cheering on the bearers, shouting something like “oisa.” It struck me that many of the bearers were women, although not the exquisitely manicured Ginza-kind. After the parade I sampled various Japanese foods at the countless stalls.

On Sunday, I had been invited by two ladies from my choir (both in their sixties) to attend a 茶の湯 (cha no yu, tea ceremony). One of the ladies, Oyama-san, has a mother (aged 86!) who teaches the tea ceremony to younger Japanese women. Together with four pupils, I sat down on the tatami mats of a specially reserved room in the older lady’s tiny apartment. Using proscribed, stylized movements, one of the pupils made us a thick and tasty kind of matcha. Oyama-san’s mother taught me the appropriate way of accepting the cup offered to me- when to bow, what to say, how to pick up the cup, how to hold it, from which side to drink, and where to place it when finished. It turns out that the tea ceremony is also an exercise in geometry, with objects placed at specific positions on the tatami, evenly spaced and in a set order. Basically the tea ceremony is an exercise in politeness, with cups being offered and accepted in a way that is mutually pleasing. With all this formality, I was surprised at the relaxed atmosphere. Only our host managed to remain in seiza position (sitting on the knees) throughout the ceremony (she has been trained to do so since childhood), and in between cups the women were chatting away, telling stories, making jokes and asking me all sorts of questions. All in all it was a unique experience that most short-term visitors to Japan won’t be able to experience. I did not have to pay any tuition (which is, incidentally, very elegantly presented in a white envelope placed on a spread fan), but I did bring some small Dutch gifts. They were unwrapped (!) and very well received: it’s amazing to see what effect tulips and windmills have on Japanese.