Learning Tea at San Francisco State University

NICHI BEI WEEKLY -- San Francisco State University offers two unique classes to undergraduate and graduate students of its Japanese Program. The University is officially registered to teach its students the Omotesenke School of Tea, and has been doing so since 2009. Midori McKeon, professor of Japanese and an Omotesenke lecturer, teaches semester-long classes on Japanese tea ceremony, or chanoyu (literally “hot water for tea”). McKeon said she offers her class every three-and-a-half years to undergraduate students and a graduate-level class every two-and-a-half years, depending on enrollment. “Tea culture courses are very popular,” she told the Nichi Bei Weekly in an e-mail interview. “Many junior and senior students take the undergraduate tea culture course, regardless of their original cultural background. Some undergraduate students even enrolled in the graduate tea course with my permission because of their strong interest and advanced Japanese language proficiency.”