Lecture at Grenoble Alpes University 2023

Since 2015, this series has been held six times, and for the first time, we introduced the tea ceremony using actual tatami mats.

The tatami were newly made aoi-datami, supplied and personally transported to the venue by Motoyama Tatami of Kyoto (@motoyama.hiroshi).

For the demonstration, I performed hira-temae using precious, finely crafted utensils from Hisaaki Kamei of Takatori ware (@hisaaki0727), who likewise transported them to the venue himself.

More than anything, I was delighted that the audience could actually experience the fragrance of fresh rush grass.

Being able to lay tatami on the stage and perform the temae at essentially the same height as the audience seated on chairs was, for me, an ideal arrangement.

The one thing I truly regret, however, is…

The ring of the Onimen-buro had slipped down.

A small but unmistakable reminder that my final checks were not quite thorough enough.

This was the first lecture in four years, following the interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

All of the students who attended the previous lecture have since graduated, but I heard that some of them nevertheless came back to visit.

It made me very happy to see them again—and even happier that they were able to enjoy the tea and traditional sweets once more.