Friendship Tea Gathering between Grenoble and Tsukuba

While I was staying in Grenoble as a guest lecturer at Grenoble University, I learned that the Mayor of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, was scheduled to visit Grenoble, a sister city of Tsukuba. Through the university, the City of Grenoble requested that I host a tea gathering for the occasion.

The venue was the International House, the main hall of the oldest château in Grenoble.

Everything happened so quickly that, remarkably, I did not even know the exact arrangement of the tea gathering until the mayor arrived on the day itself. It was then that I learned that this was a commemorative event marking the 10th anniversary of the sister-city partnership between the two cities.

There was another extraordinary coincidence.

My step-grandfather—my maternal grandmother’s second husband—was a resident of neighboring Shimotsuma City. He was a ceramic artist who devoted himself to tea ceramics, and during his active years he was also involved in the development of Tsukuba Science City, including work connected with the Tsukuba Expo.

What an extraordinary coincidence.

Had I known all of this beforehand, I would have brought one of his works with me.

However, I had come to Grenoble together with Hisaaki Kamei of Takatori ware (@hisaaki0727), so I thought, Well, then, let us make the most of the opportunity and showcase Takatori ware to the fullest.

And so, every ceramic utensil used for the tea gathering was from Takatori ware.

After the tea gathering, I somehow found myself invited to join a dinner attended by Mayor Igarashi of Tsukuba and Mayor Carroz of Grenoble, while a separate place was also arranged for the delegation that had accompanied us.

Grenoble is known as one of the largest university cities in Europe, while Tsukuba is, needless to say, Japan’s largest science and university city.

To have been allowed to sit alongside the two mayors at their dinner was an honor beyond words.

Even now, I am not sure I fully understood what was happening.

My heartfelt thanks go to everyone at the City of Grenoble for their gracious consideration, and to Professor Higashi and Alice-sensei of Grenoble University, who worked tirelessly on the local coordination and preparations.