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Jason Cohen

Jason Cohen

Master of Ceremonies here and on Tea Technique. Previously, Founder and Executive Director of the Tea Institute at Penn State (defunct).

http://teatechnique.org/

Omotesenke – Success!

And you thought I was done after these 2 punches? My meeting with the Secretary General of Omotosenke, Mr. Uzuoka, was an honor, went indubitably well, and extended far beyond me dwelling on their architecture. I am overjoyed to announce that the Omotesenke Chanoyu School, the oldest school in the

Japanese Architecture

Let me be upfront. Until this experience, I never understood Japanese Architecture. It didn’t click. I liked the gardens (who doesn’t like the gardens?), but their drab stucco-esq mud brown colors of walls, and their sizing never made me feel at “home” (though I did like the proportions)

Cormorant Fishing on the GiFu River

For the last 1,300 years (since the end of the Tang Dynasty), river runners have been fishing for sweetfish (ayu) on the Gifu river. Using Cormorants. The birds are tied to a rope and controlled off the bow of the boat by a Fishing Master. This is a serious

Chaxi at the 7 river bends

While not an extreme chaxi, this was a beautifully memorable one. Our host in japan, Mr. Yasuo Koike, has been of the most gracious sort, and we are now in Shizouka, a tea growing Provence. We made a special 2 part chaxi on top of Asahi Dan Mountain overlooking a

100 views of no Mt. Fuji

Clouds form far from sight, Rolling in to hide, The site. Mt fuji was meant to be, viewed, but perhaps not by me. This time. – Jason

Sumo

Sumo is unsurprisingly awesome! I got lucky, and happened to be in Nagoya during day 3 of the tournament. Each match starts with “cold warfare” – a stare down, where each wrestler gauges the other and decides when to strike. There`s a time limit of 4 minutes before the match

First Okapi Sighting

There it is. On a signboard for the zoo in the Tokyo Metro. They better higher some more security; because I`m going hunting.

Tea with Edosenke

Another stop on life’s to do list? Yes! To formerly begin the Tea Institutes relationship and discuss our Experiential Learning program in Japan with the Edosenke Chanoyu School based in Tokyo, the Imoto invited us for tea. Imoto style. (An Imoto is the Grand Master of a school) The

Sencha…

Is your tea marine-ey and vegital with a strong mineral note? Than your probably drinking sencha (or stale Chinese green tea). Does it have any small amount of depth or complexity to it at all? Then your probably drinking Gyokuro (or better stale Chinese green tea). All the (findable) sencha

Tokyo – Expectation and Reality

I had a vision of Tokyo, formed from popular perceptions, colored by movies and photos, enhanced from books I have read and stories told by one traveler to another; I imagined a city of crammed streets, bright lights, pockets of glitter and gold catering to the jet setting rich of