Expo Milano 2015 is scheduled to take place from May through October of this year, and the Urasenke tradition of tea will be part of the opening week festivities. The Expo will explore the theme "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life." Japan, under the theme of "Harmonious Diversity," joins the expo with "the aim of proposing its food culture as an example of a healthy, sustainable and balanced diet, and as a model that can alleviate the problems of hunger and global ecology." From May 1 to May 5, visitors to the event plaza of the Japan Pavilion will be able to observe demonstrations of Urasenke chado and sample traditional sweets and matcha tea served by Urasenke students from Japan and across Europe. Chado will be presented as a portal through which people can connect to the many facets of Japanese traditional culture. Iemoto Zabosai Soshitsu Sen and other members of the Urasenke family will be in attendance for the opening activities and personally introduce chado to visitors during the first two days of the exposition.
The Urasenke tradition of tea has been introduced to visitors at world expositions many times over several generations. Iemoto Zabosai and several of his family members led Urasenke staff and volunteers in serving tea to approximately 4,000 guests in the Japan Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo in 2010. At the 1872 Kyoto Exposition, a new style of chado which employed a table he designed for preparing tea was introduced by 11th generation Urasenke iemoto Gengensai Seichu Soshitsu. |
