On Saturday, May 18, 2024, a commemorative event was held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, to celebrate the inauguration of the Chadō Urasenke Tankōkai Abu Dhabi Association.

In 2010, a chadō learning center was established in Abu Dhabi, and this marked the founding of the Urasenke Abu Dhabi study group. Over the years since then, the group has won recognition for its enthusiastic activities, and it received the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation for 2023. On January 8, 2024, Urasenke Headquarters approved its establishment as a Chadō Urasenke Tankōkai association, the first overseas Urasenke association in the Middle East. The inauguration ceremony was held at the “Ryokusuian” tea house in the Emirates Palace Hotel, with the cooperation of INPEX /JODCO.　

Mr. Hiroshi Fujii (President and CEO of JODCO), who has been named President of the Chadō Urasenke Tankōkai Abu Dhabi Association, gave the opening remarks. That was followed by a congratulatory message from H.E. Mr. Akio Isomata, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the United Arab Emirates (Honorary Advisor of the Chadō Urasenke Tankōkai Abu Dhabi Association), read by Mr. Koji Saito, Charge d’Affaires ad interim of the Embassy of Japan in the United Arab Emirates.

Congratulatory messages from Daisōshō Genshitsu Sen and Iemoto Sōshitsu Sen were delivered by Gyōtei Shimura Sōko. He then presented President Fujii with the association’s registration plaque, and presented H.E. Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, with a certificate of entrustment as Honorary Advisor. Mr. Abdullah Al Suwaidi, the association’s Vice Chief of Administration, represented the board of directors in receiving the board members’ certificates of entrustment.

At the commemorative tea gathering that followed, H.E. Mubarak and the other distinguished guests were seated either in the tea house or in the chair-seating area, as Gyotei Shimura prepared individual servings of thick matcha tea, which were conveyed to them for their enjoyment of its rich flavor.

After the formal event, a tea gathering was held among the association members, their families, and related parties, using tea and sweets provided by the Urasenke Head House, and they congenially celebrated the inauguration of the association.

That evening, about 30 members of the association and related parties held a dinner party, where they looked back on the history of Urasenke Chado in Abu Dhabi, and rejoiced over the inauguration of the association.

From the following day, Sunday the 19th, a two-and-a-half-day seminar was held mainly at the Ryokusuian tea house, for the association members. The first day, a license conveying ceremony also took place, an inspirational event for them all. Thanks to all these recent events, the association members participated in the seminar with renewed vigor.