Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 4/3/03 Section: Features

Media Credit: Sayaka Yagi Students try their skills with chopsticks as they attempt to catch flowing noodles on Japan Night, March 26.

On Wednesday March 26, the lounge of Campus Center was colored by the fabrics of Japanese culture-tea ceremony, presentation, calligraphy, and food-all under the theme of "Japanese soul."

In tea ceremony corner, Japanese-style confectionery and traditional Japanese green tea were served. Traditional Japanese green tea was made with tea powder and hot water mixed together. In the tea ceremony, guests followed some special rules. For example, they had to sit on their heels, with both knees on the floor, and rotate the tea cup one and a half circles before drinking. For some, it was difficult to sit like that.

Tea ceremony is rare among young teenagers now. However, a look back to Japanese history would show that it was an important event. Green tea comes down generation to generation and is a necessity in Japanese life style.

In the presentation corner, there were a lot of Japanese items including magazines, comics, and origami that people were free to handle directly. Japanese students gave presentations about Japanese religion, life style, and the education system.

Japanese calligraphy, called "Syuji," was one of hit sections. "Syuji" is the Japanese art of producing beautiful writing using special brushes, ink, and Japanese paper for calligraphy. Japanese students gave guests new names consisting of Kanji, a type of Japanese letter system. Normally, it's no easy task to name Americans by Kanji characters because there are many Kanji for one sound, such as a, i, u, e, o. First, the Japanese students found a few Kanji letters in the dictionary. Then, they chose the most suitable ones for the person they were trying to name. Guests who received their "new names" were smiling with satisfaction.

There were four types of Japanese food for sampling: takoyaki, yakisoba, sushi-roll, and nagashi-somen. The way of eating Nagashi-somen, a traditional Japanese noodle, is quite unique. People catch the somen, which flows with water down a long chute of bamboo, with chopsticks. Most of the people who never used chopsticks were a little awkward with this, so they spent a difficult but fun time with it.

By the end of the night, regardless of which country visitors were from, Japan and its culture were brought closer to most in attendance, even if they couldn't get the chopsticks right.

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