Chado, a traditional Japanese tea ceremony that has been practiced for centuries, will be performed as part of Asian Heritage Month.

Kimiko Gunji, director of Japan House at University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, will teach students about “Chado: The Way of Tea”, in a ceremony combining tea and visual aesthetics such as calligraphy and flower arrangements.

The ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Coleman auditorium.

Miho Nonaka, an assistant English professor, said she thinks it is important that students branch out and explore other cultures and their traditions.

“(Chado is) a highly ritualized form of art,” Nonaka said. “Tea was first brought back from China by a Buddhist priest. It was considered medicinal, and it helped Japanese monks to stay awake during their long hours of meditation.”

Students will get to see a demonstration of the ceremony Tuesday. Tea master Sen no Riky? developed the ceremony in the 16th century.

“When I think of Chado, I think of both restraint and openness; time set aside for meditation and encounter with another soul,” Nonaka said.

John Martone, an English professor, said Gunji would make a tea house set up in Coleman auditorium.

Martone said Gunji performed the ceremony five years ago at Eastern, filling the Tarble Arts Center’s Atrium with spectators.

“She always brings sweets with her,” Martone said.

During the tea ceremony, Gunji will do a demonstration then ask a few students to come and participate.

“It’s not an every day thing, it’s something that people learn to do; learn to practice,” Martone said.

Martone said he thought the ceremony would interest students who have taken Japanese history or literature classes.

“Anyone that’s interested in things Japanese should come,” he said.

Nonaka said students should suspend all judgments when they come to the ceremony and leave behind what is familiar to them.

“I hope students won’t think Chado is only for the select few cultural elites,” Nonaka said. “I’d like to see students come with open mind.”

Sam Bohne can be reached at 581-7942 or shbohne@eiu.edu.