Follow along as Shizuka dons a kimono and enters through a tiny sliding door into a “chashitsu” tea room.

There, she’s joined by tea ceremony instructor Takeda Rie, who has over 40 years of experience participating in and hosting traditional tea ceremonies.

Known as “chado” or “sado” (literally, “way of tea”), the traditional tea ceremony has been around for centuries in Japan. Tea ceremony culture first came from China along with Zen Buddhism and tea was originally consumed by priests and noblemen in Japan.

Samurai culture is also deeply intertwined with the Japanese tea ceremony. The door to enter the tea room was specifically made so small so that the samurai were forced to leave their swords behind (as they would not fit through the door). When entering the tea room, there is certainly a feeling of peace and warm hospitality.