Graduate School of Law
photo by author
I have always liked green tea since I was a teenager. Its flavor, bitterness, nutritional properties, and long history are things that I can only compare to coffee. In Panama, green tea is available, but it is not experienced in the same deep cultural way as it is in Japan.
Green tea has a long history in East Asia and has become deeply connected with Japanese culture, traditions, family life, and even daily work routines. Nowadays, matcha has also become one of the most recognizable symbols of Japanese sweets around the world. For me, this shows how important green tea is, not only as a drink, but also as part of Japanese identity.
Participating in the Japanese Tea Party was a meaningful learning experience for me. I was able to learn about the history, classification, and tradition of Japanese tea. Before the event, I did not know that there were so many types of green tea. In supermarkets in my home country, I usually saw only two general options: regular green tea and Japanese green tea. Because of this, discovering the variety and cultural depth behind Japanese tea was very interesting for me.
Also, I made some new friends during the event. As a Hispanic international student, it was fun and meaningful to meet other people from Latin America, connect with them, and share the experience together. I believe that these types of events allow students to connect beyond borders in one of the best ways: through culture, conversation, and shared experiences.
Furthermore, this event taught me not only the theory of tea, but also the practice of preparing matcha. One of the funniest moments was when I was mixing the matcha in circles, and then one of the staff members kindly corrected me and showed me how to mix it properly in a W shape. That small moment made the experience feel real, enjoyable, and memorable. I was not only listening to an explanation; I was actually learning by doing.
I can honestly say that this experience will remain one of my best memories of Japanese culture at Waseda. It reminded me that culture is not only something we read about or watch in videos, but something we understand better when we experience it directly with other people. As Anthony Bourdain once said, “You learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.” In this case, I felt that sharing tea also helped us understand each other a little more.
In conclusion, the world is not only about watching videos on a smartphone or liking pictures on social media. It is also about going out, meeting people, and experiencing the cultures that are waiting for us. I would like to invite other students to participate in these kinds of ICC events, because they can help us discover Japan from a more human and meaningful perspective.
Let’s discover more about Japan.
