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Page 3 · column 4 of 9 · from the scan, no model involved
“Could you tell me something about the tea ceremony?”
“Mm. Hard to explain in English.”
“Is it an important part of your life?”
“No, not important?”
“Do you often go to a tea ceremony?”
“Not often.”
“Would you go at least once a year?”
“A few times a month.”
“Why do you go?”
“Hard to explain in English!”
Jiroo, my host, once suggested I visit some Shinto shrines. I had already seen one in Tokyo.
“Why,” I asked him, “do the people clap their hands before they pray?”
“Old Japanese custom.”
I had asked “Bill”, the Japanese owner of my Tokyo Minshuku ( a private home that takes paying guests) the same question. He found it irritating.
“That’s just what we do. That’s all. It’s a Japanese custom. You have customs. Why do you wear a cross? It’s just something you do, that’s all!”
I didn’t try to tell him that if I wore anything it would be a star of David. I did say that the cross had a meaning which I would be glad to share with him if he wished. He didn’t.
Incidentally, if you’re curious about the clapping, I’ve since been lead to believe it is to call the attention of the Gods to yourself before uttering your prayer.
So, in retrospect, the conversation in the Honolulu Airport was unusual. I was talking to a friendly young Japanese man who was studying in an American College in Alabama.
“I’m very glad you go to Japan,” he said. “Americans
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