Soryu had taught the Omotesenke style at the Nippon club culture courses in New York City.  She conducted tea workshops at several prestigious private universities and organized numerous public tea gatherings in NYC.  She established a ‘Chanoyu Center’ to promote charitable works and cultural support activities while she worked as a treasurer for Omotesenke Domonkai Eastern Region USA.  In December 2021, she returned to her hometown in Japan after living in the United States for 25 years and seeks to deepen cultural communication between people in Kumamoto, Japan.

Background

Soryu Yamakawa studied the Omotesenke-style tea culture with Haruko Kimura in Kumamoto, Japan.

2001  After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from DeVry University in Atlanta, Georgia, she moved to the New York Metropolitan area and continued to study the Omotesenke tea culture with Masako Koike at SOHGA-AN tearoom in New York City.

2017  When Mrs. Koike returned to Japan, she became an instructor in the Omotesenke style tea culture at the Nippon Club Culture Courses.

She performed a tea workshop at Columbia University.

2018  She performed tea workshops at Yale University and Sarah Lawrence College.

She conducted a public tea gathering in New York City.

2019 She became the Treasurer for US Eastern Region Omotesenke Domonkai (Student and Teachers Association).

She also established the New York Chanoyu Center for the Study of Tea of the US Eastern Region Omotesenke Domonkai, and actively promoted Omotesenke style tea activities the Chanoyu Center.

She was in charge of promoting Omotesenke-style tea activities at the Chanoyu Center.

She planned and organized numerous public tea gatherings in New York City.

She performed tea workshops at Barnard College and Colgate University.

Dec. 2021  She moved to Kumamoto after living in the US for 25 years.

May 2022  She hosted the charity tea gathering to support the people of Ukraine.

July 2022  She established her own school in Kumamoto to teach the Omotesenke style online and face-to-face to beginners and at advanced levels.