ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Scenes from a Country Tea Room was originally presented as part of theWine and Tea
exhibition held at the Lightwork Gallery, Sacramento, curated by Jeff Redman,
one of the very first persons who encouraged my photographic efforts. The
other half of this exhibition was devoted to Madeline Giboin as a woman
searching for the essence of tea in an appreciation of fine wines. For this
project, we were assisted by Jeffrey and Eleanor Patterson of Mount Eden
Vineyards of Saratoga, California. Their enthusiastic support of our exhibitions
over the years is greatly appreciated. Finally, I must thank the many units
of California State University, Sacramento that have given me every form
of assistance possible, particularly Mr. Terry Manns of the Office of Research
and Sponsored Projects.
Ronald Phillip Tanaka
Department of English
CSU, Sacramento
1997
- The image which begins Scenes from a Country
Tea Room is by Dr. Louise Kikuchi of Seattle. It is the seventh in a series
of ten unmounted sumi paintings which represents the ten steps to the path
to enlightenment in Zen Buddhism. The figure sitting by the stream represents
the mind prepared to receive enlightenment. As the figure gazes upon the
image of the moon in the stream, it finally realizes that the image is
only a reflection and not the moon itself but that the reflection is all
that can be known. With this understanding comes anxious expectation and
a deep inner peace. This spirit of Buddhism underlies much of the aesthetic
of tea.
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- This project would not have been possible without
the kind assistance of Mme. Ritsuko Nakatani, tea master of the Ura Senke
Tea School in Sacramento, California. I owe Nakatani Sensei and her
students a debt of gratitude for their patience
and co-operation over the years it took to develop the project.
- A word of thanks needs to be extended to Ms.
Nancy Zimmermann, who not only volunteered to do the Spanish translation
but also designed the web site.
- I would like to thank Prof. Olivia Castellano
of the Department of English, CSU, Sacramento for her consenting to review
the Spanish version of the project.
- The photographs were all shot when I did not
have a camera of my own so I had to use borrowed equipment. The shots of
the tea room were all taken on Kodak Ektachrome 200 with a Pentax Spotmatic
and a 50mm 1.2 Takumar lens loaned to me by Sam Parsons of University Media
Services. The shots of Angela Ramos were taken on Fujicolor 400 and Fuji
Provia with a Nikon F3 loaned by Dr. Arnold Golub. The black and white
photograph of Nakantani Sensei was taken by Shinobu Tanaka (when she was
thirteen) on Kodak Tri-X using a Hasselblad 500C loaned by Mr. and Mrs.
Mark S. Tanaka. Shino also took the photograph of the author in the kendo
outfit. Color processing was by Fleming Color.
- Ms. Zimmermann's M.A.C. makeover by Jene Lozano
of Nordstrom, Sacramento and hair style by Teresa Campos of McKinley Park
Hair Company. Ms. Ramos' and Ms. Zimmermann's sportswear by Emigillano
Zegna, DKNY and Polo/Ralph Lauren with ties by Seigo, New York.
All photographs and poems © 1994 by
Ronald Phillip Tanaka.
Spanish translation of poems © 1997 by Nancy Zimmermann.
Introductory painting, 'Untitled,' © 1997 by Louise Kikuchi. Used with
permission. Dr. Kikuchi is represented by the Foster/White Gallery, Seattle,
WA.
Scenes from a Country Tea Room is dedicated to my oldest daughter, Shinobu Tanaka,
whose devotion to the art of tea was a constant inspiration.
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