“Few practices are simultaneously as exotic and representative, esoteric and quotidian, instrumental and sensual, political and cultural as the Japanese tea ceremony” (Surak, 2013, p. 1). Surak’s statement represents a broader recognition of the Japanese tea ceremony (hereafter the JTC) as the embodiment of the quintessence of Japanese culture, not only internationally but also domestically. This embodiment of culture exists despite, as well as because of, the fact that most Japanese people themselves lack deep knowledge and experience of the JTC. However, in today's era of cultural globalization, a variety of cultural products and practices are now experienced worldwide, and the JTC is no exception. Based on 12 years of ethnographic research, the present study examines the landscape of cultural globalization with a focus on this quintessentially Japanese cultural practice in the New York metropolitan area. The study analyzes the two primary, and frequently conflicting, dimensions of the JTC’s propagation in the area, namely, reconstruction and deconstruction of Japaneseness. In so doing, the study critically examines how (in)authenticity is valued within the JTC community and how this valuation can be interpreted in the larger context of cultural globalization. The study concludes that, as the JTC is at a point of increasing globalization as a cultural practice, the continued expansion of the JTC is contingent on how the community assesses (in)authenticity within the practice. The study, therefore, comments not only on (in)authenticity within this singular context but suggests the significance and imperatives of redefining the notion of cultural authenticity in modernity.

Authors:
Izumi Funayama, Sarah Lawrence College, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Izumi Funayama, Ph.D. is a guest faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, NY, USA. Dr. Funayama is an expert in intercultural communication and qualitative methods. Her most recent interest is cultural globalization of Japanese traditional culture.

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