- A20 -

Chado Urasenke Tankokai Boston Association The Japanese tea ceremony group of Greater Boston In 1956 the Urasenke Boston chapter was established with the late Minoru Horiuchi DMD as its first president. Only three years later in 1959 Kyoto became Bostons first Sister City and in a generous gesture of friendship Kyoto donated an authentic Kyotostyle Japanese townhouse Kyomachiya to the Boston Childrens Museum. Today the Childrens Museum honors this connection by granting the Chado Urasenke Tankokai Boston Association formerly the Urasenke Boston Chapter special access to the townhouse to give introductory demonstrations for visitors and also hold chado practice sessions. Bostons long history of promoting and protecting Japanese traditional arts made it a natural choice for the location of an Urasenke chapter.