Exclusive interview with Pola President Miki Oikawa: The never-ending tea ceremony journey “Facing the true self” (5)

Author: Yoh Otsuka (Senior Researcher and Senior Consultant, Nikkei Business Publications Intelligence Group)

More and more business executives are taking tea ceremony classes. What is it about the tea ceremony that attracts these busy people?

Pola Inc. CEO Miki Oikawa has been practicing the tea ceremony (sado) for five years. She is a member of the Senka sect of tea ceremony.

She started practicing in 2018 and was responsible for overseas business at Pola. “When we talked about receiving foreign guests, I started to question my behavior as a Japanese and whether I had the correct etiquette,” Oikawa said.

Oikawa experienced tea ceremony when he was in his 20s. “I was working in the Saitama office at the time, and the ‘big boss’ who led the organization was a woman in her 50s who practiced tea ceremony. She would hire a tea ceremony teacher, and about half of the sales in the three-hour meeting would be Use it to teach us how to make tea.” At that time, Oikawa felt that he did not have time to spend on the tea ceremony. “Frankly, I want to talk about sales targets, not make tea,” she said. She had talked to colleagues about how delicious the desserts were, but didn’t feel any connection to the spirit of the tea ceremony. But the great master would say: “The tea ceremony is vital to future leadership. People who lead hearts and minds need their own space.”

25 years later, in 2018, the master’s words came back to Oikawa. “The job of a Pola salesperson is to be close to the heart of the customer, and I finally understood what the big boss meant. Through the tea ceremony, leaders can develop a range of perspectives that help our salespeople grow and develop.” Around the same time, a An old friend just happened to arrive at Oikawa’s house. She was wearing a kimono and said there was a tea ceremony nearby. She introduced Oikawa to her teacher, and Oikawa started practicing tea ceremony again at the age of 49.

The practice gives a feeling of totonou (refreshing and resetting)

Oikawa said, “The charm of the tea ceremony is not only the delicious matcha, but also that it can refresh the mind and detoxify the body and mind.” Although she is the president of the company, she now aims to practice twice a month. “When I practiced in the morning air in the tea room, I felt refreshed,” she said, “It was similar to the totonou feeling in a sauna. When I heard the explanation of the hanging scroll in the alcove, it was completely In line with how I was feeling that day, which was “You got me! “A moment.”

In the tea ceremony, the utensils change with the seasons. The tea bowl can be decorated with cherry blossoms in spring and autumn leaves in autumn. The bowl is shallow in summer and dark in winter. The treatment method depends on the shape of the bowl. In addition, serving tea is also divided into three levels: “Zhen”, “Xing”, etc., which respectively represent formal, semi-formal and informal. In so-style, utensils are handled with the right hand, while in shin-style, utensils are sometimes handled with the left hand. If you include combinations of serving methods and utensils, there may be hundreds of different variations of the tea ceremony. This is why the tea ceremony is considered complex and difficult to master.

This was fun for Oikawa too. “As the seasons change and the tools change, we need to be more flexible,” she said. “The varied nature of the tea ceremony is like ‘diversity without boundaries,’ and that’s what’s interesting about it.” Oikawa points out that this is similar to the business world. “There are theories in business, but society and people’s attitudes change with the times. There is a need to adapt to circumstances and not rely on established rules or past successes,” she said.

Tea bowls, tea whisks and other utensils are stored in the president’s office

Rules of conduct are the “common language” of both host and guest

Tea masters in Oikawa often organize tea ceremonies. “My master always said, ‘The most important thing is to consider how the guests coming to the tea ceremony will feel. Think about how they will enjoy the tea ceremony, how they will feel when they leave, and then choose tea sets and tea utensils.’ Oikawa said, ‘I think I learned what true hospitality is.”

The tea ceremony has detailed etiquette rules, such as the way to walk on the tatami, the way to bow, etc. There are many rules to the tea ceremony, and Oikawa points out that it might be a good thing to have some common rules. The tea master can enjoy the tea ceremony with guests based on a common language while providing his/her own unique hospitality.

There is a term that describes the various stages of training: shuhari. Shu means “to faithfully follow and master the basic style”, ha means “to break out of the style and develop it”, and ri means “to break away from the basic and express one’s own personality”. It might mean learning the basic style first before expressing your originality. Learning this way over time really helps with re-skilling.

Oikawa said, “The good thing about practicing is that you have the opportunity to be taught. At my age, I rarely get scolded. Sometimes I don’t do a good job making tea, and there doesn’t seem to be any progress.” Okay,” she said. But Oikawa believes that this kind of experience is necessary for self-improvement even in his 50s.

Make and serve tea to retired employees who come to see them off

Tea ceremony is something everyone enjoys in his/her way

“Luckily, my teacher is a great person and everyone at school is very pleasant,” Oikawa said. The students were dressed in different styles: kimonos for women, hakama for men, some wore practice aprons over their suits, and some just wore a belt to hold the gauze used to wipe the utensils. “I think people should enjoy the tea ceremony in different ways,” Oikawa said.

As the number of people practicing tea ceremony continues to decrease, how to attract more people, especially businessmen? “We should increase opportunities for people to experience tea ceremonies casually. Many people have had green tea powder in dessert shops and other places, but I don’t think they have the opportunity to make tea themselves,” Oikawa said. Rules are important, but you also need to prepare a place where people can participate freely. It would be a good idea to add some practice areas where table tea ceremonies can be held and where you can practice tea ceremony while wearing a suit.

If a businessman wants to be active on the world stage, he must first understand Japan. Oikawa says that by learning tea ceremony, we can reaffirm the Japanese way of thinking and feeling.

“The tea ceremony may seem formal, but it also has a flexible side. The great master I just mentioned once said to me, ‘You have to understand it with your body, not with words.’ I began to understand what “The tea ceremony.” “What she meant was. For me, the tea ceremony is a ‘journey without an end.’ I want to continue my practice while facing my true self,” Oikawa said.

Oikawa recommends candy and tea (she’s wearing a ring because it’s work time and not practice time)

Miki Oikawa, CEO of Pola Inc.
Oikawa joined Pola in 1991. After serving as Saitama Area Manager and General Manager of the Product Planning Department, she was appointed an executive officer in 2012 and a director in 2014. She assumed the current role as CEO in January 2020. She leads purpose-based business management and diversity management with the mission of creating a society where everyone can realize their potential. Author of “Happy Teams Get Results” (co-author, Nikkei Business Publishing House)

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Nikkei Business Publishing House

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