🌱 Sorate Storytelling Series Vol.9

Stories that Connect Tea and People — Sorate Storytelling Series
Narration: Keiko Kitazawa (Sorate Advisor / Omotesenke Style Professor)

About Keiko Kitazawa:

She has over 25 years of experience in Chanoyu and has been teaching as a certified Omotesenke-style tea ceremony instructor in New York and New Jersey for more than 15 years, guiding over 100 students, including school programs. She conducts weekly lessons at the private salon, 229 East 49^th Street in NYC and at her private tea room in Closter, NJ, and regularly hosts tea gatherings both in the U.S. and Japan. A founding member of the Omotesenke Domonkai Eastern Region (2008) and its Secretary General since 2019, she graduated from Osaka University of Arts (Design) and the Fashion Institute of Technology (Fine Arts). Keiko views Chanoyu not only as a practice of procedures and customs but as a way of living an aesthetically and spiritually rich life. 

SORATE Second Shop Opens in Flatiron — A New Base and Future Horizons

In September 8, 2025, Sorate opened its second shop in the vibrant Flatiron district.
Following SOHO, this new base is both a cultural transmitter and a place of new encounters.

The interior feels even closer to a tearoom:
gentle light through lattice windows, and a ceiling of woven ajiro.
This ajiro ceiling is the most premium material in the shop—
a commitment to value that recalls a tea master building a tearoom.

Remarkably, the design is entirely Silvia’s, not under my supervision.
Her meticulous attention to detail and color—
especially the bold use of navy, seldom the star in a tearoom—
creates an atmosphere of quiet depth.

Flatiron is a hub for sharing culture through matcha and a “tearoom of encounters”
where people from around the world meet, converse, and find ease.

If SOHO was the realization of a dream,
Flatiron is the promise of the future.
From New York to the world,
the culture of matcha will continue to spread.

From New York to the world, Sorate’s journey will continue to grow and inspire.
We truly look forward to welcoming you at our store and sharing a bowl of matcha together.