
DUBAI: Maria Mariko Dedousi, a Japanese tea ceremony and flower arrangement master who appreciates and finds profound meanings in Japanese culture.
After working as an archaeological researcher in Japan, she moved to Australia to teach Japanese. In 1994, she moved to Saudi Arabia and she has been living in Dubai since 2005. In 2008, she began following the Urasenke Chado tea ceremony school and soon after the Sogetsu Ikebana school in flower arrangement.
“Saudi Arabia was a completely different world, but I loved its unique culture that fits with the country’s environment,” she told Arab News Japan. “You can understand the culture connected to its history and the environment. After Saudi Arabia, we lived in Lebanon for 8 years. Both Islamic worlds, but quite a different way of life.”
Dedousi holds teaching degrees from the Urasenke Foundation and Sogetsu School of Ikebana. Mariko is keen to share her knowledge and experiences as she connects with those who are seeking peacefulness through flower arrangements and tea ceremonies.
“I have been searching for the truth of the universe throughout my life,” she said. “I found out that I can understand it (through) practicing the Japanese flower arrangement and tea ceremony.”
“To be happy, you make yourself satisfied with your five senses. You can satisfy all your senses by practicing tea ceremony and creating the masterpiece or art of flowers and plants from nature; you are then able to see beautiful things with your eyes,” she added.
About her beginnings in teaching Japanese tea ceremony and flower arrangement, Mariko said, “I wanted to create a world to enjoy and share together the happiness of knowing the art of tea ceremony (chado) and the art of flower arrangement (ikebana) with people who are keen to understand and experience the spiritual calmness/peace. So, several years back, I started practicing chado and ikebana only with my dearest friends.”
“It takes almost one’s lifetime to master the profound meaning of the tea ceremony, as its contents include the whole of the Japanese culture, for instance, Wa (harmony), Kei (respect), Sei (purification), and Jaku (tranquility).”
“Therefore, it is very important to regularly attend lessons and to keep practicing during one’s free time but as people are busy working, it is difficult to attend regularly and commit for long periods of time,” she added.
Mariko mentioned that most participants in her classes very much enjoyed observing demonstrations of both tea ceremony and flower arrangement. They also liked practicing by preparing the tea themselves and arranging flowers to exhibit.
Regarding her upcoming activities, Mariko said, “I would like to teach the Japanese tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and Japanese language to the younger generation of students. My Japanese teaching history started in Australia back in 1986. Since that time, I thought that it is very important to understand the culture of Japan, as this can help achieve a higher level of proficiency in the language.”
“I have been teaching Japanese language at Eton Institute for the past 10 years in Dubai. On 25 Jan., I will do a free demonstration of the tea ceremony at Eton; other demonstrations and workshops will follow in the months ahead,” she added.