[Sensibility Workshop] Name Your Taste Sensations: A Program to Enhance Five Senses and Verbalization through Tea Tasting with Best-Selling Author and Potter SHOWKO and Tea Master Komei Sunagawa on June 28

CrossMedia Publishing Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Koichiro Kobayakawa), which publishes business and practical books, will hold the second session of a continuous program themed on "sensibility" on Sunday, June 28, 2026, co-hosted with best-selling author and potter SHOWKO.

SHOWKO has published best-selling books such as "What Sensible People Do as Habits" and "Craftfulness" through the company. While active as an artist based in Kyoto, she wanted to create a place for real interaction and experience with readers in Tokyo, so she started the co-hosted program with CrossMedia last month. The first session was fully booked with 20 participants and concluded successfully. (See the previous session here: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000962.000080658.html)

For the second session, we welcome guest lecturer Komei Sunagawa, a tea master and "matcha maniac." Together, we will hold a special workshop combining tea tasting and verbalization: "Name Your Taste Sensations: A Workshop to Open the Resolution of the Five Senses and Verbalize Sensibility through Tea Tasting" at ZEROGYM Studio (Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku) operated by the company.

Details and registration: https://peatix.com/event/4986577/view

■ Why Business Professionals Need Verbalization through Tea Now

In today's information-overloaded era, many business professionals overemphasize efficiency and time performance, overworking the brain (left hemisphere) and letting primitive senses such as touch and taste fall asleep.

This event is not merely a "rest for productivity" but a place to reclaim "creation for humanity," which is often left behind. In this second session, we use tea as an "ultimate analog material" and deliberately give our own names to the most ambiguous and hard-to-verbalize senses of smell and taste.

This is an intellectual physical training to translate everyday "intuition" into "unique words" that can be communicated to others in business and relationships.

■ Program Highlights

This event consists of three parts, systematically experiencing from "input of thought" through dialogue to "practice" using the five senses and "output."

[Part 1: Sensibility Talk (60 min)] The Stillness of Tea and the Ruler of Sensibility

Why have tea masters historically placed such importance on "invisible air" and "subtle differences in taste"? We will clearly unravel this for business professionals by cross-referencing Sunagawa's understanding of tea ceremony history and modern tea value with SHOWKO's "Habits of Sensibility."

[Part 2: Craftfulness Workshop (60–90 min)]

Practice "Craftfulness," a meditation that involves moving hands and sharpening senses.

・Ritual (10 min) [Tuning and Meditation]:
Strip away daily roles and titles, and focus on deep breathing.

・Tea Tasting Session (20 min) [Increase Resolution of the Five Senses]:
Close your eyes and taste several types of tea. Concentrate on subtle differences in temperature, texture on the tongue, and aroma passing through the nose, making the scale for observing the world finer.

・Word Weaving Work (30 min) [Habit of Deciding]:
Instead of saying "bitter" or "sweet," connect the taste to your own memory landscapes, such as "the smell of soil after an early summer rain," and verbalize it. Finally, choose your favorite blended tea leaves and give the tea your own name.

[Part 3: Reflection and Exchange (30 min)]

Share the concept and words of the tea you named, and expand your sensibility by encountering others' perspectives. ※The theme for the next session will also be announced.

■ Recommended for:

・Those who want to refine their "sensibility" and gain confidence in business and daily decisions

・Busy people with tired brains, seeking deep relaxation and mindfulness

・Those who want to establish their own way of living and criteria for choosing things (self-axis)

・Those who want to apply creative thinking and unique verbalization skills to business

■ Event Overview

Date & Time: June 28, 2026 (Sun) 14:00–16:30 (Reception starts at 13:30)

Venue: CrossMedia Publishing 8F (ZEROGYM Studio)
4-20-3 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0051, Toei Jingu Gaien Building

Participation Fee: 10,000 yen (tax included, with special tea leaf set)

Capacity: 10 people (first-come, first-served)

Items to Bring: Nothing in particular. Please come in comfortable clothes.

Details & Registration: https://peatix.com/event/4986577/view

■ Speaker Profiles

SHOWKO (Potter / Artist)

Born into the Makuzu-yaki kiln, a tea utensil kiln with a 340-year history in Kyoto, and raised in a household where Japanese culture including tea ceremony was part of daily life. After pottery training in Saga Prefecture, she returned to Kyoto to start her own studio. In 2009 she incorporated and launched the ceramic brand "SIONE" with the concept of "readable vessels." She opened a directly managed store in a renovated inn near Ginkaku-ji, and her activities have expanded worldwide to Milan, Paris, China, Taiwan, and beyond. She also handles new business launches, branding, and consulting for other companies, including the long-established Kyoto company Fukujuen. Currently, she operates "Utahi," a lodging that opens sensibility using the philosophy of craftsmanship. She was ordained in the Myoshin-ji school of Rinzai Zen. Her books include "What Sensible People Do as Habits" (CrossMedia Publishing) and "Speak in My Own Words" (CCC Media House).

Komei Sunagawa (Tea Master / Matcha Maniac)

After graduating from Waseda University, he entered the Urasenke school of tea ceremony to acquire portable Japanese culture. While living as a tea master, he felt that tea ceremony and matcha had become distant from modern life. To solve this, he established the international tea ceremony organization Saryukai in 2021 with the theme "Make tea ceremony more free and more daily." He has held tea culture exchange events at the Indian Embassy in Japan, the Iranian Embassy in Japan, and the Japanese Embassy in Iran, spreading the appeal of tea ceremony and matcha to many people domestically and internationally. He also actively conducts charity events through tea ceremony and matcha-related events such as "Matcha Comparison," where single-origin matcha is tasted side by side.

■ About CrossMedia Publishing Co., Ltd.

With the vision "to contribute to the growth of people and companies through all media and provide new value to society," the company disseminates content useful for modern leaders and business professionals in business, health, self-development, and more. Beyond publishing, it supports corporate branding and content production from multiple angles.

[Contact for this matter]

CrossMedia Group Inc., Public Relations Office, Attn: Hamanaka
Email: pr@cm-group.jp