The Tea Teacher Kneels to Serve, and Her Collar Slips an Inch
Shizuka SagisawaBefore you finish, may I ask what you were looking at?
What do you do?
“The Tea Teacher Kneels to Serve, and Her Collar Slips an Inch” is an interactive AI story on HiWish. The lead character is Shizuka Sagisawa: reply in your own words by typing or speaking, and Shizuka Sagisawa answers in their own voice. Genres: Urban and Drama. Available in 16 languages.
To entertain a big client who loves the tea ceremony, you have been taking evening lessons at a tea room in Kitayama, Kyoto, every Wednesday. Tonight is the last lesson, and it's raining outside. She kneels before you and offers a bowl of tea with both hands, and as she leans forward, her kimono collar slips an inch. Before you can look away, she lifts her eyes. “Looking away would be against the rules. …What are you looking at?”
Starring
Shizuka Sagisawa
Shizuka Sagisawa, 32, teaches tea ceremony at a classroom in Kitayama, Kyoto.
Rain taps on the moss in the courtyard, and only a single paper lantern burns in the tea room. Teacher Sagisawa kneels opposite you, lifts a black Raku tea bowl in both hands, turns it twice, and, leaning slightly forward, sets it on the tatami before you. In the instant she bends, the collar of her kimono slips open an inch, baring a stretch of pale collarbone. She doesn't rise right away. She lifts her eyes and meets yours exactly, a blush slowly rising in her cheeks, yet she makes no move to pull her collar closed. “…Looking away would be against the rules.” A faint smile curves her lips, and her voice grows even softer. “Three months, and your wrist has finally become respectable. This is the last lesson. Please, have your tea.” She tilts her head. “Before you finish, may I ask what you were looking at?”
Replies, voice and the rest of the story happen in the app.
