Tea Diplomacy
Saturday, October 17, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Learn about the remarkable role of tea diplomacy to address humanitarian issues at Grace Farms with one of the world’s leading experts in the field, Kent E. Calder.
Calder joins James Kondo, Chairman of the International House of Japan, for a timely conversation about the way tea ceremonies build community and connection across cultures. They will also explore the inspiration behind Calder’s newest book, Chado Gaiko: Japanese Tea Diplomacy in a Global World. As part of the experience, enjoy Grace Farms Tea & Coffee, which reflects Grace Farms’ foundational commitment to sharing tea as a means of fostering grace and peace in the world.
Calder is the Edwin O. Reischauer Professor and Director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Join us earlier in the day for a Grace Farms Tour of the River building and Barns designed by Pritzker Prize-winning firm, SANAA. Explore the River building and its unique glass walls, intended by SANAA to dissolve boundaries between people and the natural world, and explore the many other places on site where tea is a communal part of dialogue and reflection.
This program is developed in collaboration with the International House of Japan and American Friends of the International House of Japan.
Registration is now open for Grace Farms Members
General Registration opens at 10 am on May 18, 2026
International House of Japan
The International House of Japan (I-House) is a private, nonprofit organization incorporated in 1952 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and other private institutions and individuals for the purpose of promoting cultural exchange and intellectual cooperation between the peoples of Japan and those of other countries. Its mission is to “contribute to building a free, open, and sustainable future through intellectual dialogue, policy research, and cultural exchange with a diverse world.” https://ihj.global/en/
American Friends of the International House of Japan
The American Friends of the International House of Japan (AFIHJ) was founded in 1986 by and fosters deep intellectual, diplomatic, and business ties between the U.S. and Japan by amplifying the mission and partnering with the International House of Japan. https://www.afihj.org
About James Kondo
James Kondo is Chairman of the International House of Japan. He also serves as Senior Advisor to OpenAI, Japan Chair of the Trilateral Commission, and a trustee of Asia Society, Japan Society, the Magsaysay Award Foundation, the U.S.-Japan Foundation, and Keio University.
Previously, he was Vice President at Twitter, Inc. and Chairman of Twitter Japan. He also served as Special Advisor at the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan.
James has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Yale World Fellow, an Asia 21 Fellow of Asia Society, and a Weizsäcker Fellow at the Bosch Foundation. He was a visiting student at Brown University, visiting scientist at MIT Media Lab, and graduated from Keio University and Harvard Business School.
About Kent E. Calder
Kent E. Calder currently directs the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins University SAIS, as he has done since 2003. He recently also served for varying intervals as Dean, Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs, and Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at SAIS.
Prior to SAIS, Calder served as special advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to Japan; Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); tenured professor at Princeton University; lecturer on government at Harvard; and as the first executive director of Harvard University’s Program on U.S.-Japan Relations. Professor Calder received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, where he worked under the direction of Edwin O. Reischauer, former US Ambassador to Japan.
A specialist in East Asian political economy, Kent Calder lived and researched in Japan for eleven years and elsewhere in East Asia for four years. He has served as Distinguished Visiting Professor at Seoul National University; as Rajaratnam Professor at Nanyang University in Singapore; and as Visiting Professor at the University of Yangon in Myanmar.
In 2014, Professor Calder was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon. His recent publications include: Eurasian Maritime Geopolitics: The United States and China in an Age of Indo-pacific Transformation (2025 ); Global Political Cities: Actors and Arenas of Influence in International Affairs (2021); Super Continent: The Logic of Eurasian Integration (2019); Circles of Compensation: Economic Growth and the Globalization of Japan (2018); Singapore: Smart City, Smart State (2017); Asia in Washington (2014); and The New Continentalism: Energy and Twenty-First Century Eurasian Geopolitics (2012).
2026/2027 season
The 2026/2027 season deepens our ongoing exploration of the programmatic theme, We all build, through a new slate of one-of-a-kind experiences rooted in our mission to foster more grace and peace locally and globally. Join us for unforgettable musical performances, stirring dialogue from today’s leading thinkers, and community moments — each held in an immersive setting where boundaries between people, architecture, and landscape dissolve. Visit us throughout the seasons to sit at this unique intersection and explore topics that aim to inspire both introspection and joy. From there, we hope you connect with our theme that encourages all to build a more graceful and peaceful world, every day.
