ON A BLISTERING July afternoon, the actress Anna Sawai and I sit in polite silence as we watch our tea being prepared. We are at Setsugekka on the Lower East Side, a tiny spot founded by a tea master from Chiba, Souheki Mori, who wants to introduce New Yorkers to the quieting ritual of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Mori isn't around today. Instead, two smiling young white men in yukata whisk bowls of brilliant-green matcha as loud electronica pulses over the speakers. "It's very round," Sawai says, sipping her drink. "Very strong.
I love it." She welcomes the caffeine. Just hours ago, she was muscling through a battery of Zoom press interviews. Her only break was to watch Sheryl Lee Ralph and Tony Hale announce the year's slate of Emmy nominees on a livestream. Sawai received a Lead Dramatic Actress nod for her work as Lady Toda Mariko on FX's Shogun, and she's favored to win.
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