Japan toasts world record day with largest ever tea party

Tokyo - A Japanese city has offered a toast to the Guinness Book of World Records by organizing the world's largest tea party, organizers said Thursday.

A total of 14,718 people sipped green tea together on October 8 in the central city of Nishio, which is known for its Japanese-style tea, to mark in advance Thursday's Guinness World Records Day.

Participants sat on red carpets with their shoes off and enjoyed their drinks simultaneously in a mass version of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

A representative watched from the Britain-based world records authority and certified that Nishio broke the previous record of 7,250 people at a tea ceremony.

The open-air event cost the city with a population of 100,000 more than 60 million yen (508,000 dollars).

"But it was worth organizing such an event as Nishio has now turned out to be an international city thanks to the Guinness brand," said Yoshimi Miyachi, an organizer.

"Our residents keep feeling the sense of achievement," Miyachi said. "The event allowed us to be united. Also, we hope tourism will expand due to the event. Considering all the effects, the cost was not so high."

The publishers of the record book declared November 9 Guinness World Records Day, an event inaugurated last year, with record-breaking feats being attempted around the globe. -- Agence France Presse

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