By Chris Betros

Arts & Culture Jun. 20, 2008 - 07:00AM JST ( 9 )

TOKYO —

Hollywood stars get asked to do a lot of unusual things when they visit Japan, but very rarely are they asked to don a tight kimono and take lessons in the tea ceremony. Reese Witherspoon, 32, however, was happy to give it a try. It was all in a good cause for the star, making her first visit to Japan, not to promote any movies, but as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Avon Foundation to raise public awareness of breast cancer and domestic violence.

At the tea ceremony, Witherspoon was dressed in an exquisite kimono provided by Midori Yogi, who has supplied kimonos for imperial family weddings since 1952. The kimono featured the full-length sleeves worn by unmarried women and the obi was tied in a large bow, signaling that the wearer has no formal ties (coincidentally appropriate since her divorce from Ryan Phillippe was finalized while she was in Tokyo). After a few lessons, the Oscar-winning actress served green tea to breast cancer survivors.

“I’m honored to have this opportunity to meet with such extraordinary women, and experience a highlight of Japanese culture,” said Witherspooon. “While their courage is inspiring, I was saddened to hear that only about 12% of women in Japan receive regular breast cancer screening. The lack of testing equipment and breast cancer experts in Japan means that many women here do not have access to the medical technology and care that is critical to diagnose and fight this deadly disease.”

Witherspoon – whose ancestor was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence – is well known for her activism. She is a supporter of Save the Children, which aims to help kids in need around the world through education, health care and economic improvements, and she serves on the board of the Children’s Defense Fund. Another of her duties in Tokyo was to introduce Avon’s Women’s Empowerment Bracelet.

The bracelet, which features a clasp in the shape of the infinity symbol to carry the message of the limitless possibilities for women, was first unveiled in the U.S. in March at the second annual Global Summit for a Better Tomorrow, presented by the UNIFEM in partnership with Avon. Over half a million bracelets have already sold in the U.S. and it is now available from Avon in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and India.

Born in New Orleans, Witherspoon said there had always been Avon ladies in her family. After studying at Stanford University, she gravitated toward movies, getting her start in the 1991 film “The Man in the Moon.” She appeared in the hit TV series “Friends,” before kick-starting her movie career with “Pleasantville” (1998) and “Election” (1999) – two films which she nominated among her favorites, along with 2005’s “Walk the Line,” for which she won the best actress Oscar. Japanese fans really took to her in the two “Legally Blonde” films, known here as “Cutie Blonde.”

In between looking after her children, Ava, 8, and Deacon, 4, Witherspoon keeps up a whirlwind pace. She will next be seen in with new love Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep in the CIA thriller “Rendition,” the romantic comedy “Sammy,” about a woman who can read animals’ thoughts, “Four Christmases,” about a couple who try to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas Day, the animated sci-fi feature “Monsters vs Aliens,” and an untitled comedy with Ben Stiller.

Witherspoon, who turned her hand to producing with this year’s Penelope, currently earns $20 million per film she appears in. She also runs her own production company because she said she likes to maintain creative control and develop good roles for women. “I grew up watching movies with people like Barbara Stanwyck,” she told a TV interviewer, “and sometimes I get frustrated that there aren’t a lot of great female characters out there that young women can look at and go, ‘I want to be like that.’”