Japanese Tea Ceremony: A Gaijin* Primer

Japanese Tea Ceremony: A Gaijin* Primer

Let’s face it: Japan is in. An entire generation has been taken by storm through the steady influx of Japanese goods, fashion, culture and most definitely, food. From video games and kanji tattoos** to study-abroad programs in universities to supermarket sushi, Japanese things are the things to have, and Japan is the place to be. Don’t get me wrong; I love Japan. I am in no way suggesting that this wave of Nipponophilia is a bad thing; in fact, I want you to go get some!

Many of the cultural traditions of Japan got their start in China, one of which is the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. The Buddhist monk, Eichu, brought tea leaves to Japan from China in the 9th century, where they were smothered with affection and interest. Initially, Buddhist monks drank the highly-caffeinated green tea to sustain them through their daunting twelve-hour prayer sessions. When this tea was introduced to the aristocracy, it quickly became an opportunity for socialization but it never lost, or ever strayed from, its strong Zen roots.

The man credited with popularizing the tea ceremony, chanoyu, which literally means “hot water for tea”, is Sen no Rikyu, who is also credited with finalizing the ceremony that is still in use today. In the beginning, only men could study tea or become tea masters. Today, however, most tea instructors and nearly all tea students are women.

Most students take classes weekly or monthly, while devoted students, or those wishing to become instructors, study daily. The study of tea is never considered to be fully complete, and after two-and-a-half years of weekly lessons, I am still considered a beginner. My sensei is in her late seventies, but every summer she returns to her hometown in Japan for three months of daily tea lessons. Studying chanoyu is a lifelong journey, but just a little taste would do anyone good.

The structured tea ceremony itself is a remarkable thing. There are a mulitude of variations of the basic tea ceremony; individual ceremonies are chosen based on the season, the occasion, the guests, and the instruments available. These instruments are typically heirlooms and most tea bowls are passed from tea master or instructor to their successor. The tea bowls used by my sensei, for example, are several hundreds of years old.
Guests proceed through a small tea-house garden and are greeted outside the tearoom by a maid or the tea master or mistress. They remove their shoes and enter through a low, square door or a sliding panel door, and are seated, typically on small flat cushions on a tatami-mat floor. In some ceremonies, a small and involved meal is served. For ceremonies where no meal is served, a sweet is offered to each guest in turn. The texture, shape, and flavor of the sweets served, like the pattern on the tea bowl, tea tray, and tea mistres’ kimono and obi, reflect the season and occasion.

The tea mistress has cleaned the tea bowl and utensils prior to welcoming the guests, but she cleans them again inside the tea room, welcoming the gods of water and fire to cleanse the tools and boil the water for tea. Tea is prepared, frothed in a small bowl with a bamboo whisk and served to one guest at a time. The guests are given time to drink the tea and appreciate the tea bowl and utensils, as well as the flower arrangement and scroll in the alcove. When the last guest has drunk, unless the guest of honor has asked her to finish the ceremony, the tea mistress will continue serving tea to each guest in order. When the cue is given to conclude the ceremony, the tea mistress will cleanse the bowl and utensils once again, this time invoking the gods of fire and wind. After the ceremony is completed, the guests claim their shoes and proceed out.

The process of the tea ceremony is intricately choreographed. Every single movement, from the opening of the teahouse door, to the presentation of sweets, is predetermined. The teahouse, with its prescribed motions, sparse but exceptionally careful dècor, and smell of tatami and tea, could be a space outside of time.

The opportunity to attend a tea ceremony is not one that should be missed. You will come away refreshed, relaxed, and infinitely more comfortable with the universe not to mention your own radical self.

Many towns across the United States are home to Japan Societies, and most of the major cities even host tea schools, where classes are available.

Schools in major cities:
Washington, D.C.
Philadelphia
Boston The teahouse at Mt. Holyoke College, where I studied (open to the public): Wa-Shin-An Find a teahouse or school in your area:
Tea Hyakka
Holy Mountain

* Gaijin is a Japanese word literally meaning “outside person”, commonly translated as “foreigner”. Gaijin is a short form of the full word gaikokujin.

http://www.morbidoutlook.com/nonfiction/articles/2006_08_japantea.html