The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha the powdered green tea.
There are two main ways of preparing matcha for tea consumption: thick (濃茶 koicha) and thin (薄茶 usucha), as the terms imply, koicha is a thick blend of matcha and hot water that requires about three times as much tea to the equivalent amount of water than usucha. To prepare usucha, matcha and hot water are whipped using the tea whisk (茶筅 chasen), while koicha is kneaded with the whisk to smoothly blend the large amount of powdered tea with the water.
On this particular pottery workshop that I did with Shozo Michikawa sensei, each workshop participants must produce 1 chawan (tea bowl) for the Tea Ceremony that will be held at the end of the pottery workshop.
Tea bowls (chawan) are available in a wide range of sizes and styles, and different styles are used for thick and thin tea. Shallow bowls, which allow the tea to cool rapidly, are used in summer; deep bowls are used in winter. Bowls are frequently named by their creators or owners, or by a tea master. Bowls over four hundred years old are in use today, but only on unusually special occasions. The best bowls are thrown by hand, and some bowls are extremely valuable. Irregularities and imperfections are prized: they are often featured prominently as the "front" of the bowl.
Should you want to learn more about Japanese tea ceremony and it's procedure, you are welcome to read this summarized version that I have gathered from Mitsuo Shoji sensei (potter), Shozo Michikawa sensei (potter) and some tea books as well as wabi sabi books:
In Japanese, it is called chanoyu or sadō or chadō, while the manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called (o)temae.
Zen Buddhism was a primary influence in the development of the Japanese tea ceremony.
The first documented evidence of tea in Japan dates to the 9th century, when it was taken by the Buddhist monk Eichū on his return from China. The entry in the Nihon Kōki states that Eichū personally prepared and served sencha (unground Japanese green tea) to Emperor Saga who was on an excursion in Karasaki (in present Shiga Prefecture) in the year 815. It was practiced by Japanese nobles. By imperial order in the year 816, tea plantations began to be cultivated in the Kinki region of Japan. However, the interest in tea in Japan faded after this.
In China, tea had already been known, according to legend, for more than a thousand years. The form of tea popular in China in Eichū's time was "cake tea" or "brick tea"—tea compressed into a nugget in the same manner as pu-erh. This then would be ground in a mortar, and the resulting ground tea mixed together with various other herbs and flavorings.
Around the end of the 12th century, the style of tea preparation called "tencha", in which powdered matcha was placed into a bowl, hot water added, and the tea and hot water whipped together, was introduced to Japan by Eisai, another monk, on his return from China. He also took tea seeds back with him, which eventually produced tea that was considered to be the most superb quality in all of Japan.
This powdered green tea was first used in religious rituals in Buddhist monasteries. By the 13th century, when the Kamakura Shogunate ruled the nation and tea and the luxuries associated with it became a kind of status symbol among the warrior class, there arose tea-tasting parties wherein contestants could win extravagant prizes for guessing the best quality tea—that was grown in Kyoto, deriving from the seeds that Eisai brought from China.
The use of Japanese tea developed as a "transformative practice", and began to evolve its own aesthetic, in particular that of "sabi" and "wabi" principles.
"Wabi" represents the inner, or spiritual, experiences of human lives. Its original meaning indicated quiet or sober refinement, or subdued taste "characterized by humility, restraint, simplicity, naturalism, profundity, imperfection, and asymmetry" and "emphasizes simple, unadorned objects and architectural space, and celebrates the mellow beauty that time and care impart to materials.
"Sabi", on the other hand, represents the outer, or material side of life. Originally, it meant "worn", "weathered", or "decayed". Particularly among the nobility, understanding emptiness was considered the most effective means to spiritual awakening, while embracing imperfection was honored as a healthy reminder to cherish our unpolished selves, here and now, just as we are—the first step to "satori" or enlightenment.
Seasonality and the changing of the seasons are important to the enjoyment of tea. Traditionally the year is divided by tea practitioners into two main seasons: the sunken hearth (炉 ro) season, constituting the colder months (traditionally November to April), and the brazier (風炉 furo) season, constituting the warmer months (traditionally May to October). For each season, there are variations in the temae performed and utensils and other equipment used. Ideally, the configuration of the tatami in a 4.5 mat room changes with the season as well.
The following are a few of the essential components:
- Chakin (茶巾). The "chakin" is a small rectangular white linen or hemp cloth mainly used to wipe the tea bowl.
- Tea caddy (棗・茶入 Natsume・Chaire). The small lidded container in which the powdered tea is placed for use in the tea-making procedure ([お]手前; [お]点前; [御]手前 [o]temae).
- Tea scoop (茶杓 chashaku). Tea scoops generally are carved from a single piece of bamboo, although they may also be made of ivory or wood. They are used to scoop tea from the tea caddy into the tea bowl. Bamboo tea scoops in the most casual style have a nodule in the approximate center. Larger scoops are used to transfer tea into the tea caddy in the mizuya (preparation area), but these are not seen by guests. Different styles and colors are used in various tea traditions.
- Tea whisk (茶筅 chasen). This is the implement used to mix the powdered tea with the hot water. Tea whisks are carved from a single piece of bamboo. There are various types. Tea whisks quickly become worn and damaged with use, and the host should use a new one when holding a chakai or chaji.
Procedures
- Guests seated to receive tea
- The hostess fills the bowl with green tea powder and then pours hot water into it and stirs with a bamboo whisk
- Guests may be allowed after the serving of the tea (otemae) to take a closer look at the objects in the room
- The noon tea gathering of one host and a maximum of five guests is considered the most formal chaji. The following is a general description of a noon chaji held in the cool weather season at a purpose-built tea house.
- The guests arrive a little before the appointed time and enter an interior waiting room, where they store unneeded items such as coats, and put on fresh tabi. Ideally, the waiting room has a tatami floor and an alcove (tokonoma), in which is displayed a hanging scroll which may allude to the season, the theme of the chaji, or some other appropriate theme.
- The guests are served a cup of the hot water, kombu tea, roasted barley tea, or sakurayu. When all the guests have arrived and finished their preparations, they proceed to the outdoor waiting bench in the roji, where they remain until summoned by the host.
- Following a silent bow between host and guests, the guests proceed in order to a tsukubai (stone basin) where they ritually purify themselves by washing their hands and rinsing their mouths with water, and then continue along the roji to the tea house.
- They remove their footwear and enter the tea room through a small "crawling-in" door (nijiri-guchi), and proceed to view the items placed in the tokonoma and any tea equipment placed ready in the room, and are then seated seiza-style on the tatami in order of prestige.
- When the last guest has taken their place, they close the door with an audible sound to alert the host, who enters the tea room and welcomes each guest, and then answers questions posed by the first guest about the scroll and other items.
- The chaji begins in the cool months with the laying of the charcoal fire which is used to heat the water. Following this, guests are served a meal in several courses accompanied by sake and followed by a small sweet (wagashi) eaten from special paper called kaishi (懐紙), which each guest carries, often in a decorative wallet or tucked into the breast of the kimono.
- After the meal, there is a break called a nakadachi during which the guests return to the waiting shelter until summoned again by the host, who uses the break to sweep the tea room, take down the scroll and replace it with a flower arrangement, open the tea room's shutters, and make preparations for serving the tea.
Having been summoned back to the tea room by the sound of a bell or gong rung in prescribed ways, the guests again purify themselves and examine the items placed in the tea room. The host then enters, ritually cleanses each utensil—including the tea bowl, whisk, and tea scoop—in the presence of the guests in a precise order and using prescribed motions, and places them in an exact arrangement according to the particular temae procedure being performed. When the preparation of the utensils is complete, the host prepares thick tea.
Bows are exchanged between the host and the guest receiving the tea. The guest then bows to the second guest, and raises the bowl in a gesture of respect to the host. The guest rotates the bowl to avoid drinking from its front, takes a sip, and compliments the host on the tea. After taking a few sips, the guest wipes clean the rim of the bowl and passes it to the second guest. The procedure is repeated until all guests have taken tea from the same bowl; each guest then has an opportunity to admire the bowl before it is returned to the host, who then cleanses the equipment and leaves the tea room.
The host then rekindles the fire and adds more charcoal. This signifies a change from the more formal portion of the gathering to the more casual portion, and the host will return to the tea room to bring in a smoking set (tabako-bon) and more confections, usually higashi, to accompany the thin tea, and possibly cushions for the guests' comfort.
The host will then proceed with the preparation of an individual bowl of thin tea to be served to each guest. While in earlier portions of the gathering conversation is limited to a few formal comments exchanged between the first guest and the host, in the usucha portion, after a similar ritual exchange, the guests may engage in casual conversation.
After all the guests have taken tea, the host cleans the utensils in preparation for putting them away. The guest of honor will request that the host allow the guests to examine some of the utensils, and each guest in turn examines each item, including the tea caddy and the tea scoop. The items are treated with extreme care and reverence as they may be priceless, irreplaceable, handmade antiques, and guests often use a special brocaded cloth to handle them.
The host then collects the utensils, and the guests leave the tea house. The host bows from the door, and the gathering is over. A tea gathering can last up to four hours, depending on the type of occasion performed, the number of guests, and the types of meal and tea served.