Most often, the Japanese tea ceremony is performed in a purpose built space known as chashitsu (茶室) - popularly known in English as tea rooms. In keeping with traditional Japanese architecture, the main building material is wood, with shōji (障子) - paper screens - used to divide the space, and tatami (畳) flooring throughout. Tatami [...]
In part 1, I introduced readers to my good friend Tetsuko-san - practitioner and teacher of the tea ceremony - and one who has been involved in the cultivation and harvesting of green tea almost her entire life. We saw that, in her youth, Tetsuko-san prepared for married life by learning traditional skills like the tea [...]
In a previous article about green tea and matcha, I made a necessarily compact reference to the Japanese tea ceremony and its place in Japanese culture, and it has bothered me since then that I didn't have sufficient space to qualify my assertion. I wrote: "...few Japanese people ever participate in the tea ceremony, though [...]
I hail from a culture of home-bakers and grew up enjoying the cakes and pastries my mother made. Bought cakes were for lazy people, she would say! Indeed, shop-bought cakes always seemed either bland and tasteless, or over-sweet and sticky. So imagine my surprise when I first came to Japan and found that few people [...]
We shall take joy in Japanese green tea Why don't you drink and compare various green tea cultivars? About 75% of tea drunk in Japan is the cultivar that is called "Yabukita". "Yabukita" is a honor of tea varieties spread widely throughout Japan with not only a great taste but also fragrance and water color. However, we would like to let [...]
Japanese tea ceremony originally came from China. It was Chinese style then. Many Japanese tea masters have developed it and completed it. If you would learn about the history of Japanese tea ceremony, you might get close to the world of Japanese tea ceremony. Matcha coming to Japan Matcha, which is used for Japanese tea ceremony, came [...]
Japanese tea ceremony starts from Roji bare ground Space of Japanese tea ceremony is special. There are mainly Roji bare ground (露地) and a tea room of Japanese tea ceremony (茶室). Roji bare ground is also known as a tea garden. It also means mental state that gets rid of desire and restraint by Buddhism term. [...]
The history of utensils There are many utensils for Japanese tea ceremony. The utensils are not just tools but they are something that contributes to Japanese tea ceremony as an integrated art. People who participate in Japanese tea ceremony can enjoy appreciating them. The culture of Japanese tea ceremony came from China. So, utensils for Japanese [...]
Manners in Japanese tea ceremony Japanese tea ceremony has many rules about a manner. Even just standing up, there is a manner. In Japanese tea ceremony, there are many steps just to give a tea for a guest. Each step has a manner. Besides, there are many sects of Japanese tea ceremony and each sect has [...]
Japanese tea ceremony as an integrated art What do you imagine when you think of Japanese tea ceremony? Some think Japanese tea ceremony has a lot of difficult manners and complicated behaviors. So, they think it is not for a beginner. Japanese tea ceremony has developed as an integrated art. It includes not only drinking tea but [...]