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 different manners.
Japanese tea ceremony is held in a tea room, a Japanese style room called "Washitsu"(和室). The tea room has sliding doors called "Fusuma"(襖). The frames of Fusuma is made of woods and covered with papers. It is one of the housing parts to use for the partition of the tea room.



Entering the tea room

You enter the tea room by opening the Fusuma. You sit down in front of the Fusuma and open them with your hands. Even if Fusuma is already opened when you reach the tea room, please be sure to sit down in front of Fusuma once and then you can enter the room. There is a sill between inside and outside of the tea room. You wouldn't want to step on the sill but stride over it. That is the manner when entering the tea room.
After entering the tea room, you can observe things inside the room. The tea room has Tokonoma Alcove and shelves. There might be flowers or Japanese scroll called Kakejiku on Tokonoma Alcove. You can sit down on the floor and appreciate them but do not touch displays without permission.
You might wonder where to sit down. A lower seat called "Shimoza" is near the entrance of the tea room and that is where a guest sits down normally. An upper seat called "Kamiza" is near the Tokonoma Alcove and that is where an owner sits down usually. It is better to know where to sit down in the tea room since this is the manner as well.



How to sit down

In the tea room, everyone sits straight with one's legs bent beneath hip. This is called "Seiza"(正座). Bend both knees properly and put a waist on a heel lightly. Don't place the top of knees together but open them a little bit. Stick out your chest and pulls a chin lightly. Cross your hands in the form that spread out its elbows lightly. Combine a thumb with a thumb with the left hand as the top. Wrap the right hand with the left hand. Don't sit down too deeply and get ready to move anytime if you want.



How to bow

Bowing is considered as an important thing in Japan. Japanese bow when they want to express the feeling of "thank you", "sorry" or etc...
There are 3 kinds of bows. They are Shin(真), Gyo(行), and So(草). The most polite bow is Shin. Bend your body around 45 degree and bow from your heart. The second polite bow is Gyo. Bend your body around 30 degree and bow. The easiest bow is So. Bend your body around 15 degree and bow.
If you are not calm, the bow becomes the restless behavior. In addition, it becomes the dull behavior if you don't put feelings into bow. Both the form of bow and feeling of bow are important and that is a manner in Japanese tea ceremony.
A good bow is performed with breath. The breathing controls movement. If the breathing is light and fast, words and movement become fast. On the other hand, words and movement become slow when breathing is deep. Try to be aware of the breathing when you bow.



Manner as a guest

The tea room is a sacred place.
In the tea room, everyone refrains from talking loudly and tries not to cause any troubles for others. This is the minimum manners as a guest. A guest brings a folding fan, silk cloth, paper, and toothpick. They are the basic belongings that a guest brings for Japanese tea ceremony. Some people start to learn about Japanese tea ceremony because they want to eat delicious Japanese sweets. In the Japanese tea ceremony, some various sweets according to the season would be offered.
Before you start to eat the sweets, you bow a little bit to a participant sitting next to you. That means you are going to pick up the sweet ahead. Next, you bow a little bit to a bowl which contains the sweets. That means you appreciate to eat it. Then, you take out your paper and put it on floor. You pick up the sweet with a chopstick and put it on the paper. Then, you move the bowl so that next participant can pick up the sweet and begin to eat it.
After eating the sweet, matcha is going to be offered. When matcha is brought to you, you bow from your heart. Then, you bow a little bit to a participant sitting next to you like you did when you pick up the sweet. Place your left hand under a bowl and place your right hand beside the bowl. Then you can drink matcha with a gratitude for a person who made the matcha for you.



The most important thing in a Japanese tea ceremony

Sen no Rikyu, a Japanese tea master, said "You should know that Japanese tea ceremony is just to boil hot water, make tea, and drink it." These words imply the essence of Japanese tea ceremony.
The world of Japanese tea ceremony is considered as just a forming. Those people who do not know about Japanese tea ceremony think that you would just follow various forms and rules in the tea ceremony. However, there is no rule in the world of the tea ceremony. It is only a manner that there is.
Who would say that you must follow the form and rules?
The common manner is necessary for the tea ceremony because you are sharing it with the others. Try to participate in Japanese tea ceremony without knowing anything. Well, it's good to know and follow the forms and rules. But, the most important thing is to enjoy drinking tea with the others and appreciate the opportunity. That is the real meaning of joining a Japanese tea ceremony.
Sen no Rikyu's words tell you the truth and you can learn a lot of things about Japanese tea ceremony from them, but don't forget to enjoy drinking tea!