#chanoyu

May 21 - Tea Ceremony / Sky Tower

Entrance to the gardens of the tea house with shoes lined up

    Today was an absolute nightmare of a rainstorm. We had an early start to make it to a traditional Japanese tea ceremony lesson, but the wind and rain made sure that everyone was soaked before we got there. Additionally, the apartments provided us with free umbrellas, and I saw many people walking around the city with the same kind, but they were very weak. Mine turned inside out 5 times in the walk from the train station to the tea house. While there, the instructor gave us a quick lesson on the meaning of tea ceremonies, and we enjoyed wagashi before observing the preparation of the tree. These bean paste sweets are made to look like flowers of the season, although for today she made one for each season. Mine was a trailing azalea growing on rocks, representing the summer. She then exited the room and began the ceremony, and everyone sat completely silent as she went through the ritualistic movements. While whisking the tea, her hand moved so fast that from where I was sitting it just looked like a blur. After she was finished, we got a chance to try it ourselves - and mine definitely did not look as good. We also got to explore the traditional style Japanese house, and I thought it was really cool that almost every main room had tatami flooring.

    Because of the rain, we decided to move Tokyo tower to tomorrow. Instead, we were given a free afternoon. A few friends and I waited out the rain in our apartment before heading over to the Sky Tower for dinner. The fog left from the rain created a shroud around the tower, so we couldn’t see it at all until we were right there even though the building is so tall. We grabbed yakisoba for dinner and some doughnuts for tomorrow and went outside to see the lights on the tower. Tomorrow we’re meeting some college students and I’m really excited!

Sky Tower shrouded in fog

Sky Tower lit up at night

Academic Reflection

    The reading today focused on the history and tools used for the tea ceremony. A large aspect of the ceremony is the aesthetic of wabi, or the asymmetrical and imperfect. At first, I didn’t understand how a circular cup with a ritualized preparation could be admired for being imperfect, but the more we watched the ceremony I started to pick up on how this could be important. The tea scoop is not a spoon, as we use in the west, but a bent piece of bamboo. Thus, when we were making our own tea and we were told to put three scoops in, everyone had very different amounts in their cups. Also, although the cups are circular, they have patterns in the glaze that are very asymmetric. When we whisked the tea to create foam, some people didn’t make much, but the instructor was quick to point out that this was, in fact, another way that people make matcha.

    During the Q and A, the instructor mentioned that while when she played the piano her heart beat and she felt excited when, but when she made tea she felt calm to the marrow of her bones. This reminded me of the transition from basara tea ceremonies to wabi ones. In basara the focus was on extravagance, with ceremonies taking up to several weeks and including liquefied metals and large displays, while wabi focuses on simple and calming rituals. I feel as though basara, though before the time in which western culture flooded Japan, carries with it the same kind of exuberance and passion.

Entrance to the tea house

Our instructor for the day preparing the tea in the Chanoyu style

Many traditional Japanese rooms have a cubby where a picture and flowers or a doll are displayed to create a pleasant atmosphere

My attempt at traditional green tea preparation

Wagashi themed to look like azalea growing on rocks