Those who have come to this page for the first time, welcome! I'm so glad you're here. :) Before we go on, I would like to kindly direct you to the "Tea Ceremony" category to the right of this page. I have had 4 previous blog posts on my experience in Japanese Tea Ceremony classes. If you would like to get a more thorough idea of my experience, please refer to this category, where all the episodes are located!
To my friends who have been here for a while, forgive me, for two things: 1. I have not posted anything in the Japanese Tea Ceremony category for a long time. This is because my teacher was visiting Japan, and we didn't have any lessons! 2. I will not be vlogging (video blogging) on my post today, simply because I don't have anything particularly new to make a video on. Like I mentioned in previous posts, at a certain point the lessons become about repetition-- trying to memorize all of the movements. HOWEVER, next week there will be a video, and an exciting one :). I will further elaborate at the end of this post.
Today, we did one thing: practice, practice, practice. Since she has finished her summer classes, I invited my sister along for the lesson today, so she took a couple of photos of me during the lesson.
Today, we did one thing: practice, practice, practice. Since she has finished her summer classes, I invited my sister along for the lesson today, so she took a couple of photos of me during the lesson.
Here is me performing the fukusa sabaki: the process of folding the fukusa (the red cloth) before purifying an object.
In this photo, I am transferring the matcha powder from the natsume (the cup holding the matcha powder) to the chawan (the cup that holds the tea, the blue and black bowl in the middle of the photo) using the chashaku (the wooden spoon in our hands). Isn't the chawan just beautiful? :o Also shown is the general setting of the bonryaku temae (the particular tea ceremony process I am learning). The tray seen here is the obon, the bamboo whisk is the chasen (mixes the tea), the white cloth is the chakin (used to wipe/clean the inside of the chawan), and the red cloth is the aforementioned fukusa. Beside the obon, there is a black bowl called the kensui, in which you throw away used water. You can also see the iron pot on the stove called the tetsubin.
Phew! Sorry to throw all that information at you at once :D
Phew! Sorry to throw all that information at you at once :D
I am pouring hot water into the chawan. Notice how I am using the fukusa as a sort of potholder-- this is a part of the process. We Japanese are efficient if anything ;). By the way, the pot is really heavy when filled with water. It is an absolute miracle that I haven't dropped it.
I am throwing away the used water into the kensui. Apparently I keep my pinkies up for Japanese Tea as well as British!
Now for the okashi (Japanese sweets). The sweet our teacher served us today was actually one of my favorites so far! It is called "kurotamago," literally translated to English as "black egg." Of course, it's not literally a black egg. The outside was coated with a very thin layer of white chocolate, with a thin layer of cake underneath. The rest of the egg-like confection was filled with a type of thick, bean paste. I personally thought it tasted like anko (sweet bean paste) without the bean chunks, but the others said it tasted like sesame paste-- the latter is most likely correct.
Here is me enjoying it way too much.
We have been practicing a certain "way" of Japanese Tea Ceremony called bonryaku temae. There are many other "ways" of making Japanese Tea-- including one for koicha, which is for a darker, thicker tea. While I have mentioned this in previous posts, I have never shown you what the setting looks like. My sister was able to take a photo for you today:
As you can see, it's very different from the bonryaku temae setting above. Firstly, let's look at the lower left. There is a scoop made of bamboo, with a bamboo stand. In koicha, you do not pour the hot water from the tetsubin (the iron pot), but take it out with this scoop. For koicha, the hot water is in the okama ( the huge iron jar on the black platform). The mizusashi (a jar of cold water) for koicha is that large black jar on the upper right. The setting for the chawan seems to be the same as bonryaku temae. To its left, inside the small ornate bag is the koichaire, translated to "that which the koicha(dark, thick tea) is stored." These bags, by the way, are unique. Some are extremely expensive and/or old-- they are one of the items a Tea Ceremony Collector could have in their collection.
We have come to the end of the blog post, and the big announcement! Next week, I will be posting a video of myself performing the Japanese Tea Ceremony for you guys! I'm still a beginner-- I have definitely not mastered the process. But, I think it will be interesting to see how much I have learned in the past 5 lessons. I have very much enjoyed these lessons, and plan on continuing to study it in some way shape or form. I am excited to give you all a glimpse of the world of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Stay tuned :)
Until next time,
justajae
Until next time,
justajae