Welcome to Episode 7 of the "Japanese Tea Ceremony" series! To see past episodes, please refer to the Tea Ceremony category to the right of this webpage. Sadly, my lessons are almost coming to an end, seeing as I have to go back to school. However, learning about the Japanese Tea Ceremony has been an incredible experience, and I don't plan to let it stop here.
Yesterday, I posted a video of myself performing the ceremony, in particular the bonryaku temae ceremony. To view, please scroll down/press "previous" arrow to see the post from yesterday, or click on the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBn7mdV7-tQ
Today, I will describe the class in further detail. We began, as usual, by practicing the process. Before we were served our tea, we were generously given two sets of okashi (Japanese sweets).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBn7mdV7-tQ
Today, I will describe the class in further detail. We began, as usual, by practicing the process. Before we were served our tea, we were generously given two sets of okashi (Japanese sweets).
Since today was such a hot day where I live, our teacher kindly made and served us some cold matcha pudding. Though I feel as if I always say this, this was my favorite sweet so far! I am a huge lover of Japanese pudding, but I have to admit this was one of the best I've ever tasted. I immediately asked my teacher for the recipe-- hopefully I will be able to make it and post it as a part of my "Sweets Time" segment! Stay tuned :).
This second sweet is also made for the summer. It is called himuro no kōri, made to look like ice. In reality, it is a gelatin sweet, crusted on the outside with sugar. It tastes exactly like sugar, except there are bits of lemon peel inside that give it a slight kick of flavor.
After practice ended, we were shown some different Japanese Tea Ceremony tools:
After practice ended, we were shown some different Japanese Tea Ceremony tools:
The wooden box above is a Rikyu-gonomi box, literally translated a box that Sen no Rikyu (an extremely famous tea master) preferred. This box is made of Japanese cypress, and simplistic in design. Natural, simple. Two of the most valuable qualities in Japanese Tea Ceremony according to Sen no Rikyu. It is basically a travel box set of tea ceremony tools. Here are the items inside:
This is the chawan, the tea bowl, that was inside. It is unlike any of the chawan I have seen so far in my lessons; it looks as if it is made out of porcelain, and has a concrete drawing of multi-colored baubles on it.
Normally, the container holding the matcha tea powder is called the natsume. This is a smaller version, and so called konatsume. The surface is shiny due to the lacquer called urushi rakka, which is actualy made from tree sap. The painting on the top should also be noted-- it is a theme for this set.
The chasen (whisk) in this photo is encased in a chasenzutsu to carry it easily and safely in the box. As you can see, the color and painting on this piece is the same as the konatsume above.
This is a kougou, a container in which to store okou (incense, purifying perfume sticks). Again, same design.
This gourd-shaped jar is called a furidashi, which is literally translated to "shake out." This is a container for small sweets, such as kompeito (small sugar ball okashi).
Here is the chakinzutsu, in which the chakin (the white towel that wipes the tea bwol) can be stored.
At first sight, a quill, in reality, a habouki. Essentially, this is a mini-broom!
Below is the bags that hold some of these tools. The fabric type is important; this particular design is called shishikarimon nishiki. There was a big one for the chawan, and a small one for the konatsume. The natsume would be put in a bag, and then put inside the chawan as it was being put in the bag. A similar design was on the holders for the chashaku (wooden spoons), not depicted here.
Completely separate from this, our teacher showed us one more type of chawan called Raku Chawan, a type of "yaki" or "bake." In the photo below, you can see both the bowl and a book describing the history of Rakuyaki. My teacher described this particular ceramic technique as "softer" than others we had seen.
Hope you enjoyed this post! Remember to check out my video of performing the Japanese Tea Ceremony.
For more videos, check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCIf4Z3v2HQMbBApRBuov3g
Until next time,
justajae
For more videos, check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCIf4Z3v2HQMbBApRBuov3g
Until next time,
justajae