As the second official Japanese Tea Ceremony lesson, today was quite a similar experience to last time in terms of content. The movements are just so specific, it takes a while of repetition to master them. So, I decided to make this vlog (video blog) about my further understanding of the concept of wabi, an important idea to Japanese Tea Ceremony. Check it out below:
Now let's talk about what I did in class today. We started off, as we always do, with okashi(sweets). Today was one of my favorites! This sweet is called youkan, a sort of chunk of gelatinized anko(sweet bean). There were many colors as shown below: green, white, pink, black, purple, and red. I chose red, while my classmate chose black. The black one was labeled as "brown sugar." Mine was possibly ume (sour plum) flavor? While my classmate said hers tasted like brown sugar, I was unsure about the taste. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the confection.
We were then shown the general layout for the host to make tea, which I have pictured below. As you can see, the chawan(tea bowl) is placed in the center of the obon(tray). In the center of the chawan, the cloth that will be used to clean the bowl is placed, folded into a sem-triangular shape. Placed upon this cloth is the chasen(whisk), with the tie on the front facing upwards. The chashaku(spoon) is placed facing downwards on to the left of the chasen. The natsume, the container used to hold the tea, is placed above the chawan. In previous blogs I have called this container the chaki. The placement here is key.
We started by purifying natsume. The cloth with which we purified the natsume was the fukasa, which I elaborated on in the previous blog.
NOTE: The fukasa is the symbol of the host, while the sensu(fan) is the symbol of the guest. These two are never to be on your person together.
Using the fukasa cloth, we wiped the lid as a gesture to the guest. We did the same thing to the chashaku spoon. Next, we performed chasen toushi(literally "chasen(the whisk) through"), which is purifying the chasen. Placing the tool in hot water and turning it, we were to check for any broken or dirty spokes. Then, we cleaned the bowl and made green tea, just as I did last time-- scooping the matcha into the chawan, pouring in hot water from the tetsubin(pot), stirring, and then drinking.
I also learned today that in Japanese Tea Ceremony, I am to wear white socks! I failed to do so today, but something to remember for next time. :)
NOTE: The fukasa is the symbol of the host, while the sensu(fan) is the symbol of the guest. These two are never to be on your person together.
Using the fukasa cloth, we wiped the lid as a gesture to the guest. We did the same thing to the chashaku spoon. Next, we performed chasen toushi(literally "chasen(the whisk) through"), which is purifying the chasen. Placing the tool in hot water and turning it, we were to check for any broken or dirty spokes. Then, we cleaned the bowl and made green tea, just as I did last time-- scooping the matcha into the chawan, pouring in hot water from the tetsubin(pot), stirring, and then drinking.
I also learned today that in Japanese Tea Ceremony, I am to wear white socks! I failed to do so today, but something to remember for next time. :)
Forgive me for the terseness of this particular blog post! Maybe you prefer them to be so short... let me know in the comments below :)
Until next time,
justajae
Until next time,
justajae