A Most Grown Up Tea Party

While I didn’t get to wear a fancy hat, I went to the best tea party ever today: a real Japanese Tea Ceremony!

Two weeks ago I attended a classroom lesson on the history and etiquette of the Tea Ceremony that was quite fascinating.  One of my very favorite parts was learning the Seven Principles of the Tea Ceremony:

*Make tea so that your guest will enjoy it.

*Place charcoal so that it will boil water.

*Arrange the flower as if they are in a natural field.

*Keep the atmosphere of the room cool in summer and warm in winter.

*Be ready ahead of time.

*Prepare an umbrella even if no rain falls, just in case.

*Attune your heart to the other guests.

How charming is that?  Practical and Zen all at the same time!

Tea came to Japan in 1191 as seeds and were first planted in Kyoto.  From 1522 to 1591, Sen Rikyu perfected the Tea Ceremony, and all of his male descendants have carried on the tradition as Tea Masters.  The most formal Tea Ceremonies can take up to four hours!

This week, however, was the main event.  Our instructor, Yuriko-San, invited us to her home so that we could actually attend a real tea ceremony.  This was amazing for two reasons: one, this is not the first class I’ve taken with Yuriko-San, and I find her utterly charming, gracious and delightful and loved spending an afternoon in her company.  Two, it is incredibly rare for Japanese to invite people into their homes, so it was a true pleasure to be allowed this honor.

Yuriko-San first served us the most delicious lunch {Oiishi des!}.  The pretty handled serving dish held the yummiest concoction of finely chopped noodles, mushrooms, vegetables and chicken.  I’d eat it every day {provided I didn’t have to be the one doing all that chopping!}.

Look carefully at the beautiful fruit.  The apples were cut “bunny style” because of course this is the Year of the Rabbit.

Yuriko-San has a special room in her home just for Tea Ceremonies.  At the beginning of the Ceremony, we each had a moment to sit in front of the Alcove and admire the Hanging Scroll and Ikebana floral arrangement she had chosen especially for this season and day.  The Hanging Scroll was of Mt. Fuji and the Ikebana was a chrysanthemum and maple leaf branch, both symbolic of autumn.

After we were all seated, Yuriko-San readied the Ceremony items in a tiny room to the side and emerged from it.  Her carpenter measured out exactly how much space she would need there while kneeling when they designed this room!

Yuriko-San learned the art of the Tea Ceremony from her mother-in-law, and her many beautiful tools are either inherited items or gifts from her late husband.

The whisk for mixing the tea is made from a single piece of bamboo split into 100 parts and woven with threads.  The tea, itself, is stored in that pretty lacquered jar and scooped out with the small bamboo tea scoop.

Unlike in Western cultures, where we eat our sweets with our tea or coffee, in a Japanese Tea Ceremony, you eat your wagashi or sweets first.  I took one of those little round treats wrapped in paper after Yuriko-San told us that was a childhood favorite of hers and I saw that there were two sides to it within.  It was a perfect pop of sweet!

Each of us were mixed our own bowl of tea, and each bowl was different and had it’s own lovely story.  Yuriko-San must have a good sense about people as we all agreed we each got the “right” bowl for us in meaning and also what we would have chosen for ourselves!  After having bowed appropriately to the Tea Master and the guests before and after you, you drink three separate large sips of your tea and then one loud slurp to finish!  Then, you carefully admire the handiwork of the bowl in which you were served your tea.

After the Ceremony, Yuriko-San and the four of us sat and chatted for quite some time.  It was really a great afternoon, and attending a Japanese tea ceremony was one of the {many!} things on my Japan Bucket List, so I’m very excited to have done it.

My knees, on the other hand, are staging a protest and demanding something a wee bit stronger than tea!