We had our first official class of Japanese Tea Ceremony this week. I was so excited to get started. One of my favorite things about Japan is the historical culture and this ceremony perfectly embodies all the elegance and simplicity of traditional Japanese values. Every single movement in the ceremony is carefully and precisely done to ensure maximum efficiency.
Originally tea was mainly used as a means of distributing and serving medicine. Later it was mainly used in religious ceremonies and also enjoyed by members of the aristocracy for its unique flavor. It was in these courts that the tea ceremony was highly celebrated and later perfected into the ceremony that we see today. A single tea ceremony was meant to be a once in a lifetime event shared by both the host and guests. Each ceremony is meant to contain harmony between the host, the guest, the materials used, the tea itself, and the seasons in which the ceremony is performed.
There are many different schools of Japanese Tea ceremony, here in Hakodate we host six different school of Chado, meaning “the way of tea.” Each school has subtle difference in how the tea ceremony is performed and some of the tools may be slightly different as well. The style we are learning is known as Urasenke.
Our class is held off campus in the house of a wonderful lady who has been studying and teaching Chado since she was sixteen years old. Classes are held every Thursday at one. We take a short fifteen minute walk from the school to her traditional Japanese style house. Once inside you can look out the back doors and windows to enjoy a traditional Japanese style garden.
Our first class was a basic introduction to the ways of Chado. She was our host and we went through a full ceremony of Chado. I don’t know that I have yet been as impacted by an aspect of the Japanese culture as I was in that short amount of time. I may have been here for over a month but nothing quite said I was in Japan as much as that ceremony did.
The ceremony was anything but simple. While it looks refined, smooth, and precise each movement has been practiced thousands of times and is done to present the tea to maximum effect. The basics of the ceremony begins by presenting the guest with a dry sweet to be enjoyed while the host prepares a cup of tea made only with green tea powder, or matcha, and hot water. The guest then enjoys the tea and upon completion admires the bowl in which it was served, then returns the bowl to the host. After making sure the guest is satisfied and no longer requires any more tea, the bowls and equipment are cleaned and put away. Conversation can be enjoyed at any time and is based upon the formality level of the ceremony. Some levels requires different setups and preparations ranging from informal to extremely formal.
On Thursday we watched a formal version of the ceremony and afterwards prepared a more informal version while discussing the formal version. We are going to be learning a few of the basic levels, starting with a basic setting and hopefully finishing with a completely formal ceremony. I am looking forward to learning more and hopefully becoming somewhat proficient by the end of the semester.