Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Tea ceremony at Urakuen in Inuyama





こんにちは

After tenshin at the hotel, we moved to Urakuen for matcha (thin tea). Urakuen has a few tea houses surrounded by gardens with a lot of greens. As we went on the pass, the historical tea houses appeared from the trees. I was excited having tea in this nice place with a quiet and peaceful atmosphere.




Each ceremony was held with about 30-40 guests. I believe this Inuyama tea ceremony is popular. Many people were there, so we waited our turn for quite a while, maybe a half-hour in a waiting room and we moved to another waiting room and waited for another half-hour. Our turn came and we were led to the tea room. It was kind of a formal occasion, so I was not able to take photos of the ceremony. Sorry. As I waited my tea, I looked around the room. The walls and pillars were old and tasteful, and the decorations on tokonoma were pleasing to the eye. My matcha came in a colorful bowl. I think it was a kyo ware. Various bowls used at the ceremony. The lady next me was having tea with a black raku bowl. The matcha and confectionary were pretty good. Not only the great taste of tea and sweets, but also I was happy with all the experiences regarding the ceremony. I thought it was an excellent experience relishing tea on tatami in the rustic tea room with the beautiful environment at New Year’s. I also though this is a good start of New Year!! And it will be a wonderful year for meヽ(^。^)ノ

This is our master and me in front of the tea house.


Some photos at Urakuen

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