Flowers for tea

How are you doing everyone?

There is an alcove in a traditional Japanese room where art or flowers are displayed. Our master prepares different flowers for each lesson. She uses seasonal flowers from her back yard. She grows some flowers for tea at her yard. My master says there is no certain rule for the flowers for tea, but usually a modest flower arrangement is preferred in The Way of Tea.

These are the flowers from the past lessons.

I like the simple flower arranging. You can try it at home casually. You don’t have to buy a bunch of colorful flowers from a shop. You just pick flower from your back yard or roadsides. I like the way how the flower for tea is enjoyed. I think the flower for tea is not enjoyed only blooms but also vines and handsome-foliage. I guess the total balance of blooms, sprigs and vase are important. I have a small space in my hallway to put a vase. I always enjoy placing little green there. How about enjoying a simple flower at your home!

Playing the host for the first time

Hi, everyone!

We had the third lesson of May yesterday. It was a kind of important lesson for my wife, Hiro. She wore loose sweat pants so that she could sit with her legs folded for a long time. You could tell she was up and coming but also nervous though the lesson.

Yesterday Hiro played the host in the lesson for the first time. She has practiced parts of *temae, but this was the first time to do a whole temae run-through as a host. I played a guest; I sat and wait in the tea room. Hiro and our master came in the room. Our master moved beside Hiro, and was telling her each movement by words and gesture simultaneously with temae going. Hiro was concentrated to follow master’s instructions. She was too desperate to follow the instruction, so I guess she won’t be remember anything next time, ha-ha... Hiro’s movement was awkward and it took a long time to finish a whole temae. However, fortunately I could have one delicious tea! She could be good at making tea.

The walk way home, Hiro was talked and talked about the temae she did. Maybe because she was released from the stress. She said that she was tired but also happy and satisfied with the accomplishment. We are looking forward to next lesson.

Have a good day, everyone!

* Temae is series of procedures followed to prepare for making the tea, then to do the tea making and then to put things away.

What the tea lesson is like

Good morning, everyone! I’m writing this blog with having my breakfast; bagels and a banana.

Can you imagine what the tea lessons are like? Temae is series of procedures followed to prepare for making the tea, then to do the tea making and then to put things away. There is no textbook. We practice temae in the roll-play by being a host and guests in the tea room. In the roll-play, our master tells how to do it.

Now we go to the lessons every Wednesday night. One lesson takes about two hours, and sometimes more.

1. Preparing for temae in the preparation room
Cleaning the utensils, preparing tea and sweets

2. Temae practice in the tea room
This is the main part, and takes time. We do one or two sets of temae roll play in a lesson. I play the host and my wife and our master play guests. Sometimes, my master plays the host and shows us her temae.

3. Part practice
My wife has just started the lesson. She is not ready to play the host yet. Our master teaches her a piece of temae movement separately, such as how to hold fukusa (cloth) or how to handle the tea whisk.

4. Putting the things away
Cleaning the utensils and putting them way

Now we are the only pupils in the lesson. So, we have a chat with our master after lessons. We pretty enjoy it. We talk which sweets shop is good or about the flowers in the tea room. Our master sometimes shows us her collection of tea utensils. The last time I helped our master to change a light bulb replacement. She is an elderly woman, so she sometimes needs help. Anyway we love coming to lessons.

This is a part of her tea utensils collection she showed us. They are chashaku (tea scoop).

About The Way of Tea

Hi, everyone!

What idea do you get from the tram of “The Way of Tea”?

Before taking the lessons, a rough image of drinking matcha (powdered green tea) was my only idea of The Way of Tea. The Way of Tea is called sado (chado) or chanoyu in Japanese. I can say The Way of Tea is just drinking tea activities, but the tea drinking culture matured into a performing art by certain manner and according to a certain order. I’ve realized specially designed tea rooms or places, and utensils are also important elements of The Way of Tea.

Now I really enjoy the tea lessons. I though the traditional tea culture could be somber and daunting before I began. I was not quite right. I don’t only like drinking matcha, but also love the atmosphere. With my poor English it’s difficult to explain it to the people who have not experienced. Anyway, you can talk in the tea room, but there is still a quiet aura. You would hear water boiling and some sounds from movements of the host preparing your tea. You wait till your tea is ready by sitting on your legs. The flowers and art put out at tokonoma (special place in tea room) and rustic utensils amuses your eyes. I guess all these experiences make tea taste better and make me interested in The Way of Tea.

I have another lesson tonight. I’m looking forward to it. Talk to you soon!

Things you need for tea lesson

Hi, everyone!
It is raining today. But, it was hot this Sunday. I didn't have to wear long-sleeved clothes. I believe it was the first day that I was only wearing a T-shirt this year.

If you want to start boxing, you need boxing shoes and bandages at least. A glove, ball and bat are needed for baseball. There is some staff needed for taking up the Way of Tea. I’ll introduce the essential items when you start tea lessons.

The blue ones on the left are mine (for men)
The red ones are my wife’s (for women)


Kaishi : packet of paper = Used as a try for sweets
Youji : sweet pick
Sensu : folding fan
Fukusa : cloth = For purifying a tea scoop and tea caddy
Kaishi-ire : tea purse = To keep other items in

When I took the first lesson, my master introduce me these items. And I bought them from her. Every time we come to the lesson, these are the only things we bring. My master has all other utensils and items. I have seen some people are using sensu in the summer. So I knew sensu. But I'm ashamed to say that I had not known about kaishi and fukusa until I started The Way of Tea. I had not seen them in daily life. But actually, Fukusa is used to wrap congratulatory or condolence payments. Kaishi is sometime used at Japanese dinner. If I get into The Way of Tea further, I could learn more about traditional items, I guess... It’s going be interesting! Do you have traditional items in you culture, but you don’t know much about?

Starting the Way of Tea lessons

Hello, everyone!

How are you doing?
It’s kind of exiting to start learning something new, isn’t it?

I used to take the Way of Tea lessons when I was a college student. But, since then I have been giving up taking lessons quite a while.

Don’t you have things that you want to keep learning but you actuary could not?

I started again taking the lessons this month. Yes!!

My master is an elder lady, who has been doing the Way of Tea for years. She says that she is taking the lessons for herself. Isn’t that amazing? She still has things to learn?? Wow! I guess the Way of Tea is very profound and may need your life time to learn. Anyway, she provides the lessons at home. Her house has a tea room. I live five minute away from her. I walk there every Wednesday night for the lessons.

What is matcha?

Hello, everyone!
It’s raining after a long while, here. I think that plants in my backyard feel glad.

Have you tried green tea? You have?
Do you know which kind of tea you have tried?

Sencha?
Gyokuro?
Matcha?

They are bitter, ha? In Japan, we usually enjoy green tea without sugar or milk. I could say there are two types of green tea, matcha and the others.Matcha is powdered green tea, and prepared by mixing with hot water by a teawhisk in a large tea bowl.



This is the tea that used in The Way of Tea. The other green teas; sencha, gyokuro or bancha are prepared by infusing tea leaves like English tea brewing. Prepared matcha water color is murky light green. Matcha is much stronger than sencha (most common green tea). I like the rich green tea flavor. It goes with sweets well. I think matcha is like espresso. Espresso is much stronger than regular coffee and enjoyed little portion.Mathca is pretty nice. I hope you have a chance to try it.

Have a good day!