Tea ceremony !!!

           Do you know, in Japan Tea is prepared and served to others ceremonially?

           Our Japanese host had arranged a demonstration of the tea ceremoney of Japan, during the first week of our stay in Japan.  The Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu, lit. "tea hot-water"; also called chadō or sadō, "the way of tea") is a multifaceted traditional activity strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism, in which powdered green tea, is ceremonially prepared and served to others.  There are different schools to teach the procedures of tea ceremony and in each school there are seasonal and temporal variations in the method of preparing and enjoying the tea, and in the types and forms of utensils and tea used.

                                      Hosts of the tea ceremony

Because of its base in Japanese traditional culture, the host -- male or female -- almost always wears a kimono. Proper attire for guests is kimono or subdued formal wear. 

                                Tea room

Tea ceremonies may take place outside (in which case some kind of seating will usually be provided for guests, whether benches or chairs, or even woven straw mats -tatami) or inside, either in a tea room or a tea house, but tea ceremonies can be performed nearly anywhere. Generally  longer and more formal ceremony, and with the more important the guests, the ceremony will be performed indoors, on tatami.

         Each utensil - including the tea bowl, whisk, and tea scoop - is then ritually cleaned in the presence of the guests in a precise order and using prescribed motions. The utensils are placed in an exact arrangement according to the ritual.

            Cleaning of utensils in traditional way...

If no meal is served, the host will proceed directly to the serving of a small sweet or sweets. Sweets are eaten from special paper called kaishi, which each guest carries, often in a decorative wallet or tucked into the breast of the kimono.

              Special Sweets before tea...

   When the ritual cleaning and preparation of the utensils is complete, the host will place a measured amount of green tea powder in the bowl and add the appropriate amount of hot water, then whisk the tea using set movements. When the tea is ready, the host places it out and, depending on the circumstances, an assistant takes it to the guest or the guest comes after it.

       Preparing tea...

    Conversation is kept to a minimum throughout. Guests relax and enjoy the atmosphere created by the sounds of the water and fire, the smell of the incence and tea, and the beauty and simplicity of the tea house and its seasonally appropriate decorations.

 
                                       Drinking tea...

 The way of Drinking of tea is also very special.   Bows are exchanged between the host and guest of honour. The guest then bows to the second guest, and raises the bowl in a gesture of respect to the host. The guest rotates the bowl to avoid drinking from its front, takes a sip, murmurs the prescribed phrase, and then takes two or three more sips before wiping the rim, rotating the bowl to its original position.

 The host then collects the utensils, and the guests leave the tea house. The host bows from the door, and the ceremony is over.   A tea ceremony can last up to four hours, depending on the type of ceremony performed, the number of guests, and the types of meal and tea served.

     See, how special is preparing and serving tea in Japan!!!

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