On our mini-vacation at the end of February we had the opportunity to study the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Our teachers, Kimika Soko Takechi & Larry Sokyo Tiscornia, welcomed us into their home for an introductory lesson. They walked us through the steps in preparing and serving tea in the tray ceremony. John and I bumbled our way through the intricacies of napkin folding and the ritual purification steps, but we had a most wonderful time.
One night's instruction certainly does not produce a Tea Master, and in my case, I look forward to many years of study of this fascinating aesthetic discipline. It extends into various aesthetic areas, including flower arranging, selecting and displaying art in the Tearoom, preparing meals to accompany the tea, and the incense ceremony. Being so far away from a qualified teacher does present a problem. Fortunately, Larry suggested a book written by the former Grand Master of the Urasenke School in Kyoto. This book covers the intricacies of the full Tea Ceremony, and covers all the steps that John and I practiced in our class. Returning home, I've assembled a few pieces of equipment I was missing, and I've hosted my first tea for a friend of ours.
John made me a granite tray for last Christmas thinking I'd find it useful to handle hot things in our Teahouse. I used it as the tray for serving tea, as you'll see in the picture above.
If you're at all interested in the Tea Ceremony, here are a few resources I've found:
- Chanoyu.com is Larry and Kimika's website. Chanoyu means 'hot water for tea', and is the Japanese term translated as Tea Ceremony in English. Larry and Kimika are marvelous teachers, and I look forward to have the opportunity to study further with them.
- O-cha.com exports tea directly from Japan to individuals. I've ordered both matcha (the powdered full-leaf tea used in the Tea Ceremony), and gyokuro, the finest Japanese green tea leaf prepared by steeping.Their teas are fabulous and their service is exemplary.
- Matchaandmore.com has a wide range of matcha and utensils and items for the Tea Ceremony. Their goods are of the highest quality and their service is fabulous.
Come on by for tea!
