Our teacher had a traditional Japanese tea room built into her home. It was a tatami room (a flooring of woven grass mats), with a zen scroll, and an ikebana flower arrangement--all key focal points in Japanese tea ceremony. Here's Logan looking chipper for her lesson.
Our teacher Sekikawa-san, laughing. She got a real kick out of trying to teach us Westerners tea ceremony. Her aunt was an accomplished tea ceremony teacher and she gave all of her ceremony instruments and kimono to our teacher.
Japanese wagashi--or traditional sweets. This was made out of mashed white beans and a touch of sugar. Definitely an acquired taste. Logan and Laura did their best to choke it down. Unbelievably, I've gotten used to eating sweet beans for dessert. It only took me two years to get there!
The sweets are eaten on a tissue paper plate with a small, metal toothpick. Here's Sekikawa-san whisking the green tea powder (called matcha) with boiling water.
We all got to take turns at making tea. It was so much fun to make the tea ourselves. Normally, you can watch a tea ceremony at shrines, but you never get to do the ceremony yourself. We felt pretty lucky.
The ceremony itself is comprised of hundreds of very precise movements--from how you hold the tea cup and water ladel, to what arrangement guests sit on the floor. It was nice to get an inside glimpse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_tea_ceremony
No comments:
Post a Comment