A Sakura Story: Japan - Nara Tea Ceremony

Japan - Nara Tea Ceremony

Kingsley and I are massive tea drinkers when we are at home. I especially love green tea so no trip to Japan would have been complete without participating in a traditional tea ceremony.

Ceremonial tea drinking was brought to Japan by Zen Buddhist monks in the 1200's. These monks developed a simple and precise ceremony that has lasted several centuries. The ceremonial serving of tea used to be exclusively practiced by nobles and priests around the middle of the fourteenth century. Until the end of the Edo period (1603-1868) it was practiced almost entirely by men; women joined in only after the beginning of the Meiji era (1868-1912).

Through this experience I learned that the tea ceremony is much more than an elaborate ritual to prepare a cup of tea, it is a quiet interlude during which the host and guests strive for spiritual refreshment and harmony with nature. The setting of the ceremony should be simple, calm and meditative; it seeks to purify the mind and attain oneness with nature.

As tea ceremony novices our basic role for taking part in the Japanese tea ceremony involved sitting quietly and tasting a small sweet offered by the host, who then prepared a (quite large) bowl of frothy green tea for us.

The structure and atmosphere of a Japanese teahouse are designed to focus one's attention on the present moment and promote a feeling of being away from the concerns of the everyday world.

Our small sweet offering - black sesame cake for me and a black sesame gelatin for Kingsley - neither of which were actually very sweet.

We were also presented a booklet filled with pictures of tea cups that we were told to browse through and select our specific cup for the ceremony. I am sure each cup had a long history and significant meaning behind it but we just chose two tea cups that we thought looked "cool". The tea ceremony lady seemed particularly impressed by Kingsely's tea cup selection.

The tea for a Japanese Tea Ceremony called Matcha is green and thick and tastes very bitter. It is brewed over a charcoal fire and poured into large cups without handles. We learned (after the fact) that the sugary candy that was placed on our table was meant to be eaten before taking a sip of the tea in order to sweeten the taste. We also learned that a good guest will make a slurping sound with their tea to indicate that they enjoy it. Knowing these two facts in advance would have been helpful but I think we managed to complete the ceremony without offending anyone too badly.

"Those participating in the tea ceremony should sip their tea quietly and keep their conversation formal and short. Their focus should be on the movements of the server, the beautiful surroundings and the marvelous taste of the tea."