Directory: furo

Furo: Tea and Rice

Mid-May is still, in 2023, in a lunar ‘leap’ year, so that the first of May was the 22nd of the 3rd lunar month. In Japan, the month of May is called by its old name of Satsuki. Satsuki is identified with the lunar calendar. The word satsuki was derived from the old word sa, which means cultivating, and joined with tsuki, 月, month, and became satsuki as the month of rice cultivation. The kama used in Chanoyu has roots in the meshi-gama, 飯釜, rice-kettle. There are stories of people having only one kama, and using it to cook rice and boil water for tea. There are kama...

Furo to Ro

In the realm of Chanoyu, it is necessary to heat water to make the tea. According to tradition, water is heated in a kama, 釜, kettle. Originally, the kama was part of a portable hearth called a fu-ro, 風炉, wind-hearth. In time, the kama was taken from the furo bowl, and used with a hearth sunk in the floor, called an i-ro-ri, 囲炉裏, enclose-hearth-inner. The word irori is abbreviated to ro, 炉. The furo can be used throughout the year, but if a ro is available, it is used in the cold half of the year, from November through April. The fu-ro, 風炉, wind-hearth, is used from...

Furo Kōgō

When welcoming guests into the Tearoom, incense is burned before the guests enter – kō wo taku, 香を焚く, incense to burn. The first of the three offerings in Buddhism is kō, 香, incense: the others are ge, 華, flower, and tō, 灯, light. Before the guests enter the Tearoom, the tei-shu, 亭主, house-master, puts incense in the hearth, shiki-kō, 敷香, spread-incense, before placing the shita-bi, 下火, down-fire, three pieces of burning charcoal. When the guests are present in the Tearoom, the tei-shu, 亭主, house-master, may build the charcoal fire to heat the water for tea in a presentation called sumi de-mae, 炭手前, charcoal hand-fore, and incense is...

Tea in May

The cha-ire, 茶入, tea-receptacle, is made of brown tō–ki, 陶器, ceramic-container, in the form of shiri-bukura, 尻膨, bottom-swell, with mottled, glossy brown glaze, Kyō yaki, 京焼, Capital fired, by Ima-shiro Sato, 今城聡, Now-castle Wise, Ryū-ki gama, 龍㐂窯, Dragon-joy kiln, Kyōto. The chaire is a copy of ‘I-yo Sudare’, 伊予簾, That-previous Blinds, with zō–ge buta, 象牙蓋, elephant-tusk lid, and multi-colored striped silk bag, shi-fuku, 仕覆, work-cover, with pattern of ‘I-yo Sudare don–su,’ 伊予簾緞子, That-previous Blinds damask-of. Many years ago, this chashaku was a gift from the proprietor of a Cha-dō-gu-ya, 茶道具屋, Tea-way-tool-house, in Gi-on, 祇園, God-garden, in Kyōto. He told me that it was in the style of En-nō-sai, 円能斎, Circle-art-abstain, XIII Iemoto...

Furo Ro: Three Forms

The furo and the ro are rarely, if ever, used together, however there are so many similarities and differences that examining them together is quite revealing. One great difference is that the furo/kama manifests the Yō, 陽, positive aspect, and the ro manifests the In, 陰, negative aspect. The standard fu-ro, 風炉, wind-hearth, that uses a go-toku, 五徳, five-virtues, to support the kama, 釜, kettle, was originally made of tetsu, 鉄, iron, as was the kama, 釜, kettle. Furo are made in various materials; iron, bronze, ceramic, wood, etc. A furo is essentially a large bowl that has an opening in the front, hi–mado, 火窓, fire-window. The...