Chanoyu and September in Japan

Kyū Hachi-gatsu, 旧八月, Old Eight-moon. One of the old names for the ninth month is Naga-tsuki, 長月, Long-moon, as people spent a long time looking for and at the ‘harvest moon’. North: Ne, 子, Rat; winter solstice, Tō-ji, 冬閉じ込め, Winter-attain. South: Uma, 午, Horse, summer solstice, Ge-shi, 夏至, Summer-attain. East: U, 卯, Hare, vernal equinox, Shun-bun, 春分, Spring-divide. West: Tori, 酉, Rooster, autumnal equinox, Shu–bun, 秋分, Autumn-divide.    According to the kyu-reki, 旧暦, old-calendar, the lunar calendar, the second full moon is ideologically the same time as the vernal equinox, Shun-bun, 春分, Spring-divide. The lunar months have names which have been used for the solar months, even...

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Tea in September

The ten-mae dō-gu, 點前道具, offer-fore way-tools: fu-ro – kama, 風炉 釜, wind-hearth – kettle; ‘Yoshi-no dana’, 吉野棚, ‘Luck-field shelf’; mizu-sashi, 水指, water-indicate; on top of the stand, cha-ki, 茶器, tea-container; hi-shaku, 柄杓, handle-ladle; futa-oki, 蓋置, lid-place. On the floor is a mizu-tsugi, 水次, water-next, with cha-kin, 茶巾, tea-cloth.   Rikyū wrote that when having Tea for those who have been admiring cherry blossoms, there should be no objects or images of the cherry blossoms in the tearoom. Hence, no images of the moon in the tokonoma.             Kake-mono, 掛物, hang-thing, record of Cha-kabuki no ki, 茶カブキノ記, Tea-test’s record, for six participants judging...

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Jizō Bon

  The Buddhist deity, Ji-zō Bo-satsu, 地蔵菩薩, Earth-keep Grass-buddha, is Japanese for the Indian Buddhist deity, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Jizō is the guardian of the world until the coming of Maitreya, (Mi-roku Bo-satsu, 弥勒菩薩, Increase-rein Grass-buddha). Usually depicted as a monk with a halo around his shaved head, he carries a shaku-jō, 錫杖, tin-staff, to force open the gates of hell and a wish-fulfilling hō-ju, 宝珠, treasure-jewel, to light up the darkness. There are many variations in form and size of the shakujō, including a small hand-held implement used in prayer.  The origins of Ksitigarbha are vague, and may be a Chinese creation. It was written, that toward...

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Tanabata and Taoism

by Tanya Valentine, guest contributor “True observers of nature, although they may think differently, will still agree that everything that is, everything that is observable as a phenomenon, can only exhibit itself in one of two ways. It is either a primal polarity that is able to unify, or it is a primal unity that is able to divide. The operation of nature consists of splitting the united or uniting the divided; this is the eternal movement of systole and diastole of the heartbeat, the inhalation and exhalation of the world in which we live, act, and exist.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Tanabata, 七夕, seven-night, which...

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Kamashiki and Kamasue

In Chanoyu, the kama, 釜, kettle, is rested one of several utensils depending on the circumstances. There are three supports for the kama called kama–shiki, 釜敷, kettle-spread, which act like hot-pads: kami kama-shiki, 紙釜敷, paper kettle-spread; kumi kama-shiki, 組釜敷, braid kettle-spread, and ita kama-shiki, 板釜敷, wood kettle-spread. When building the charcoal fire, sumi de-mae, 炭手前, charcoal hand-fore, the kama is placed temporarily on a pack of papers, kami kama-shiki, 紙釜敷, paper kettle-spread. For a simple sho-zumi, 初炭, first-charcoal, presentation in the presence of the guests, the kami kamashiki is held in the futokoro, 懐, the front folding of the kimono, and removed when needed.     The...

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Chanoyu and August in Japan

August, Hachi-gatsu, 八月, Eight-month; the old name for the Eighth month is Ha-zuki, 葉月, Leaf-month. August in Japan is filled with festivals and religious activities. Many events that were originally held on dates  according to the old lunar calendar, kyū-reki, 旧暦, old-calendar, are held on the same dates, but in the solar calendar. The most important event of the ‘summer’ is O-bon, お盆, Hon.-tray, which is traditionally held on the fifteen day of the seventh month in accord with the full moon. The seventh lunar month is also called Ki-zuki, 鬼月, Demon-moon, which in China is translated into English as ‘Ghost Month’.  In modern times, Obon is...

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Tea in August

In long-held tradition in Chanoyu, the tanzaku is not regarded as the most appropriate for display in the tokonoma for a Tea gathering. However, a tanzaku is often displayed in the machi-ai, 待合, wait-gather, where the guests gather before entering the Tearoom. A treasured tanzaku may be mounted as a kake-jiku, 掛軸, hang-scroll. Tan-zaku kake, 短冊掛, small-volume hanger, made of sugi, 杉, cedar, and details of go-ma dake, 胡麻竹, foreign-flax bamboo, with openwork sukashi, 透かし, openwork, of sasa, 笹, bamboo grass, L. 18 x 3 sun kane-jaku. The bamboo grass motif relates to the tanzaku that are attached for Tanabata. Note the significance of the number 18,...

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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...

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Tea in July

      Left: Take ji-zai, 竹自在, bamboo self-exist, made of go-ma dake, 胡麻竹, foreign-flax (sesame) bamboo, for hanging a scroll or other object; L. 18 sun kane-jaku, with adjustable, screw-back, metal ori-kugi, 折釘, fold-hook. As the size of a kake-jiku, 掛軸, hang-scroll, varies greatly, it is necessary to hang the scroll so the center of the main paper is located at the exact center of the back wall of the tokonoma. Above: Take kugi, 竹釘, bamboo nail, also called a jiku-kugi, 軸釘, scroll-nail, L. 1.8 sun kujira-jaku. It is driven into the wall to hang a scroll or other utensil, with flat side on top resembling...

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Karamono Bunrin Chaire

In Japan, some objects of Asian origin from outside of Japan are called Karamono, familiarly implying that they are from China or Korea.  In Chanoyu specifically, highly prized tea containers are said to come from China, and likewise are called Kara-mono, 唐物, Kara-thing. Kara is the Japanese name for the Tang, 唐, dynasty in China. In general, the word kara refers to China and foreign. Kara, 韓, is also the name for an ancient kingdom in southern Korea. I believe that kara specifically means ‘foreign,’ as do many Japanese people. After years of research, I also believe that kara meaning ‘foreign’ refers to the Sanskrit language. The Sanskrit word kara has more than sixty meanings: tribute, syllable, make, become, endeavor, you do,...

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