Page 8 – Chanoyu Decoded

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...

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,...

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 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...

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,...

Chanoyu and the Orange

For the New Year, at one’s home and elsewhere, a daidai, 橙, bitter orange, is placed on the top of the kagami mochi, 鏡餅, mirror-mochi. The number of leaves left on the daidai is three leaves for Amida, Buddha of Compassion and Shinran, founder of New Sect Pure Land Buddhism, and two leaves for successive generations. The reasons for offering the daidai are that it bears fruit in winter, it does not fall off meaning that prosperity will continue, etc. When serving a bowl of ma-tcha, 抹茶, powder-tea, a sweet is offered and eaten before drinking the tea. The sweet is called an o-ka-shi, お菓子, hon.-sweet-of, and...

Tea in June

Cha-dō-gu, 茶道具, Tea-way-tools, used in a presentation for a ki-nin, 貴人, noble-person, should not be overly showy, as they will take away from the dignified procedure for the honored guest. The cha-wan, 茶碗, tea-bowl, is most often in the form of Ten-moku, 天目, Heaven-eye, as the original Chinese Tenmoku teabowls were in that form, and were accompanied by a dai, 台, support. The chawan should be new, and is given to the guest after the presentation. Almost everything presented to the kinin is elevated above the floor level. When hanging a scroll in the tokonoma, the exact center of...

Roku-gatsu

Flowers: ajisai, 紫陽花, purple-Yang-flower, an emblem of the rainy season, bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla). The flowers of many hydrangea plants in Japan often fade and wither, whereas in New England, some hydrangea flowers, dry, hold their forms, and sustain some coloring, making them a favorite for flower arrangements. The leaves of certain hydrangea in Japan are made into a beverage called ama-cha, 甘茶, sweet-tea, that is ladled over images of the infant Buddha on Hana-matsuri, 花祭, Flower-festival. Yatsu-hashi, 八ツ橋, eight-bridges, are walkway bridges made of wood planks supported on low posts through iris pond gardens. Wooden planks are supported on crossbeams held by posts, with extended by...

Chasen Whisk and Thread

Powdered green tea, ma-tcha, 抹茶, powder-tea, is mixed with hot water, yu, 湯, by using a cha-sen, 茶筅, tea-whisk. The chasen is made of a length of take, 竹, bamboo, including the fushi, 節, node, which indicates the growth direction. The standard length of a chasen is 3 sun kujira-jaku, 寸鯨尺, ‘inch’ whale-span, 11.3 cm or 4 ½ inches. The root end is split into many hō, 穂, tine: kazu-ho, 数穂, multiple-tines. The tines are cut alternately wide and narrow, with the wider tines on the outside separated from the inner narrower tines by threads intertwined, ami-ito, 編み糸, braid-thread, around the outside tines. The thread, ito, 糸,...

Mizuya Dōgu Part 2

The sa-dō guchi, 茶道口, tea-way opening, is also called the cha-dō guchi, which is now the preferred reading. The cha-dō guchi is a doorway leading directly onto the fumi-komi tatami, 踏込畳, step-in tatami, where o-cha, お茶, hon.-tea is presented in the cha-shitsu, 茶室, tea-room. This doorway may lead directly into the mizuya, or an adjoining hallway that leads to the mizuya. The sliding door fusuma, 襖, may be covered with opaque paper, or translucent paper as appropriate for a small Tearoom. This door panel is like a shōji but is papered on both sides, and is called tai-ko-bari fusuma, 太鼓張り襖, big-drum-stretch door panel. The...