Tea Ceremony

In the first week we were in Kyoto we were able to participate in a traditional tea ceremony through the International House. We were led into a Japanese-style building in the gardens of the International House (poetically called 'the Japanese annex') where we had to remove our shoes. We then sat down in a square on the floor, facing the centre of the room.

I always thought that traditional things in Japan had set procedures but what I learned is that the tea ceremony is so sophisticated in its rituals that any mistake will some form of disrespect to someone. This includes, sitting the wrong way or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. From what I understand, formal Japanese style is very conformed to rules and customs.

The tea was prepared for us on a charcoal burner while we sampled Japanese sweets (which unfortunately are far from sweet: they're usually made from bean paste). The idea was to taste something very sweet before drinking the bitter tea. It was of course important how you took the bean treat and how you ate it. Then a woman entered the room with some prepared the tea. She poured some into the bowl of the elder Japanese woman who thanked her, apologized to the person next to her for drinking before them, turned her bowl clockwise two times, drank, wiped the bowl with her finger, turned it anticlockwise two time and then gave it back to one of the tea-makers who took it away. The manner in which she entered the room and exited the room, stood up and poured the tea was under strict protocol. Yes even entering the room. How the sliding door is to be opened. I think, its right foot in first. There's so much.

Strangely enough, all this complicated ritual created a sense of calm and tranquillity which was reinforced by the bare décor of the room (everything was made of natural materials, the only addition was a scroll in one corner on which a Zen phrase was written in beautiful Japanese calligraphy. We were supposed to kneel the whole time (Japanese-style), but it's really uncomfortable when you're not used to it and our legs became numb after a little while. Apparently, you get used to it.

***Most of this was taken from Helene's Blog. I added a little but there was no point in me re-writing the whole thing.