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The Small World of the Tea Ceremony

MURAKAMI Mutsumi (Kagawa College of Technology)

The tranquility in traditional Japanese room, the aroma of tatami mat, and the fresh color of powdered green tea. Can you imagine what it is? It’s the Japanese tea ceremony. Japanese people often enjoy the tea ceremony drinking tea and eating sweets. The scene of the tea ceremony looks beautiful and peaceful. The tea ceremony is a traditional Japanese culture, and rules for preparing and serving tea are extremely complicated. But the disciplines and teachings of the tea ceremony contain a lot of wisdoms that are highly useful in our modern society, and they often give us some hints to solve our problems.

I became interested in the tea ceremony when I was in my fourth year in elementary school. Though it seemed too formal, I just thought, “If I join the club, I can eat sweets!” For that silly reason, I became a member of the club. I have been practicing the tea ceremony for about ten years since then. Now I belong to the tea ceremony club in my college, and I played a very important role in a tea ceremony this year, which gave me an unforgettable and valuable lesson.

The tea ceremony club in our college holds a special event called “the Star Festival Tea Ceremony” in July, and everyone in our college including professors and other students is invited to the ceremony. This year, I was chosen as a“Teisyu” or a“master” who plays a very important part in the tea ceremony. The main roles for a “Teisyu” are to hold a ceremony and invite the guests. During the ceremony, the “Teisyu explains the meanings of utensils used in the tea ceremony and a hanging scroll on the wall to entertain the guests. As it was my first experience to serve as a “Teisyu,” I was so nervous that I made a lot of mistakes. What was worse, my knowledge of tea ceremony was not good enough. I could not answer the questions my guests asked me, such as ‘How can I use that utensil?’ or “Who made the tea bowl?” Although I have been longing to serve as a“Teisyu” for a long time, I was embarrassed and discouraged to find my poor ability. Looking at me, however, many guests assisted and helped me in explaining things, which encouraged me a lot and I really appreciated it. This experience made me realize the core spirit of the tea ceremony, that is “Wakeiseijyaku.”

Have you ever heard the word “Wakeiseijyaku?” It is the fundamental spirit of the tea ceremony. This word consists of four Chinese characters; one is “wa” which means harmony. It implies to open your mind and to live together in harmony; the second is ”kei” which means to respect each other; the third is “sei”, which means being pure in one’s body and soul; and lastly “jaku” means tranquility to have a stable and well-balanced mind. The word tells us that the most significant thing in our life is not the appearance itself, but the beauty of mind of the person.

When we turn our eyes to the modern world we live in, we often see many conflicts or wars around the world. I believe that what we learn from the tea ceremony will give us a useful hint to make the world peaceful. I am not saying, however, that what I have learned from the tea ceremony is the only solution. Just as our Japanese traditional culture gives us a hint about our contemporary problems, so do other cultures that have been inherited through the world: each culture, I believe, contains a lot of wisdom that is highly useful in our modern society. I think it is time we introduced Japanese culture to the world, and also try to learn many things from other cultures in the world.

Have you ever tried the tea ceremony? Please come to our tea ceremony and enjoy green tea and sweets. At first you might even get confused and say, “I don’t know anything about tea ceremony” and will ask me “Which way do I turn the tea bowl? Right, or left?” Don’t worry. That is all right. Please do come and entertain yourself with the tranquility in a traditional Japanese room, the aroma of the tatami mat, and the greenness of tea. I always wait for you to come with a lot of Japanese sweets!