Category: Tea Ceremony

(Image: Sen no Rikyu by Hasegawa Tohaku, Wikimedia)

Sen no Rikyu 千利休 (1522–1291), a person who can never be separated from Japan’s tea ceremony. What’s his contribution?  Let’s see how his 15^th-generation descendant describes him.

To recount his (Rikyu’s) personal history and the contributions he made to the practice of Tea would take volumes.  Suffice it to say here that it is Rikyu’s organization and blending of the many styles of Tea practiced up to his time, along with their philosophy, procedures, and histories, that we today know as the Way of Tea. 

Rikyu identified the spirit of the Way of Tea with four basic principles of harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility.  These four principles underlie all the practical rules of Tea and represent at the same time its highest ideals.

“Tea Life, Tea Mind” – by Soshitsu Sen XV

Rikyu was one of the wealthy merchants in Sakai.  There is no way of knowing if he was for or against surrendering to Oda Nobunaga, but Rikyu became one of the three main people responsible for conducting tea ceremonies for Nobunaga.

After Nobunaga was killed, Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉(1536-1598), one of Nobunaga’s subordinate samurai, gained power.  One story goes that Hideyoshi was overjoyed when Nobunaga granted him the right to conduct his own tea ceremony.  Under Hideyoshi, Rikyu established himself as the tea master.  

How much did Hideyoshi rely upon Rikyu for many critical decisions, not only regarding the tea ceremony but also politics? Why did Rikyu fall out of Hideyoshi’s favor? What was the real reason for Hideyoshi to order Rikyu to commit seppuku (death by hara-kiri)? There are so many books,  movies and comics about Rikyu.  But the mystery of his death has never been solved.

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Why is Rikyu considered the pinnacle of the tea ceremony when there were many others practicing tea during his life?

Rikyu introduced and implemented numerous new concepts into tea ceremony, including:

• Smaller tearooms小間…. with two or three tatami mats
• Nijiriguchi躙口…. A tiny entrance that requires one to crawl into the tearoom
• Murodoko室床….A simpler, abbreviated alcove

I imagine Rikyu might have been an otaku (a Japanese word, similar to nerd or geek).  His pursuit of simplicity and humbleness seems extreme.  Maybe there was no such word as “compromise” in his dictionary.

Rikyu also intrigues me that he commissioned a roof tile maker Chojiro長次郎 to create a tea bowl.  Tea bowls in Rikyu’s days were mainly imported from China or Korea.  They were mostly cone shape.  But the bowl that Rikyu commissioned looked square, and it was much thicker.  Every tea ceremony practitioner agrees that it is much easier to whisk tea in a bowl designed by Rikyu.  Also, if you hold Rikyu’s bowl, your hands don’t get too hot and the tea stays warm. 

The new type of tea bowls commissioned by Rikyu became Raku ware楽焼.  Chojiro was the first generation, and currently Raku ware still thrives under the sixteenth-generation master craftsman.

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Rikyu was an inventor, nonconformist, and innovator who challenged the status quo.  He was an avant-garde. 

Or did tea ceremony make use of Merchants in Sakai?

(Photo: Nanshuji Temple in Sakai – Wikimedia Commons)

Many history books about Japanese tea ceremony introduce the so-called tea masters that followed Murata Juko. Among them are listed as below:

• Takeno Jo-o武野紹鴎 (1502–1555)  a merchant in Sakai
• Kitamuki Dochin 北向道陳(1504–1562) a doctor in Sakai
• Tsuda Sotatsu 津田宗達(1504–1566) a merchant in Sakai
• Tsuda Sokyu 津田宗久(?–1591) a son of Tsuda Sotatsu, a merchant in Sakai
• Imai Sokyu 今井宗久(1520–1593) a son-in-law of Takeno Jo-o, a merchant in Sakai
• Sen no Rikyu 千利休(1522–1591) the first  grandmaster of the tea ceremony, a merchant in Sakai

Where is Sakai?  Why are there so many merchants in Sakai on the list?

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Sakai is a port city just south of Osaka (where I was born and raised!).  In the 16^th century, merchants in Sakai benefitted greatly from lucrative trades between China as well as Portugal and Spain.   Japan was in the middle of the civil war, and merchants in Sakai accumulated enormous wealth by trading things such as guns and leather (used for making armor). 

The city of Sakai enjoyed a period of autonomous governance by such wealthy merchants.  In his correspondence dated August 17, 1561, Gaspar Vilela (1526 – 1572), a Portuguese Jesuit missionary to Japan, wrote that Sakai was “an enormous city with abundant merchants.  This city is governed by consuls like Venice in Italy.”

“Once you enter the tearoom, everybody is treated equally.” Such a rule in the tea ceremony was formed during this period.  This egalitarian aspect, which was so unique in feudal Japan, is likely thanks to the economic power of those merchants in Sakai.

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The autonomy of Sakai, however, didn’t last long. Soon the city had to give in to the superstar samurai Oda Nobunaga 織田信長 (1534–1582).   Sakai escaped being burnt down by Nobunaga, mainly thanks to its rich trove of tea utensils.

Among the many samurai warlords, called daimyo大名, Oda Nobunaga gained power rapidly.  He is regarded as one of the first great unifiers of Japan.  In the course of gaining power, Nobunaga told Sakai to pay 20,000 Kan貫,  a significant amount of money, if the city wanted to avoid being attacked by Nobunaga’s soldiers.  Sakai accepted Nobunaga’s demand.  Sakai’s merchants became Nobunaga’s powerful and reliable financiers. 

Nobunaga took advantage of the valuable tea utensils, as explained previously.  In order to survive, merchants in Sakai chose to go along with Nobunaga.  The tea ceremony escaped his wrath.

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Here you find contradictory aspects that co-exist within the practice of the tea ceremony.  On one hand, the practice of tea allows you to contemplate the mystery of life, a spiritual aspect.  On the other hand, the objects used for the tea ceremony represent monetary and material wealth, something quite secular. 

I doubt if the tea ceremony could have survived for more than five hundred years if it only represented the spiritual side of life.  The tea ceremony fueled human greed. And I believe this aspect shouldn’t be ignored when explaining the tea ceremony’s long-lasting history.  Was it Nobunaga or merchants in Sakai that took advantage of the tea ceremony, or was it the tea ceremony that took advantage of the desire of human beings?

In response to the April 2023 DEP Photography prompt and weekly prompt 27/52

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

I was away from daily writing while hosting two students from Kyoto.  After hectic (though deeply meaningful) days with them, I had an opportunity to enjoy the serenity moment by attending Chaji 茶事, the most formal tea gathering, last weekend.

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

First, the guests (three of us) were drawn to the waiting room.  The hosts use their Northwestern-style living room for this space.   They first served us a glass of warm water.  Inside were several cherry blossom petals, slightly salted. 

We guests moved to the bench overlooking the beautiful Japanese garden.  The hosts have spent 9 years carefully landscaping the yard once filled with wild trees. We enjoyed the scenery for a while, purified our hands and our mouth with water, then went into the tea room.

We went into the tea room.  On the alcove, there was a scroll written by a Zen monk of Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto.  It says 福寿海無量, meaning, happiness and joy can be infinite like the ocean.  We the guests took time to look closely at the scroll and the kettle, then were seated.

The host began with serving us a light meal called Kaiseki.  He first brought a black tray with rice, miso soup, and sashimi dish (see the first photo above), then brought in sake. 

One by one the host brings in 2-3 additional dishes, including this meticulously decorated soup dish.  Everything is carefully prepared and cooked by the host. 

The host sometimes serves each one of us guests himself.

The shiny black and the vivid red… I just love the contrasting, rich colors of the Urushi lacquerware!

Once the meal is over, the host brings in sweets in a stacked box.  Oh, the sweets are also handmade by the host!

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After having the sweets, the guests leave the tea room and return to the bench by the garden.  It’s like an intermission of the concert.

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Time to go back to the tea room.  Now the scroll is taken down, and a vase of flowers is placed on the alcove. 

The host first serves us thick tea.  The matcha green tea looks almost like paste rather than liquid.  Thick tea is the highlight of the tea gathering.

Another kind of sweets, this time rather dry, are served. 

For this tea gathering, the couple divided the labor of a host.  The wife served us thin tea.  You can see the bowl has a beautiful cherry blossom pattern.

So does the Natsume, the thin tea container.  The hosts paid close attention to choosing each tea utensil. 

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The whole procedure took almost 4 hours.  It must have taken more than twice as long for the hosts to prepare for this tea gathering, including cooking and making sweets themselves. 

Enjoying Chaji 茶事, this type of formal gathering, both as hosts and guests, is the very reason why we practice tea ceremony.  I’m so thankful to the hosts for their dedication to making this gathering a memorable experience for all of us. 

Tea utensils as financial and political tools

Oda Nobunaga: Widimedia Public Domain

No, Oda Nobunaga 織田信長 was not crazy to forgo the opportunity to grab the whole state in return for the little tea caddy.

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Oda Nobunaga was the first samurai warlord who unified Japan.   He took advantage of the valuable tea ceremony utensils and fervently collected them.  He either bought them for excessive prices or took them by force from other samurai.  Nobunaga’s tea utensil collection became enormous. 

At the same time, Nobunaga forbade his subordinate samurai to perform tea gatherings without his permission.  There were only six or so samurai who were granted this right.  Nobunaga gave away his tea utensils as remuneration to his subordinates. 

One time a samurai was granted a huge swath of land for his contribution, but he lamented that he was not granted a famous tea container instead.

For Nobunaga, the tea ceremony and tea utensils were useful tools, financially and politically, to achieve his ambition to eventually dominate all of Japan. 

How samurais utilized tea utensils during the civil war in 16^th-century Japan

A tea caddy: Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

No, not this one in the photo above. (I use this for my everyday practice.)  The real tea caddy in this story is now housed in Seikado Bunko Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan.  You can see the photo on their website.   

The tea caddy is small enough to hold in a palm. What’s a big deal about this tiny object, you might say.  Well, it was really a big deal to possess it in the 16^th– century Japan.

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Known as “Tsukumo-nasu,” this eggplant-shaped tea caddy was made in the Southern Son-Yuan dynasty in China, 12^th – 13^th century. 

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu 足利義満(1358-1408), the 3^rd shogun who built the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, used to own it. His grandson Ashikaga Yoshimasa足利義政 (1436-1490), the 8^th shogun, gave it to one of his subordinates Yamana Masatoyo 山名政豊. One story says that Masatoyo was Yoshimasa’s lover.

It is said that Murata Juko 村田珠光 (1422 – 1503), the person who introduced the “wabi” concept to the tea ceremony, purchased this tea caddy from Yamana Masatoyo.

It is unknown how this tea caddy ended up in the hands of Matsunaga Hisahide 松永久秀 (1508 – 1577), a warlord who was ruling the state of Yamato. 

When confronted by Oda Nobunaga 織田信長 (1534 – 1382), a powerful warlord who later became the first unifier of Japan, Hisahide presented this tea caddy as a gift to Nobunaga.

By giving up a little tea caddy, Hisahide saved both his own life and the state he ruled. 

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Was Oda Nobunaga crazy to forgo the opportunity to grab the whole state in return for the little tea caddy? 

Can you tell why?

Photo of my Hinamatsuri tea bowl: by Author Akemi Sagawa

March 3^rd is Hinamatsuri ひな祭り… What is it? Well, there are so many articles that explain about Hinamatsuri in Medium, of which I listed two below.  Please read them to familiarize yourself.

“The Dolls’ Festival is a Special Day to Celebrate Girls” by Diane Neill Tincher

“Happy Girl’s Day — Hinamatsuri” by Kyoko Nagano

The photo above is of my Hinamatsuri tea bowl.  I always look forward to using this cute bowl at this time of the year, to celebrate this girl’s festival.

Now you have read those three articles, and you see my tea bowl.  Have you found why I said my bowl is special?

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Look at the photos of Hina dolls 雛人形on the above two articles.  Which side is the emperor situated?

As you see in the photos in the two articles, the emperor doll is situated on the right side of the empress.  But my tea bowl has the emperor situated on the left side of the empress.  You might wonder why…

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In ancient Japan, the left was considered to be a higher position than the right. When placing the Hina dolls, therefore, people used to put the emperor on the left side of the empress. 

After Japan opened up the country to the West, however, the Japanese emperor and the empress started to follow western customs, that is, the emperor stands on the right side of the empress.  If you see the photos of the current emperor and empress standing together, the emperor is on the right side of the empress.

Regions near Tokyo now follow the new way and place the emperor doll on the right.  People in Kyoto, however, still follow the old way.

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My tea bowl was made by a Kyoto-based potter. For him, the emperor doll has to be on the left side of the empress.  And I follow him because I’m from Osaka, much closer to Kyoto than Tokyo physically and culturally.

For me, right is not “right,” left is “right.”

The rise and fall of Japan’s Ashikaga Shogunate and their tea utensil collection

Photo of Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion), Kyoto, Japan – Wikimedia

If you have ever visited Kyoto, I bet you visited Kinkaku-ji or the Temple of the Golden Pavillion.  Covered with gold leaf, the temple is lavish.  The original was built when tocha, tea gambling, was most popular.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu足利義満(1358–1408), the 3^rd generation of Ashikaga Shogunate, re-established trade between China and enjoyed enormous wealth.  In addition to building this lavish Golden Pavillion, he imported many valuable tea utensils such as tea bowls and kettles, accumulating his collection.

About a century later, Ashikaga Yoshimasa 足利義政(1436-1490), Yoshimitsu’s grandson and the 6^th Shogun, tried to build a temple covered with silver.

He did build a temple, now called Ginkaku-ji or the Temple of the Silver Pavilion.  But it is far from lavish, with no silver coating.

Obviously, you can imagine the huge difference in their financial situation. 

Yoshimasa had to wait until the Onin no Ran, an 11-year civil war was ended, to build his dream villa, the Silver Pavillion.  By the time the war was over, his shogunate reign was weakened and his financial situation worsened. He could no longer afford the silver coating. 

Not only that, Yoshimasa had to sell many treasures that he inherited from his grandfather, including precious tea utensils imported from China.  Who became the new owners of such treasures?  Newly advanced samurais and merchants in Sakai. 

The phrase also depicts the essence of life

Author Akemi Sagawa served a bowl of Matcha to the guest: Photo by Brian Chu

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I used to hold a tea ceremony demonstration twice a year at Fran’s Chocolates, a Seattle-based chocolatier. 

With a tall ceiling, the venue has such a serene atmosphere.  For four days, the venue turned into a space to experience “Senses from Japan.”  Those lucky two people who happened to sit in the front row got to enjoy a delicious white chocolate truffle and a bowl of Matcha green tea, served by the host.

When I was making tea as a host, my focus was only one thing: to serve the best tea to the guests, so that they could enjoy the moment to the full.  I didn’t know the people who were sitting in front of me.  Most likely this was the only time I encountered those people, let alone serve tea to them.

In the tea ceremony, the phrase “ichi-go ichi-e 一期一会” is often used.  It means “One time, one meeting.”  Each tea gathering is an opportunity for a unique experience that will never occur again.  Forget about the past. Forget about the future. Just enjoy the present moment…

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But wait!  Which moment in time will you be able to repeat?  Which moment in your life is not unique? The moment you are reading this article can never be repeated! 

Ichi-go Ichi-e is not limited to the tea ceremony.  The phrase depicts the essence of our very life.  A bowl of tea reminds you of this simple fact of life, that this moment will never come back.

Why Murata Juko is said to be the founder of Wabicha

Image of Murata Juko – Public Domain by Wikimedia

Part of practicing the Japanese tea ceremony is to learn its history.  The name Murata Juko (村田珠光 1422 – 1503) comes up first as a person we should remember.  That he introduced the “wabi” concept to the tea ceremony. 

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 “Wabi” is becoming quite popular even among non-Japanese-speaking people.  Often combined with “Sabi”, the word represents something simple, rustic, and profound, a distinct characteristic of Japanese culture.

What happened to tea ceremony as a gamble, you may ask.   Well, there is a slight remnant of tea gambling in the practice today.  Chakabuki 茶歌舞伎, it’s called.  And in the procedure, you try to guess which tea is the same one as you had before.  There is no betting, however.  We only practice the procedure to further deepen our experience of tea. 

When Juko was alive, tea as gambling still existed, practiced among high-ranking aristocrats and samurai.  How come Juko didn’t follow that trend?  Why did he choose to pursue “wabi”cha?  Why his direction had a significant influence on the development of tea ceremony in later years?

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I haven’t found any clear answer to this question, so I can only do some research on my own. 

Juko was born in Nara.  At the age of 11 he was sent to a Buddhist temple.  He was there until 20 years old, but for a while after that, it is unknown where exactly he lived and what he was doing

A document that was written years later says he taught then Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa tea ceremony, but recent studies deny it.  But it’s likely he spent some time in Kyoto.

During the Onin no Ran （応仁の乱 1467 – 1477）, Juko is said to have gone back to Nara and lived in a humble hut serving tea. 

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The following is my speculation.   

Onin no Ran is a civil war that lasted as long as 11 years.  This civil war started as a dispute over who would become the next shogun. 

Historians still debate today why it involved so many samurai and why it had to last that long.  One monk who lived in that era wrote in his diary, “No matter how hard I try, I still don’t understand why this horrible war had to happen.”

During the war, so many temples, shrines, and palaces in Kyoto, including Daitokuji, where Shuko is believed to have practiced Zen under Ikkyu, a famous master, were burnt to the ground. 

When people in Kyoto say “the last war,” they often refer to Onin no Ran, not World War II.  That’s how horrible the collective memory of this war was.  Buildings were razed. Lives were ruined. The war affected every class of people.

Sitting in the tearoom, people might have contemplated their own dire circumstances and how fragile their lives were, instead of partying and gambling.  In my opinion, Onin no Ran’s impact on people’s mindset towards the practice of tea was profound.  Juko was no exception, in my guess.

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One of the very few historical traces of Juko is a record kept by Daitoku-ji Temple.  In memory of the thirteenth anniversary of his Zen master Ikkyu’s death, Juko contributed money for the rebuilding of Daitoku-ji in 1493.