How do you feel in a narrow and dim space?

Up until now, I have talked about enjoying tea, in which I emphasize participating in Teaism activities. Now I will try to broaden my topic since I believe your interest in Teaism has been growing little by little.

Have you ever seen a tearoom (cha-shitsu 茶室)? I’ve prepared a typical photo of one below. What kind of impressions do you have by looking at the photo? Most people feel that it is too narrow and dim. Even modern-day Japanese people get the same vibe by looking at it. I think this image leads foreigners to imagine that most Japanese rooms are narrow and small.

Tai-an (待庵) is one of the smallest tearooms in existence. It was designed by the grand tea master Sen no Rikyu(千利休). (who appeared several times in my previous blogs.) It was built more than 400 years ago. It is one of the tearooms certified as a national treasure of Japan. Tai-an has recently been relocated to a place a short distance away from Kyoto.

Well, how large do you think this tearoom is?

It is as small as two tatami mats, which is about 3 m². It would be suitable for only three people, a host and two guests. How do you feel if you are in a narrow and dim space like this? You wouldn’t want to stay there for a long time, would you?

Even Japanese people ask when looking at this space, “Why do you have a tea ceremony in such a narrow and dim space like this?”

They would be surprised to know that the entrance, Nijiri-guchi (miniature tea room entrance), is even smaller yet.

Only 25 inches square. Japanese cannot easily enter and exit this space. In fact, one of my American friends hit his head on the doorway several times.

This Nijiri-guchi was also devised by Sen no Rikyu. But, why did he make ​​a space like this? At the time, Japan was in an era of wars. Japanese feudal lords competed for national land, thus it was a terrible state of affairs. Precisely because of these circumstances, he wanted to spend time with a restful mind when he had a tea ceremony in a tearoom.

When I stayed in a hotel in the United States, I felt relieved when I spent time in warm lighting. I think it’s a similar feeling in a small tearoom. In addition, if it is a narrow space, people feel an affinity with each other because the distance between them is removed.

Sen no Rikyu said everyone is equal in a tearoom, even a general or a president. It is said that tearoom developed their unique style to express this.

Both Japanese people and non-Japanese people alike feel like it is bigger than they had expected. Large space is good, but why not try healing your mind in a narrow space?

Teaism is not just part of Japanese culture, but also an advocate for good health.

Last time, I established that the basic meaning of practicing Teaism is to drink tea (matcha) and enjoy it.

Nonetheless, drinking matcha is thought to be a very difficult thing. Of course, it is very hard to make matcha formally. However, making it is quite simple; just put matcha powder into a bowl, add hot water, and stir the tea with a tea whisk (called chasen 茶筅). So when you think about it, there’s really nothing to it.

You make black tea and coffee by dripping, don’t you? Making matcha is just as easy. However, most importantly, a tea whisk is essential for making matcha. Please only prepare matcha using this tool.

I was once challenged to make matcha with a handy food processor and an egg whisk instead of a tea whisk. It was very difficult to achieve the right taste. A proper matcha tea whisk is made of finely split bamboo. It makes use of the bamboo’s flexibility to make creamy bubbles. So, to make delicious matcha it seems there is no alternative tool that would replace the bamboo tea whisk.

I went off on a tangent there… Let’s return to the true simplicity in making matcha.

Considering the directions stated earlier, you still think it is hard to make matcha, don’t you? To prove that drinking matcha is not hard, I will say now that I’ve been drinking matcha every morning without fail for four years. No problems!

I’ve uploaded tea bowlpictures from time to time on Facebook because I like to show my own tea bowl collection. As time went by, my friends became very interested in seeing the next photo release when I didn’t upload our last photo session in a timely manner; they would ask “Don’t you have today’s pics? Are you sick?”.

Traditional Japanese cuisine (called washoku 和食) was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list last year. Japanese food culture is attracting more global attention than ever before. Traditional Japanese cuisine is understood as being very healthy (i.e. sushi and sashimi).

Teaism also attracts attention as being the practice that represents part of Japan’s culture. It is yet another extension to healthy traditional Japanese cuisine. In fact, I haven’t caught a cold since I began drinking matcha. After I mentioned this to one of my Australian friends, he also started drinking matcha every day. After he started that routine, he said his physical health improved.

Notably, the Shizuoka prefecture (a prefecture which consumes the most green tea in Japan), is the area notable for the longevity of its’ resident’s lives. The people appear to live longer here compared to the rest of the Japanese population. In addition, one of Japan’s famous professors published a treatise arguing that the risk of death decreases by drinking green tea regularly.

Hence it is with confidence that I say that Teaism attracts attention as part of Japanese culture, a culture within itself, as well as for its attributes in improving both body and mental health.

Why not start including matcha in your daily diet today?

June 20, 2014  ◆ Shuntaro Kondo

In my last article, I described a Tea Ceremony. This time, I would like to talk about what comes first in Teaism; examples will come from the Tea Ceremony I held in New York.

Do you know about “Cool Japan”? This is a project sponsored by the Japanese government to awaken Japanese culture globally. Avant-garde Tea Ceremony is a participating member of this project. The group has created original tea utensils in collaboration with young ceramic artists. These artists have been working in the ceramic industry, representing Japan for the last year. Together with unveiling these tea utensils completed in this project, we held Tea Ceremonies in an American colleague’s tea room, called “KeiSui-an (憩翠庵)” in Manhattan earlier in February.

The artists also joined in and we talked about their passions in creating their works personally with customers. Customers chose their favorite tea bowls from the collections. We can communicate only fragments of Teaism if we merely show works or offer drinks. So, I created the Tea Ceremony where people can see, touch, and experience Teaism first-hand.

A total of 100 people participated, including Japanese people living in New York and non-Japanese New Yorkers. When I talked to them, I observed happy reactions. They expressed their strong appreciation and enjoyment. They never had the opportunity to participate in these kinds of events, even though they had been interested in Japanese culture.

Actually, I lived in New York when I was a child. I lacked knowledge about traditional Japanese custom. In my adult life, I work with foreigners and I have been expanding my personal knowledge and expertise in everything about Japan.

For this reason, I chose “Teaism” since it captures Japanese culture in a variety of genres. I talked with some Japanese participants during the New York Tea Ceremony, and they expressed that they felt once again the depth of Japanese culture like I had. This was particularly special as they were able to look at Japan objectively from a foreign place. Thus, I think I would be able to tell the advantages if I go abroad and feel how foreigners look at Japanese culture, Tea Ceremony, and Teaism from afar.

It is interesting that many Japanese, even those who experience Teaism for the first time assume they somehow know the traditional rules, such as turning a tea bowl. On the contrary, a fixed concept—that Teaism is something difficult—is implanted into the Japanese people’s mind.

It goes without saying that foreigners do not know such rules; thus, they drink tea happily without worrying about the intricate details of Teaism. (It depends on each person if they feel the tea is delicious or not, so let’s set that aside, haha.)

In other words, it is foreigners who practice the most important thing in Teaism. I mentioned that Teaism is a “composite art” last time. What comes first in Teaism? Is it valuable utensils? A fine tea house? Sitting politely? Wearing a kimono properly?

None of those are correct.

The most important thing is to drink tea in an appreciating manner. The founder of Teaism, Grand Tea Master Sen no Rikyu (千利休) said,

「茶の湯とはただ湯をわかし茶をたててのむばかりなる事と知るべし」

 (“Teaism is just to boil water, make tea, and drink it.”)

Don’t you think it’s a nice saying? If you try to drink tea, according to the rules as expected, surprisingly, there are a lot of processes. Yet, what is more important is to drink tea in the right spirit, which is made from the heart.

At the New York Tea Ceremony, I told everyone such a story:

“Everyone, do you know how to drink tea?” (Everybody made a gesture of shaking their heads, saying I don’t know.) “Is that so? But how to drink tea is as easy as 1-2-3! I mean, everyone has mouth, right? Yes! You can drink with your mouth!

That was a Japanese joke in response to an American joke! It seems that they caught the meaning as they laughed a lot. Yet, it is actually true. If you are obsessed with manners, you won’t be able to taste tea.

We will always be nervous when we try something for the first time and come into contact with foreign cultures; we will be at a loss. Thus, the way people interpret things differs significantly from how the originator conveys how to do it. So, I will suppress my desire to teach a lot. I’m happy for now if you just know that “Tea is delicious.”

This first step will suffice in letting you experience the depth of Teaism!

May 20, 2014  ◆  Shuntaro Kondo

Nice to meet you. My name is Shuntaro Kondo and I’m a Japanese Tea-master. Currently, I’m running “AVANT-GARDE CHA KAI (AVANT-GARDE = Modern, CHA KAI = Japanese for Tea ceremony)” in Tokyo to tell young people about Teaism (茶道 Cha-do). Actually, this is my hobby. My core business is running an IT venture company. [ What is the difference between Teaism and Tea ceremony? ] Teaism is the Philosophy to drink a cup of tea. Tea ceremony is the Event to drink a cup of tea. In other words, Tea ceremony is based on the principles of Teaism. There are multiple schools of Tea ceremony, however, there is only one root of the Philosophy Teaism. In this column, I’d like to explain about Tea ceremony, but I plan on explaining more about Teaism in another article. Do you know “Tea ceremony”? Tea ceremony is said to be a “composite art form” in Japan. The reason is that it is not just for drinking Matcha (green tea), but also being composed of various associating factors. For example, there are pottery, cooking, Japanese confectionery, flower arrangement, calligraphy, architecture (tea room), etc. It is said that a tea master, “Sen no Rikyu(千利休),” created the form of modern “Tea ceremony” 450 years ago. It has a long history and is one of the traditional cultures representing Japan. Paying respect to “Tea ceremony,” which has such a wide range of elements and history, “Avant-garde Cha Kai” is a way to represent our own style of Tea ceremony in this modern world.

What do you think this is? It is just an ordinary compact car in Japan.

A tea room is revealed if you open the hatch. So what? Isn’t it a surprise? As the tea room is in a car, it can easily move anywhere and you can hold a tea ceremony on the spot. It may look small, but it can fit at least three adults, including me. I held a tea ceremony the other day, inviting a friend of mine from New York. He shouted, “So cooool!!!” He also said, “It is like an ambulance, which supplies green tea at any-time, anywhere. It will be perfect if you put a green light on top of the car. I’d like to call it the Matcha Mobile!” Finally he said, “Shuntaro, bring this to New York!” I surely would like to bring this to New York and perform tea ceremony inside the car someday. Well, I may have rushed too much. However, please do not misunderstand. I am doing tea ceremonies with a traditional formal style as well! I look the part when I wear a kimono, don’t I? From the next time, I will introduce my actual activities, which I have done, and bring you the real Japanese culture and the deep world of Teaism. So stay tuned!