Urasenke: Art of Japanese tea drinking
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The woman in kimono walks on stage and moves toward the burner. Her small steps are calculated to fall exactly in the middle of each tatami mat laid across the stage.
She pauses in front of the burner, and then kneels and carefully checks it and the kettle boiling water above it. She stands and walks the same small steps to the back left of the stage to check on the calligraphy painting and the flower arrangement laid there. She exits the stage, still stepping right in the middle of the tatami.
Watching the Japanese conducting a tea ceremony is like watching a slow and intricate Javanese court dance. Every move is calculated and every act is not without cause, even the act of folding a napkin or, indeed, wiping away tea residue from the bowl.
Not only the ceremony, the room and the very utensils used in the ceremony are a poem in themselves. The bareness of the tea room, only adorned by the simple calligraphy painting depicting the words wa (peace), kei (respect), sei (purity), and jaku (tranquility), and the flower arrangement, belies the substantial amount of effort it took make it look so simple.
Last week the Gran Mahakam hotel in South Jakarta, in cooperation with local radio station Female (100.2 FM), reenacted the Urasenke Japanese tea ceremony in appreciation of their Japanese guests and to introduce the ritual to Indonesians.
Supervised by Urasenke followers in Indonesia, Kikuko Sani Soendoro and Kuniko Pohan, the ceremony was attended by about 50 Indonesian and Japanese individuals.
Japan first imported tea from China as a beverage, but over the course of several hundred years it was developed into an art.
The Japanese elevated the mundane practice of drinking tea to a spiritual discipline. Especially after contact with Zen, peace, respect, purity, and tranquility became the four precepts of the tea ceremony.
The tea ceremony first started with Murata Shuko (1423-1502) who first realized that the essence of Tea and Zen were the same, and emphasized the spirit and mind of the person making tea instead of the form.
The ceremony was then continued after his death by Imai Sokyu (1520-1593) who initiated the Way of Tea. It was carried on by Takeno Jo-o (1502-1555), and finally perfected by Sen Soeki Rikyu (1522-1599), who established the Urasenke school.
"Though many people drink tea, if you do not know the Way of Tea, tea will drink you up," Rikyu was once known to say.
He also said the Way of Tea was a matter of observing seven rules: make a satisfying bowl of tea, lay the charcoal so that the water boils efficiently, provide a sense of warmth in the winter and the coolness in the summer, arrange the flowers as though they were in the field, be ready ahead of time, be prepared in case it should rain, and act with utmost consideration toward your guests.
The ceremony is usually done in two parts, the first being the entrance of guests to the especially prepared room or konnichian (tea house) and the serving of a light meal (kaiseki). Following the meal, the host prepares the charcoal or burner for the first time, then the guests retire to the garden for a short break.
After the break, the host prepares koicha (thick tea) for the guests. Then he prepares the charcoal for a second time and makes usucha (thin tea). When all is done, the host and guest respectfully acknowledge each other one last time and the guest takes their leave.
The tea ceremony demonstrated at Gran Mahakam is a simplified form of the ritual designed to give a rough idea of what it involves. Then, the green tea served is only the koicha, which is thick, frothy, and has a pungent seaweed aroma.
The thick tea is usually served with wagashi or sweet cakes to take away the taste of the tea. Wagashi are appealing to not only the palate but also to the eyes, as they are usually molded in delicate and beautiful forms.
The ones served at the hotel that day was from rice flour colored seaweed and shaped like a lotus flower. The filling is crushed, sweetened mung beans.
Sani said that it takes years to master the Art of Tea, as in it takes maybe 10 weeks to master a simple tune on a piano but many years to become an expert pianist.
"Because in mastering the Art of Tea, you must also master all other parts of Japanese culture, such as calligraphy, flower arranging, ceramics, etcetera," she said.
When mastered properly, conducting and even participating in a tea ceremony can give a person tranquility and peace of mind, just like a meditation session. It teaches us that not only the end is important, but also the process of the making.
For more information open www.urasenke.or.jp