The Tea Ceremony in Japanese Culture

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The tea ceremony is a special event in Japanese culture. I experienced the gathering of a tea ceremony at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco as a viewer of a cultural performance. Through the research process, I came across additional information that helped me understand both the ritual and historical aspects of that sacred ceremony. The ever-changing form of the tea ceremony is alive in Japanese culture to this day. Description and Contextual Interpretation: The Ritual Aspects of the Japanese Tea Ceremony The details are kept to make sure that the ceremony will be perfectly preformed. There are various styles of tea ceremonies and it is recognized that every tea ceremony is a special occasion that will never recur again in exactly the same way, and so every aspect of the tea ceremony is savored.1 The ceremony takes place in a tearoom called the chashitsu. This room is designed and designated only for this ceremony. The room is usually within a teahouse and is located away from the residence in the garden or sometimes even as an individual building on a mountaintop. The guests enter the tearoom through a sliding door that is just three feet high. To enter everyone has to bow, and this signifies that all are equal regardless of status or social position. The last person to enter puts the latch on the door. The first thing that the guest will acknowledge when entering the room are the fragrance of the incense and the way the tea utensils are arranged.2 The tea utensils include not only the preparation tools but also the items used to decorate the room. This combination creates the placid serene atmosphere necessary for the tea gathering. There are no extreme decorations in the tearoom except for an alcove called a tokonoma, in which a scroll painting (kakemono) is hung. Sometimes a simple but elegant seasonal flower arrangement is set in that space as well.

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