JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY 

Presented by: Emiko Suzuki  

Emiko gave a beautiful demonstration of the Japanese Tea Ceremony to our audience.  It was very educational; she explained the various aspects of the ceremony as she performed them.  She talked to us about chabana which is the small flower arrangement that is displayed, and about the scroll that hung on the wall during a tea ceremony.  “Sado” means “the way of tea”.  Sen no Rikyu formed the protocol of the ceremony of tea in the 16th century, and it has been handed down for over 400 years in Kyoto, Japan. Emiko practiced Sado for more than twenty years in Japan, as well as Ikebana.   As part of her MAT degree at Western Carolina University, Emiko studied ceramics where she created the tea utensils for this program including Raku tea bowls.  She shared Japanese culture and the peaceful tea ceremony with everyone.  

After you enjoy the photos, please read the article below writted by Mark-Ellis Bennet, correspondent for the Biltmore Beacon.

To see the whole photo, click on any image to launch the slideshow.  Then place your cursor over photo, then click on arrow to start.  Then move your cursor away from the photo screen to remove arrows and enjoy the slideshow.   

Japanese Tea Ceremony

by: Mark-Ellis Bennett

Biltmore Beacon correspondent

To initiate the program schedule in their 46^th year, the Asheville chapter of Ikebana International invited member Emiko Suzuki to demonstrate the ancient Japanese tea ceremony at the Folk Art Center. Suzuki took her Japanese cultural heritage for granted until she found herself emerged in a foreign culture as a teenage exchange student in Holland. When she returned to Japan she decided to study and master Sado, or “Way of Tea.”

For over 400 years Sado has been thoughtfully passed from generation to generation. In Japan during the 1580s an appreciation of “beauty in simplicity” inspired Sen no Rikyū to apply his philosophy to the development of a simple, but exquisite tea ceremony, usually held in tiny rustic tea rooms. Small rooms strategically disempowered negotiating samurais from drawing long swords at tea. Suzuki spent 20 years learning the ceremony and now shares it with her occidental tea enthusiasts. She is also a ceramicist who creates specialized raku pottery used in the ceremony. The teacups are shaped like bowls and have no handles.

At the Folk Art Center Suzuki, dressed in a pale yellow kimono with floral accents and an obi, offered each of her three “guests” a thin, round rice flour confection, folded over and filled with sweet red bean paste. She then sat at a small table and introduced the audience to the implements with which she would prepare the tea and explained the process with a quiet enthusiasm. “In Japan we have a tea ceremony at the end of the year, on New Years Day or for some anniversaries. We’ll do a tea ceremony for any excuse,” she said. The table was decorated with “Chabana,” or flowers for the tea ceremony, in a small vase.

First Suzuki carefully wiped off her tools with a dry saffron colored towel – three swipes for the long handled scoop with which she would later transfer the powdered green tea into each cup. With a bamboo ladle she transferred hot water from a kettle into a teacup and stirred it with a delicate bamboo whisk to warm the cup. The water was then poured out and the cup dried with a towel. Two scoops of tea were deposited into the cup followed by the addition of more hot water. As the tea steeped in the water Suzuki blended the contents of the cup with the bamboo whisk before offering tea to her first guest.

(Japanese Tea Ceremony continued) 

Per Japanese protocol a respectful guest will be expected to rotate the cup two quarter turns clockwise before drinking the tea and will remember to make a slurping sound when finished. The cup has a front side facing the guest when presented and is turned so the front side faces away from the guest while the tea is being consumed as a sign of respect. Tea was then separately prepared as before for her second and third guests. After the empty cups were collected, all implements were ritualistically wiped clean.    

Ikebana International is a worldwide organization founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1956. Its 8,600 members in 50 countries are dedicated to promoting a mutual understanding and friendship with Japan through “Ikebana,” the art of Japanese flower arrangement, and other cultural aspects of Japan. Ikebana began with sixth-century priests offering flowers to Buddha and today includes a number of schools that apply variations in form and design to their artistic expression. Classes are available in the Asheville area for the following “schools” of Ikebana: Ichiyo is a contemporary style that harmonizes with the various spaces in our living environment. Ikenobo, officially recognized as the oldest school, offers the most traditional style of Japanese flower arranging. The Ohara School emphasizes the landscaped environment with the seasonal use of branch and flower material. Sogetsu, sculptural in form and intent, promotes free style and abstract arrangements.

20-year Ikebana Asheville chapter member Maggie Storey of Biltmore Forest said she enjoys the opportunity of learning “to use just a few flowers and use them very effectively.” Jeanie Smith of The Ramble said she had never witnessed a tea ceremony before, enjoyed doing so and as a new member looked forward to becoming better acquainted with others. 

The Asheville chapter meets on the 4^th Tuesday from February through October, usually in the auditorium at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Meetings are free and open to the public, but membership brings a bundle of additional privileges. For more information visit them online at www.IkebanaAsheville.org.

Contact Bennett at: MBennett@BiltmoreBeacon.com