Presentation at Portland Japanese Garden

Issoan Tea School will be presenting Chado, the Way of  Tea at the Portland Japanese Garden this Saturday, July 21st at 1 and 2 pm.

Please join us for a presentation of the Tea Ceremony at Kashintei, the “Flower heart arbor” tea house at the Portland Japanese Garden.  The presentation is free with admission to the garden.

Chado, the Way of Tea, is the practice of preparing, serving, and drinking Tea. Since the 15th century, it has been a study in preparing a bowl of powdered green tea (matcha ) as well as incorporating many of the arts of Japan. This elegant yet simple practice reflects the philosophy of the four principles of Tea:

Harmony: Wa , Respect: Kei , Purity: Sei , Tranquility: Jaku

Where: Portland Japanese Garden, 611 SW Kingston Ave, Portland, Oregon 97205
When:  Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 1 and 2 pm
For more information: Chado the way of Tea, (503) 223-1321

Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/presentation-at-portland-japanese-garden/

Tanabata Chakai

A wonderful day of tea Saturday at the Issoan Tea School.  Students celebrated the Star Festival with a chakai put on the advanced class who invited the new students who had never attended a chakai before.

We went through the planning process from choosing a theme, utensils, poetic names, hand made invitations to making sweets.

Students arrived at the school very early to clean everything, top to bottom tea room, mizuya, machiai and walkway outside. 

They washed and dried all the utensils and trays and bowls for the light meal.  We cooked the food and arranged the trays.

The tea room and mizuya were then set up and we rehearsed the order of the gathering.

Then everyone changed into kimono and the guests began to arrive.  Even though it was a lot of work, I think everyone had a good time.

Thank you guests and thank you hosts for a wonderful tea day.

Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/tanabata-chakai/

From the archives

Today is my 400th post on the SweetPersimmon blog, and to celebrate, (ha) I went back to read all the entries from the beginning. I am linking to some of my favorite posts, in no particular order.   What is your favorite post on the site?

Guest etiquette for chakai

Hataraki – working things out

Thoughts on gomei or poetic names

Do Gaku Jitsu

The season for udon

Its not about perfection

Dogu, more tea stuff

Sitting seiza is not comfortable

Easy Daifukumochi tea sweet recipe

Just say “hai”

Basically anything that I wrote with the phrase “sensei says”

In memory of Minako sensei

Take a left before you get to the Buddha

The host revealed

The danger of cutting flowers

Wagashi for foodies

The power of committment

Expert Tea Master

 

Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/from-the-archives/

New reading material

I just want to call your attention to a few new (at least new to me) publications of interest to fellow Chado students, and they are in English.  You can find these along with other recommended books at the for further reading page

NEW! Sen Genshitsu Talks About the Enjoyment Of Tea by Sen Genshitsu, Urasenke Grand Tea Master XV, Translated to English by Maya Perry
ISBN-10: 4473032965 Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-4473032966

Fifteenth Generation Urassenke Grand Master talks about memorable tea gatherings, guest and host, the lineage of Rikyu, the spirit of hospitality, tea equipment, and becoming better at doing tea among many other topics.  Notable for the English translation of the hundred poems at the back of the book.

 

 

NEW! Urasenke Chado Textbook, translated to English based on the Japanese textbook, Urasenke Chado
ISBN-10: 4473036960 Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-4473036964

Replacement for Uransenke Handbooks 1 and 2.  A much more informational book with less emphasis on actual teaching and photos of procedures.  Topics include:  the spirit of Chado, Zen, Classics related to Chado, tea and health, history and development of Chado, the tea room, the roji, utensils and the significance of temae. Reference material at the back of the book.

 

 

NEW! Moon by the Window, The Calligraphy and Zen Insights of Shodo Harada
ISBN 9780861716487 Paperback

Shodo Harada is internationally recognized both as a Zen teacher and as a world class master of the fine art of Zen calligraphy.  Harada regularly exhibits and gives calligraphy demonstrations in museums and universities in the U.S. and abroad.  Moon by the Window is a collection of 108 pieces of Shodo Harada’s calligraphic Zen masterpieces assembled over the decades, and drawn from the rich and poetic literature of the Zen tradition.  Each work is accompanied by Harada Roshi’s sharp and glittering commentaries, making each page a spiritually edifying and aesthetically uplifting  treasure.

Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/new-reading-material/

Meibutsugire part 4 Kanto

Fabrics with stripes, plaid or checked patterns are called kanto. There are different reasons why fabrics with certain patterns can be considered kanto fabrics, and no clear rules exist for classifying them.

In the 16th centry, when kanto fabrics were introduced into Japan, the striped and checked patterns felt new and fresh to chajin (Tea practitioners). From that time on, they were used for making pouches for chaire (thick tea container), considerably earlier than donsu and kinran. Even after donsu and kinran became highly valued, the use of kanto fabrics did not decline because they provided a new range of fabric colors.

Here are a few examples:

 

Aoki Kanto

The name of this fabric comes from its original owner, Aoki, who was Toyotomi Hideyoshi shogun’s retainer.

Kapitan kanto

Kapitan big stripes

Mumei Kanto

Shusuji Kanto

Tosai Kanto (10 colors)

Nikuzushi Kanto

Nikuzushi Kanto close up

All three samples above Sagara Kanto

Mochizuki Kanto

Yoshino Kanto

It is said that Lady Yoshino favoured this pattern for her Uchikake, a coat dress. She was a wife of Haiya Jyoeki, a rich merchant who lived in Kyoto in 17th century.

Yoshino kanto

My sensei had a beloved bunrin chaire with a shifuku made of this kereji in these exact colors.  We used it for many years until she passed away.  We don’t know what happened to the chaire, but it remains one of my favorite fabrics.

*Fabric photos courtesy of  Kitamura Tokusai Fukusaten Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan.via the now closed website Tea Hyakka.

Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/meibutsugire-part-4-kanto/