Yesterday, Issoan celebrated the opening of the winter hearth. The day was cold, rainy and windy. A great day for a cozy tea gathering. Guests arrived from across town, from Seattle area, and half a world away via zoom for two seki. It was especially exciting for three new students, who had never attended a …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/robiraki-2023/
Rikyu says: Lay the charcoal so it boils the water.
When I first went to Japan to study the way of tea, I didn’t know how to build a charcoal fire. My sensei really did not teach us how to do it. We would have a charcoal fire for events such as Robiraki or Hatsugama, …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/building-a-charcoal-fire/
We had our first week of school and I am quite tired. We have had some changes to the program with Midorikai being included more inside the Gakuen. For example, we now attend the morning chorei / role call. This is a great time to practice sitting seiza, which of course means that you are …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/sumi-sumi-midorikai-interlude/
One of Rikyu’s rules is to lay the charcoal so that it boils the water. I will not be talking about the charcoal, today, but the boiling water.
There are no clocks in the tea room, the kama is one of your timing devices. Depending on how you lay the charcoal — farther apart, the …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/sound-boiling-water/
On November 9, 2014 Issoan Tea School celebrated the opening of the winter hearth with Robiraki. There were 3 seki of 4 people each. A real charcoal fire was laid to heat the water. Because charcoal is so hard to import from Japan, and is so very expensive, we seldom get to see the fire …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/robiraki-2014/
