..0na ‡hê ¶ïttlê rêÐ ƒº×

About me:

Welcome to ..0na ±hê ¶ïttlê rêÐ Fð×'s place for tea - the 'chaseki'! Most people, if you mention Japan and tea, think of two kinds of tea houses. The first one, that most probably springs to mind, are the famous teahouses and tea 'shops' of the Gion quarter in Kyoto, home to the beautiful geisha, meiko, geiko, oiran and tayu and visited by many visitors from all over the world. Kyoto was the old Imperial capital of Japan, and the home of the Emperor and imperial family for a thousand years.In the 16th century, Edo was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868. During this period it grew to become one of the largest cities in the world and the site of a vibrant urban culture centered on notions of the "floating world" and it's present name is Tokyo.For most people Kyoto is still the oldest Imperial city and a place to visit for everyone. In the past, the tea houses were also the favourite haunts of samurai lords, travellers, merchants,actors, poets and artists and were the inspiration for Ukiyo-e, woodblock prints. The prints of famous geisha,coutesans, kabuki actors and theatre plays, heroes and heroines from famous battles and legends were known as the transient, elusive 'floating world' - "Ukiyo-e" in Japanese. They were created to illustrate books known as manga, Japan being the most literate nation in the world from the Medieval period. Kabuki actors and geisha became the first celebrities immortalised in art portraiture. Woodblock printed books from Chinese Buddhist temples were seen in Japan as early as the eighth century. In 764 the Empress Shotuku commissioned one million small wooden pagodas, each containing a small woodblock scroll printed with a Buddhist text (Hyakumanto Darani). These were distributed to temples around the country as thanksgiving for the suppression of the Emi Rebellion of 764.These are the earliest examples of woodblock printing known, or documented, from Japan. By the eleventh century, Buddhist temples in Japan were producing their own printed books of sutras, mandalas, and other Buddhist texts and images. It was not until 1590 that the first secular work would be printed in Japan. This was the Setsuyō-shū, a two-volume Chinese-Japanese dictionary. By 1640 woodblock printing gained popularity among artists, and was used to produce small, cheap, art prints as well as books. The great pioneers in applying this method to the creation of art books, and in preceding mass production for general consumption, were Honami Kōetsu and Suminokura Soan. Individual publishing houses arose and grew, publishing both books and individual prints. Japanese woodblock prints The artist first paints on a very thin and translucent paper. To cut the blocks, the artist has to sacrifice his painting: it is put face down and glued on a wooden block (cherry wood). Then the engraver will start working the wood using specific tools that resemble scalpels. The craftsman will cut the wood until nothing remains except for the outlines, which are now in relief. This woodblock is called "keyblock". Once the keyblock is made, the craftsman will cut the colour blocks, one block per colour present in the original painting. In other words, for a given area (or areas) on the original picture in a given colour, the engraver will make a woodblock where the only area left in relief corresponds to this or these areas. A single woodblock print may thus require up to thirty carved woodblocks, depending on the complexity of the artwork. To make sure that the different colours are properly aligned and do not overlap on the final print, the cutter made two incisions on each block, one in a corner and the other half way along one of the sides. These incisions are called kento. The third craftsman is the printer, and he is in charge of the last step: making the colour prints. The printer will place a mixture of pigments, water and glue on the woodblock. He spreads it evenly with a brush. He then places a sheet of paper, which will become the wood block print, onto the wood block. He makes sure the sheet is placed properly on the block thanks to the two kento. He will rub the sheet of paper with a stamp wrapped in bamboo leaves (the baren ); thus the paper will take up the colour properly. The printer will repeat the procedure with as many sheets of paper as he wants prints. He will then take the next block (and thus the next colour) and repeat the procedure just described , using the sheets of paper that he used for the first colour . The printer will start with the blocks for the lighter colours and end with the blocks for the darker ones. The tea ceremony is the most refined ritual with a long history full of connections to Buddhist ideals.The ceremony is a gift of giving to the guest with the tea appealing to the senses of taste, sight [colour of the tea and surrounding - view etc.],touch[utensils and cha bowls],hearing[serene surroundings with bird calls and tree leaves rustling for example]. Geisha serving tea are a true feast for the eyes as well as the palate with their beauty and grace so appreciation of tea with geisha is a very Japanese unique experience. Whether it is food and sake at odori,modern bars and bento boxes of stunning food, Japan has a long cultural tradition of celebrating the making and enjoying of food and drink, and providing this with others as an art form but also as something everyone can enjoy. The other tea house is the more elusive and exquisite tea house for the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, "cha no yu". History of tea drinking in Japan : In the year 805 after studying abroad in China, Buddhist monks Saicho and Kukai returned to Japan with young tea trees. Kukai (空海) / Kobo Daishi Dates: 774-835 Known after his death as Kobo Daishi, Kukai was the founder of Shingon-shu . In 804, Kukai traveled to China, where he studied under Hui-kuo. Kukai returned to Japan in 806, bearing religious texts from various faiths. He founded a monastery at Mt. Koya outside Kyoto, where he was buried upon his death, and which continues to be the headquarters for Shingon Buddhism to this day. In 1191 another Buddhist monk who had studied in China, Eisai, popularized the idea of drinking tea for good health. Around the same time, Japanese farmers began growing green tea in Uji. Sen no Rikyu The name of the founder of the Sen family, Sen no Rikyu (1522-91) is known not only in the world of chanoyu, but occupies an important place in the history of Japan. As tea master to Oda Nobunaga (1534-82) and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-98) he established himself as the foremost tea master in Japan, at the centre of Momoyama period culture. Chanoyu thus holds an important position in Japanese cultural tradition. Omotesenke, the main family transmitting the way of chanoyu, has preserved its traditions which have been inherited by the present 14th generation Iemoto Jimyosai Sosa. .~. Hisashi Yamada .~. Hisashi Yamada is a certified tea master 80 years of age. .~. Raku Kichizaemon XV .~. Raku Kichizaemon XV Born 1949, he is the current Raku tea bowl master. He lives in Kyoto to the west of the Imperial Palace. The studio where he makes and fires the tea bowls called "Raku-yaki ochawan ya" (Raku-ware workshop) is behind his residence. Raku XV Kichizaemon's tea bowls, like his predecessor's, embodies his own style of shapes and glazes. His work incorporates multipe glazes on bowls that vary greatly in shape and glaze decoration. Raku bowl by Kichizaemon XV Raku tea bowls originated in Japan in the late 16th Century. These small, austere and often irregular-shaped bowls were made for the purpose of drinking a powdered green tea during the Zen Buddhist tea ceremony. The tea ceremony was formulated during that time by the great Tea Master, Sen no Rikyu. Rikyu designed the tea ceremony, "cha no yu" to promote the contemplation of the beauty of simplicity, "wabi". The term "wabi-cha" is used to describe Rikyu's tea ceremony. "Chado", the way of tea, refers to the ritualistic aspects of the tea ceremony, from the "chashitsu" (tea room) to the use of special utensils and formal etiquette that requires years of study by tea masters. Thank you for joining my friends and I hope that you enjoyed a little wander in my tea house ~fi 0na~ ......................