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Japanese Tea Ceremony

A brief history of tea and 'Urasenke'
By the 16th century, the Way of Tea was popular among wealthy merchants. One such merchant was Sen Rikyu, the founder of Uransenke, a 400 plus year old school of the Way of Tea. The current grand master, Sen Soshitsu, is the 16th generation since the founder. His first son will be the 17th and the first son of the 17th will be the 18thgrand masterr. Urasenke is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. The U.S. head office is located in New York City. Formergrand masterr Dr. Sen Genshitsu travels around the world to spread his philosophy "Peacefulness from a bowl of Tea".

Thin Tea Demonstration
All the utensils were cleaned before they were brought into the tea room, but the hostess wipes the tea container and tea scoop with her silk napkin in front of the guests to symbolically demonstrate the care she took in cleaning these utensils and respect for them. She purifies and calms her mind at the same time.

The hostess asks guests to take sweets. After the tea is prepared and the bowl is placed, the guest carries the bowl back to her seat. She places the bowl between the second guest and herself. She says to the second guest: "Excuse me for drinking the tea before you," then to the hostess: "Thank you for the tea; I will now drink it." When the guest has finished drinking, she takes the tea bowl in her hands to enjoy its beauty. When the first guest lets the hostess know everyone has had enough tea, the hostess begins putting the utensils away.

Even though a tea gathering would be held by the same hostess and with the same utensils the feeling you have today is not the same feeling you have tomorrow. You cannevere relive today.
The guests carefully look at the utensils to appreciate their beauty. Utensils used in tea gatherings are in some cases many hundreds of years old, therefore they are handled with great care. No jewelry is worn in the tea room. This is done too minimize breakage or other damage to tea utensils.

Utensils
Mizusashi ( fresh-water container) Bamboo design, Karatsu yaki, Koetsu gama (kiln), made by Koetsu Takimoto

Usuki (powdered tea container) Kiku patten, Kinrin-ji, Hira (flat) natusme, made by Soetsu Nakamura

Chashaku (scoop) made by Tochikusai, Namino oto (the sound of wave), named by Kanshu (buddhist priest)

Chawan (tea bowl) Enso design, Karatsu yaki, Koetsu gama (kiln) made by Etsuhiro Takimoto