Etiquette for eating the sweet

 

The host offers a sweet before serving the tea. When the sweet is served the guest can lighten the atmosphere of the room by enquiring about what scene from nature etc. the sweet represents or the characteristic of that particular type of sweet. The host may respond with something like “This sweet is one that I acquired from such and such a place especially for today’s gathering. It is one of my favoured sweets and I hope you like it, too…” With this simple but heartfelt exchange, the sweet takes on a much greater significance and becomes a truly wonderful treat for the guest. Just the right degree of sweetness will be left in left in the mouth when drinking the tea and thus the drinking experience heightened if the guest enjoys the sweet around the point when the host takes the chashaku to scoop the tea in to the tea bowl.

 

Guest etiquette at the time of eating the sweet:

 

• If there is a guest next to you, first excuse yourself for going ahead of them by saying “o-saki ni” (excuse me for going ahead of you). Then say “o-kashi wo chōdai itashimasu” (thank you for the sweet / allow me to partake of the sweet) to the host and raise the sweet plate;
• Hold the sweet plate with your right hand as the main hand with your left hand lightly supporting. Raise the sweet plate about fifteen centimeters of the tatami while lowering your head in a gentle bow. This gesture is an expression of thanks to the gods and buddhas;
• Place the sweet plate back down in front of you and place a piece of hanshi paper folder into quatrters in front of your knees. Hanshi has been used as sweet paper since the Kamakura period (1336-1573) and the Ueda Sōko Ryū continues this tradition today. One can use the same hanshi commonly used for calligraphy folded into fourths;
• Take the chopticks provided with the sweet plate with your right hand and while supporting the sweet plate with your left hand take a sweet starting from the sweet furthest to the right-bottom of the sweet plate. Place the sweet in the center of the paper. Wipe the chopsticks by folding the top fold of the paper over into a small triangle and return the chopsticks to the sweet plate;
• Forward the sweet plate down to the next guest and bow to them; and
• Pick up the sweet together with the paper and cut in half with the wooden kuromoji utensil. Eat the sweet with your hand and wipe your hand on the paper after you have finished.

 

Etiquette for drinking tea

The practice of drinking tea in the form of matcha, that is, grinding tea into powder, adding hot water, whisking until foam forms and then drinking the beverage, was brought from China (Southern Sung) around 800 years ago in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) by Eisai, the monk responsible for bringing Zen (Rinzai zen) to Japan.

At first macha raced to popularity as an effective medicine to restore health. It found its way into regular use and the counter word for medicine in Japanese, “puku”, used for counting tea, e.g. “o-cha o ip-puku” (one cup of tea) is a vestige of the original medicinal use of macha.

Black and green teas are made from the same tea leaf as macha. But only the infused tea liquor is drunk in their case whereas with macha, the whole leaf is made into a powder and ingested as the tea. As the whole leaf is ingested, macha is much richer in many hard to obtain nutrients such as calcium, iron and phosphorus on top of it being a rich source of vitamins. It also has anti-cancer effects. By all means, try drinking macha and reap the health benefits.

 

The following is the etiquette for drinking matcha:

 

• After the host (teishu) prepares the tea, the guest takes the chawan (tea bowl) and places it before them.
• Bow to the next person waiting for tea while saying “o-saki ni” (excuse me for going ahead of you). Then say “chōdai itashimasu” (thank you for the tea) to the host.
• All chawans have a front, called the shōmen. You can identify the front by looking for the part with a picture, variation in shape, variation in colour of the glaze, or if the chawan looks the same all around, the front is the part that is presented to the guest by the host.
• Take the tea bowl in your right hand and rest it atop of the palm of your left hand. Raise the tea bowl with both hands to a height just above eye-level and bow. This action expresses gratitude towards the buddhas and gods.
• Lower the chawan to a height above your lap and turn the front of the chawan a little to the left (clockwise). This is to show humility by not partaking tea from the front, or best part, of the chawan.
• Partake the tea at a leisurely pace in three mouthfuls. The most beautiful posture when partaking tea is to remain sitting upright while bringing the chawan to your mouth with your arms.
• After the first mouthful the host will ask “o-fuku kagen ikaga desu ka” (How is the tea?). After being asked, hold the chawan in your left hand while resting it on your left thigh and reply “kekkō desu” (It’s very nice).
• After drinking the tea you view the chawan, so ensure you drink the tea clean with the last mouthful. It is best if you lessen any noise while drinking.
• After drinking, wipe the part of the rim from which you drank with your thumb and index finger. Then wipe a second time with your little finger. The direction is from left to right both times.
• As you turned the chawan a little to the left before drinking, return the chawan so the front is facing you (turn anti-clockwise).
• View the chawan. The chawan is a treasured item of the host, so when viewing, stabalise your hold of the chawan by resting both elbows atop your thighs and view the chawan at a low height just in front of your knees. Now is a good time to promote conversation by asking questions such as “What type of chawan is this?” and “From what maker does this chawan come?”
• Return the chawan to the host by turning it clockwise twice, so that the front faces the host.
• The host takes the chawan, places it before them and says “O-nomi nikū gozaimashita” (I hope the tea was not too displeasing).
• The guest replies “Kekkō ni chōdai itashimashita” (I enjoyed it very much).

 

Almost 400 years ago, the founder of the Ueda School, Ueda Sōko wrote the following brief and easy to understand explanation of tea drinking etiquette: “First take the chawan and raise it, showing your respect to the chawan by bowing. Then lower the chawan and look at the colour of the tea. Bring the chawan to your mouth, but don’t drink the tea straight away. Take a moment to inhale the steam. Drink the tea in three mouthfuls. Wipe the part of the rim from which you drank with your fingers.”

 

Until you learn the full etiquette I think it is fine if you follow the brief version Sōko outlines. Actually, the points about inhaling the steam and drinking slowly are very important as by doing this you find a calm state of mind.

 

After rising each morning I partake macha. I raise the chawan to my mouth and inhale the steam through my nose. I find this very revitalizing. Steam is the living energy of hot water. It rises and evaporates in an instant. It is therefore the living energy of ‘now’. When partaking macha, you also partake this energy.