Tea ceremony is one of Japanese traditional culture. It is called 茶道 (sado) in Japanese and is sometimes translated as “the way of tea” in English.
Sado has a lot of schools in Japan, but three of main schools are called “omote-senke” （表千家）, “Ura-senke”（裏千家）and “Mushanoko-ji-seke”（武者小路千家）respectively.
My school does not belong to any of them above. My school is called “Edo-senke”（江戸千家）, which Fufaku brought to Tokyo, Edo.
Styles of serving tea are also various. It depends on seasons, the numbers of guests, and the purposes to hold a tea ceremony. We sometimes have a big tea gathering in a large room, or we have a small gathering in a small room / or house (hut).
Now, I would like to introduce one of the tea gathering styles.
野点（Nodate)
no=outside, field
date= originally it comes from a verb 点てる(tateru)
In sado, we say ” Ochawo-tateru”, which means “making tea”
In English, Nodate is called “outside tea ceremony or gathering”
What does nodate look like?
Let’s read a catoon from Sazaesan.
(If you don’t know Sazaesan, Please visit this site.
The host spreads a red cotton carpet.
The host and guests are sitting on it and enjoy green tea.
But, as you see,
one of their guests is a big dog.
He is looking forward to a cup of macha. hahaha
The first guest is called “Sho-kyuaku”（正客・しょうきゃく）
The second guest is called “Jikyaku” （次客・じきゃく）
Sho-kyaku (the first guest) sits in the nearest place to the host.
IN this cartoon, the stray dog is the first guest!
Or, you don’t have to sit on the carpet.
In some gatherings, people use red benches rather than a red carpets.
Even a host does not sit down on the tatami-mat.
The style is called “Ryu-rei”, where the host makes tea on the table,
sitting on the chair. So, this is favorable for people
who don’t like or can’t sit on tatami mat.
When it comes to tea gathering, people tend to think it is
very formal and serious, but it depends on the situations.
You can enjoy macha with sweets
under the trees or sitting on the bench.
I hope many of you to have an interest in Japanese tea ceremony.
Thank you!
