[Culture] ❤ Japan ❤ The Way of Tea

Japan has always been famous for its culture: for their dorama, anime, manga, jpop videos or songs, weird fashion, futuristic technology and overall a country that surpasses reality.

But aren´t we forgetting something? Japan still has its traditions and customs, not everything we see in the doramas, the manga or even the anime we watch are real about Japan. So today I am going to talk about one of their traditions. 

The Japanese Tea Ceremony.

The names in japanese for this Tea Ceremony are: Chanoyu, Chado or Sado and Ocha (which literally means Tea) and in it a host or hostess prepares and serves powered green tea (also called Matcha) to guests. This kind of ceremony requires great discipline and the host or hostess must master the procedures to prepare and serve the tea in the presence of guests, but not only that, they must, as well, learn to appreciate art, poetry, calligraphy, how to arrange flower,  cook and at the same time attend to other´s needs. Sure it is not an easy job. That´s what makes it so beautiful. 

The Way of Tea is made to emphasize the world around the participants,  meaning they need to focus their attention on nature and its surroundings: the sound of water or rain, the smell of the room, the light and glow of the charcoal fire, the beauty of the instruments utilized when preparing and serving the tea and the most important one: to not be distracted by mundane thoughts.  

Now here are some utensils (called Dōgu) used in The Way of Tea. 

Even the most basic Tea Ceremony needs these tools for a proper Tea ritual. 

This was a mere introduction, if you wish to learn more about the Japanese Tea Ceremony, head over to your browser and search for the Way of Tea.