Theory of Art Creation 9 "How to Drink Matcha"
When it comes to drinking matcha, the first thing that comes up in discussion is etiquette, followed by how to prepare the tea. However, I don't think either of these are particularly important, and it's true that in tea ceremony lessons, each school teaches its own most appropriate etiquette, and there are also methods of preparing the tea that follow each school. So, what is the true meaning of the way to drink matcha ? Isn't it the "mawashi-nomi" (passing around the cup)?
Etiquette and taste are secondary. If you are with someone, I think the most important element of drinking matcha lies in sharing the same cup and drinking from it.
Some people may think that there is no special matcha bowl for this "mawashi-nomi" (traditional Japanese drinking). Matcha can be served in any container that does not leak, such as a coffee cup or a flat plate. First of all, I would like to challenge myself to just try mawashi-nomi (traditional Japanese drinking) with someone , ignoring the element of form.
Sharing matcha tea is a strange way of drinking. For Japanese people, who are not normally used to sharing the same drink with others, there is a sense of resistance to sharing the same bowl with a stranger. Before thinking about why we drink from a bowl, let's consider why we feel this resistance. Japanese people are particularly fastidious about the bowls we put our mouths on. When we hold a bowl in our hands, we try to avoid putting our fingers on the edge as much as possible. Putting our fingers on the inside of a bowl or rice bowl is considered extremely bad manners.
Anything that we put our lips on directly, such as a teacup, belongs to an individual. In the past, every household would have a designated teacup for the father and a designated teacup for the mother. Even at the workplace, it seems that each person has their own designated teacup. The area of the lips is an area where strong individualism is maintained, even between parents and children or siblings, and no one should share the same area. If that is the case, what will happen if someone forcibly steps into the area of the lips that others should not step into? The first reaction is, of course, refusal. However, once it is accepted, it becomes a state where you are no longer strangers to each other. Conversely, sharing the area of the lips is a ritual that makes you no longer strangers. A typical example would be a wedding. The bride and groom share 339 cups of sake to seal their marriage. There is meaning in openly exchanging the same cup while their relatives and acquaintances watch. This custom of passing sake around and drinking it is not only seen in Japan, but is widespread all over the world.
The ritual of passing around and drinking from the same vessel was an essential ritual in both the East and the West for forging firm covenants and forming relationships of one mind and body. This ritual is called communal eating and drinking. There is no need to repeat how strongly the act of eating and drinking together from the same vessel bonds people together. This custom can be found all over the world, and in Japan, where lip taboos are particularly strong, the tea ceremony, which adopted the passing around of matcha tea, could be said to be a culture that refined the ritual of communal eating and drinking to the highest degree .
According to tea books from the Edo period, the mawashi-nomi method was invented by Sen no Rikyu . The method of brewing thick tea was complicated, and brewing each cup one by one would have taken too much time. So he tried to simplify it by brewing mawashi-nomi. The method of brewing each cup one by one was called kakubuku-tette in the language of the time, and mawashi-nomi was called kyucha.
The first time the term "sukicha" appears in the Chakaiki is in 1586 (Tensho 14). At this time, Sen no Rikyu was already in his later years. This term appears frequently in the Chakaiki. In fact, Rikyu's tea ceremonies tended to favor the "mawashi-nomi" style. Two years later, on September 4, 1586, the tea ceremony was conducted by the Zen monk Kokei Sochin, who had been asked to investigate by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Kokei was the Zen monk Rikyu trusted the most. Hideyoshi had banished Kokei from Kyoto. Rikyu boldly invited Kokei to his residence in Jurakudai, Hideyoshi's hometown, and held a farewell tea ceremony. Moreover, the hanging scroll in the tokonoma alcove is the calligraphy of the famous Ikushima Kyodo, commonly known as Kyodo Chigu. This Ikushima Kyodo is not Rikyu's calligraphy, but a famous possession of his lord Hideyoshi. Rikyu was simply entrusted with the care of the scroll, having been ordered by Hideyoshi to repair the mounting. "Ue ni wa ninmitsu no gi" (a secret ritual above), in other words, it was kept secret from Hideyoshi and used for the farewell tea ceremony for Kokei. If this had been revealed, there was no telling what kind of crime he would have been charged with, but Rikyu had this kind of boldness. (It's interesting that Hideyoshi didn't find out, and we only found out about 500 years later.)
The guest of honor at the tea ceremony was Shun'oku Soen, a senior of Kokei. The second guest was Kokei, and the last guest was Honkakubo of Miidera. When Rikyu prepared the tea for the first guest, Shun'oku, he used three scoops of tea with the tea scoop and less hot water. This is how to prepare thick tea. The Record of the Tea Ceremony records that he then poured five scoops of tea into the tea scoop to make it a "sukicha" (thick tea). From a modern perspective, five scoops for two may seem a little low, but as it is "sukicha" (thick tea), it is definitely a "mawashi-numi" (round-table drinking). To show respect to the first guest, Shun'oku Soen, each person was given a standing apron, while the second and subsequent guests drank in a round-table style. As can be seen from this anecdote, it is true that Rikyu himself established the "mawashi-numi" (round-table drinking) style as a tea ceremony, but it is a mistake to interpret it as having been a "mawashi-numi" (round-table drinking) style to save time.
(Drinking matcha from a homemade Raku tea bowl is also a good idea.)
First of all, the main focus of this paper is not to save time by passing around matcha tea, but to make a pact and deepen intimacy by sharing a bowl of tea . It is certain that this practice of passing around became common during Rikyu's time and was established as a tea ceremony etiquette by Rikyu. Already in the "Matsuya-kaiki," a tea ceremony held by Matsunaga Hisahide in 1563, all the participants are passing around the tea ceremony. From this example, it seems that passing around the tea ceremony originated from the samurai and folk ways of drinking sake. When the common people of the Middle Ages decided rules among themselves, they would make a vow to God, burn the oath paper, dissolve the ashes in water, and everyone would pass it around and drink it. They were all one and the same. There are many similar things in sake ceremonies. In other words, the practice of passing around the tea ceremony, which was rooted in the lives of people in the Middle Ages, was adopted by the tea ceremony created by the same people in the Middle Ages, and was established as a tea ceremony etiquette. At that time, for Sengoku samurai who felt uneasy about drinking tea that was not poisonous, it would have been more convenient for both host and guest to share a single bowl of tea.
The tea ceremony etiquette established by Rikyu was too much like the Warring States period. However, in modern times, we want to make drinking matcha from a passing hand the correct practice, while eliminating resistance from the lips.
Sharing and drinking matcha tea seems to me to be an extension of relationships with others rather than a shortening of time.
(This is a cup I bought on impulse at ARTS&SCIENCE Aoyama. It's fun to pass around a small cup and drink from it.)