Pure Kindness

Growing Up Surrounded by Tea Culture

How long have you been studying the tea ceremony? 

I’m now 33 and started learning the tea ceremony at the age of 17, but witnessed my first tea ceremony when I was five years old. My family house, where I grew up, has three tea rooms. The first and second ones were made by my great-grandfather and my grandfather in the 1950s. The third one was made by my father in 2020. He transformed our garden shed into a tea room. As you can imagine, there are less and less places for us to live. [laughs] These three men were fascinated by the tea ceremony and have held a tea ceremony in the house every three months from the 1960s until now. 

From being only five years old, because I live within the same building, I often heard these tea ceremonies from another room. 

That must have impressed you as a child. 

It did. I remember that the little dark tea room was full of people wearing traditional Japanese clothes and kneeling on the tatami floor and, suddenly, all bowing to something, without any signal. That was a mystery to me. You know, when I was five years old, the whole event was not only mysterious, but very strange.

Evolving Tradition to Suit Modern Life

I remember you told me that not many of your friends or people of your generation seemed to be interested in studying the tea ceremony. Do you have the opportunity to discuss this with your contemporaries? If so, do you think they are interested? 

Yes. The people in my generation in Japan are interested in the tea ceremony, but not enough to start studying it. For example, when I say I am running the tea ceremony, they always reply, “It’s so nice. The tea ceremony sounds very interesting to me” and also many Japanese people who have lived abroad and have come back to Japan have been given new insight into their own Japanese culture. These people who want to learn about the tea ceremony can find tea ceremony lessons advertised in magazines or on the Internet. 

So, it’s easy to find a place to study it? 

Yes, but I think even if they have a strong opportunity to start to learn the ceremony, they may not do so. Why? Because they know that learning the process is so long and is very different to their modern lifestyles. The significant gap in lifestyle is a big problem for our Japanese classic culture. I worry that our younger generation is losing the chance to encounter our culture. 

As lifestyles change, I believe the tea ceremony can evolve to better suit our modern life. As a simple but practical example, one recent innovation is doing the tea ceremony on a table, instead of kneeling on the floor. 

This is not for convenience, but to better blend tradition with our modern lifestyles. After learning and understanding tradition, it is important to think about what we can do now. 

Something Like Love

How does your interest in and practice of the tea ceremony affect your daily life? 

I would like to talk about what I have noticed after 20 years of doing the tea ceremony. 

Last month, my tea teacher held a tea ceremony in a Japanese restaurant. During the event, I helped her by carrying sweets and the tea bowl. She had been preparing this ceremony for many months, thinking about what kind of sweets would be appreciated, what new discoveries could be made, what wisdom could be included. She considered everything, including the smallest details to please the guest. 

I felt that my tea teacher, who is well-versed in the tea ceremony, possesses something akin to pure kindness. The ceremony is not a service for money, nor is it done for any reward. It might even be called something like love [laughs] – 

But it comes from our emotion, which I do not possess yet. I realize that I have been seeking this kind of heart for the tea ceremony. By participating as a helper, I experienced what it feels like to have that heart. Perhaps some people invited to the tea ceremony might feel it too, wondering how someone could go to such lengths for just one day. 

That’s fascinating. Thank you. 

Learning from the Past to Understand the Present

More broadly, do you find that this experience helps you find meaning in your personal life? Has it taught you any values? 

Yes. Before learning about the tea ceremony, I thought such cultural items as Japanese antiques and ceremonies have nothing to do with me and that history was just a subject at school for me. 

By using a 400-year-old tea bowl, an ancient hanging scroll, a 200-year-old tea caddy, and a 300-year-old iron kettle has affected me deeply and has made me feel closer to Japanese culture. Therefore, I feel that 200 or 300 years is not so distant from me. 

I now deeply understand and appreciate my country’s culture. This is a benefit to me, to be directly connected to my country’s history by leaving the noisy, exciting present in Tokyo. 

I like the old Japanese proverb, “Learning from the past to understand the present.” To understand the present, I am running the tea ceremony. It has influenced the way I think about my country, in general, and its beautiful art and culture, in particular. It has made me happier. 

You asked about has it taught me any values. The answer is simple: Yes. 

To give you one specific value, enjoying the change of seasons has been one of the most important pleasures for me. I think the ancient Japanese people would also have had this feeling, especially in the world of the tea ceremony. The tea master particularly focuses on the change of seasons occurring in living things around us. The tea master enjoys using the utensils that feature presentation of creatures or plants that are appropriate for the season. Also, enjoying the change of seasons helps me in my daily life. 

For example, when something goes wrong, I can look outside for a moment and see that the trees and flowers in the street or in the garden have grown big and bloomed. This makes me feel that the things I’m worried about are smaller compared to nature and it helps me to calm down. This ancient wisdom still works for me. 

Harmony Between Humans and Nature

That’s so interesting and such a positive message. Would you say that your involvement with the tea ceremony has evolved since your first experience as a young woman? 

Yes. I gradually got used to how to behave in the tea ceremony, such as walking wearing a kimono, drinking and eating on tatami floor, and the almost spiritual atmosphere in the room. 

When I started learning the ceremony, I found it strange that the person making the tea would face a wall in the corner of the room, instead of facing us. He or she would perform actions without any words and would move very slowly and carefully. Everyone else seems to know what was happening, except me. [laughs] However, I learned that these actions come from Shinto, expressing respect for other people and nature. Gradually, I understood it and got used to it. Even now, I feel a spiritual atmosphere in the tea room, but it has transformed from a tense space to one where I could relax.

Now, I can feel around me the harmony with both humans and nature, even if my legs are numb [laughs], and I started to notice the nonverbal messages from the tea master that I might have overlooked before. These messages are to be found in the tea utensils, the hanging scrolls, etc. 

In the first place, each tea ceremony generally has a major theme. You can decide any theme you like. Sometimes, the theme is one of the four seasons I mentioned earlier or it could be a specific year. Other times, the theme might be a universal tea teaching expressed through a Zen phrase or poetry, or it could be a celebration for summer. 

Following these themes, you can use the tea utensils, which convey non-verbal messages. This is why the tea ceremony is not just a legacy, but our living culture. This is not repetition of the past, but sending timely messages using both old and new utensils. As a craftsperson, I need to create tea utensils that can act as a medium for someone who wants to convey messages through the tea ceremony. Therefore, I think it is necessary to create new things, even in modern times. 

That’s fascinating. 

Creating a Ceremony to Suit Our Times

The tea ceremony is fascinating because it has so many facets, so many layers, some of which our listeners may not be aware of. Beyond the formal serving of tea and the multiple art forms that are present in the tea room, there is a crucial social aspect which I would like to delve into with you today. For example, I know your parents are also keen practitioners and, in fact, the culture of tea plays an important role in your family’s heritage, doesn’t it? 

Can you tell us how it is intertwined with the business and also the relationships that have been built over time with the patrons and clients of your family? 

Sure. My father had an encounter with Hiyashiya Seizo, who was a leading researcher in tea bowls and Deputy Director of the Tokyo National Museum. I have met him many times and I’m grateful that I was able to talk with him. He always considered the current tea ceremony from a higher perspective and has strictly instructed tea masters and craftspeople, including my father and my family. He said that the tea master needs to create a tea ceremony that suits current times and also that craftspeople need to create tea utensils that suit the current times too. 

That’s a strong message, very clear. 

Yes. The relationship between tea masters and the craftspeople is as members of a team creating the same culture. 

Mm. So, it’s a significant connection. 

As I said before, my family studio held a tea ceremony once every three months in our house, the same ceremony as a modern tea ceremony, as advocated by Professor Hiyashiya. So, for me, the modern tea ceremony means using contemporary utensils made by modern artists. Instead of just copies of antiques, we use utensils that represent our own era. In fact, the tea ceremony has freedom in the utensils used, but it requires sensibility and empathy from the master. I think there is a tendency to prefer natural materials that convey a traditional essence. This is because the tea masters favor such items and we do not want to abandon the preferences and trends that have flowed through the tea ceremony up to now. 

The modern tea ceremony has no precedent, so it is always changing. Professor Hiyashiya said the modern tea ceremony questions the present. We believe that it is meaningful to offer the modern tea ceremony, and our customers understand this and happily agree with it. 

“I Have Already Forgiven You.”

You once told me a very interesting story about your grandfather and I was wondering if you could share it with our listeners today. 

Yes. This is a 50-year-old story about a tea master, my grandfather, and my father. My tea master and grandfather had a good relationship at that time. My grandfather was invited to a wedding party by the tea master, but he forgot and missed joining the party. The master became angry. Unfortunately, my grandfather failed to apologize. [laughs] 

My father saw what happened and he decided to apologize by himself, so he called the tea master and went to meet him at his house. My father was thinking the tea master would still be angry and needed to explain his father’s excuse. My father went to his house and was invited into the tea room and, surprisingly, he saw that all the utensils were set out for a tea ceremony. 

So, there was also an old hanging scroll in the room. The words on the scroll meant, “I have already forgiven you.”

That must have been so moving for him. 

Yes, that’s right. This was my father’s first experience of nonverbal communication in the tea ceremony. 

I think we can understand through this story that the tea ceremony, in essence, is a heart-to-heart communication between the guest and the host. That was a very good example with your father, clearly.

Even in the case of a nonverbal exchange, such as the one you recounted, a meaningful message can be passed on and an emotionally charged message. 

Yes. I agree. 

The First Female Craftsperson in My Family

As part of this conversation, I would very much like to talk about your work. I already said that you are learning your craft with your father, who is a third generation lacquer craftmaster as well as a seventh generation wood craftmaster. He studied with Murase Jihei third and seventh, therefore. At what age did you start training with him? Can you tell us if you’re learning both urushi, Japanese lacquer, as well as wood turning with him? 

Yeah, I started working with my father when I was 24. I began turning wood and applying lacquer after I graduated from art college. This is my ninth year working happily with my father. I am the first female craftsperson in my family business. 

No one ever told me I had to carry on this work. I chose it myself because I have always had a deep interest in the tea ceremony. At this moment, our family studio has five people working with wood and in our studio we are engaged in making the whole process. 

First, we buy the wood from a wood store. Then, we cut the wood into different sizes, depending on the final finished product. We then put the wood for drying in our stock room for a long time, depending on the type of wood. Some pieces are stored for as long as 50 years. 

When the wood is sufficiently dry and stable, my father starts to carve shapes as bowls and tea caddies. Then, I paint the wooden bowls and tea caddies many times with urushi, the sap of urushi trees. Finally, the works are ready to use. 

Craft Will Always Continue to Evolve

How do you see your future in the family business? 

I know that the handmade process is decreasing as mass production is also increasing, but I believe that handmade processes are continuing to be used in the culture. So as long as the culture of the tea ceremony continues, our craft will always continue to evolve. 

So, if possible, I would like to continue as the eighth generation woodworker and the fourth generation lacquer worker. I have a great respect for our history and culture and I really want to play a valuable part in it. I believe I can achieve that goal by not only the work I am doing now, but also my future work. 

Rei-san, what do you think you bring from the tea ceremony into your work as a lacquer artist? 

Recently, I have felt that Japanese are unconsciously influenced by the tea ceremony, even if they do not study it. 

This is something I noticed when I was talking to people overseas. It is the difference in the approach to our craft. In Japan, when we say craft, many people imagine something that is of a very high quality, functional, and beautiful because it is based on the tea ceremony. Naturally, they feel that the artist’s thoughts are there in the craft work and choose to buy it, even if it is expensive. 

I want to live my life cherishing this unique sense of Japan and I am grateful to my ancestors who passed high quality crafts using natural materials. I strongly feel that I want to discover the value of the tea ceremony in modern times and that the things I make can be part of it.

A Touch of Love

Rei-San, to close this interview, I would like to invite you to share a thought with our listeners. Maybe you could suggest a simple practice, something they could try at home the next time they have a cup of coffee or tea. 

My recommendation is to use your favorite cup when drinking tea or coffee. It doesn’t matter if it’s cheap or expensive. It’s good to have something that has memories or a design that you like. 

By consciously enjoying the pleasure of the cup and the warmth transmitted through your hand, you can make the experience even more delicious and special. Remember, there is an idea from two people, a monk from Kyoto and my tea teacher. They taught me, when making tea, to cast a little spell [laughs] Wishing for the tea to become delicious. 

A touch of love is the magic spice, they said, and I believe in that. 

The magic spice. I love that. 

Thank you so much, Rei-San, for sharing all those stories and insights with us.