Japanese Tea Ceremony : Japanese Culture And Tradition

I know want to go into more details about the Four Principles of Tea: Roji, Tsukubai, Nijiriguchi, and the Tokonoma. The Roji is the first thing that the guest will see. It is the garden that proceeds the Japanese Tea House. The purpose of the garden to have the guest walk through it and feel relaxed and ready for the tea ceremony. The second principle is Tsukubai. This is where the guests will wash their hands and purify themselves. This is a very significant part of the beginning parts of the ceremony. By purifying oneself, the guest is letting go of everything that they may be feeling and just focusing on the upcoming events. The third principle is the Nijiriguchi. In my opinion, this is the coolest part of the ceremony. When I saw this for the first time, I was amazed. The Nijiriguchi is a small crawling spot and it is the way guests get into the Chashitsu, or the spot where the ceremony takes place. Instead of just walking through a door like a normal room, you have to get on your knees and almost jump through the crawl space. This signifies the fact that no one person is better than another person. When you enter the tea ceremony, you leave your social status behind. No one person is higher on the social status during the tea ceremony. The Nijiriguchi accomplishes

Japanese Celebrations Organizational Pattern: Topical I. Introduction A. Attention Getter: The Japanese have a very unique and interesting culture. B. Statistic: 90% of Japanese people celebrate on New Year's Day. C. Thesis Statement: Like the United States, the Japanese celebrate various holidays with lavish festivities. D. Importance: As more and more Japanese people immigrate to the United States, knowledge of the Japanese culture becomes increasingly important and necessary.

Saberi, H. (2010). Tea Comes to the West. In Tea:A Global History. [Adobe Digital Editions Version]. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/

Tea: Tea began as a luxury drink, and then trickled down to become the beverage of the working man. The story of tea is the story of imperialism, industrialization, and world domination. According to Chinese tradition, the first cup of tea was brewed by the emperor Shen Nung. Before tea was a beverage, it was used for medicinal purposes and foodstuff. Tea became a daily drink in China around the third century A.D. As the Industrial Revolution of 18th and 19th centuries gained steam, tea provided some of the fuel. Factory workers stayed alert during long, monotonous shifts thanks to welcome tea breaks. The beverage also had unintended health benefits for rapidly growing urban areas. Chewing leaves and rubbing them on wounds were ways that tea was used for medicinal purposes.

The origins of tea are rooted in China (Food Timeline). According to legend, the beneficial properties of tea were first discovered by the Emperor Shen Nung in the year 2737 B.C. He drank only boiled water for hygienic purposes, and one day while he drank a breeze rustled the branches of a tree and a few leaves fell into his cup. Creating the first cup of tea. It is challenging to know whether or not the emperor was real or just a part of the spiritual and cultural development of ancient China. China was not unified as an empire until the third century, so it is unlikely emperors existed back then. One thing that is known is that tea was popular in China thousands of years ago. The first written reference of tea is in the third century B.C. A famous surgeon recommended the beverage to patients to increase concentration and alertness. Tea was first written as “tu” in ancient texts. This caused a good deal of confusion because the same Chinese character was used for both tea and Chinese sow thistles. Between 206 B.C. and A.D. 220 a Han Dynasty emperor ruled that when referring to tea, the characters should be pronounced as “cha”. From here on, tracing tea’s history became easier because tea acquired its own individual character (Food Timeline).

It also served as a food stuff, until it became a drink. According to Monks ( Buddhist) tea help with meditation, so it play an important part in Buddhism. Tea was used socially, people in both China and Japan, also in England would gather together for tea parties. While at these tea parties, people would have enjoy a cup of tea which helped the mind to stimulate intellectual conversations and debates. People drank a lot of tea because it help prevent waterborne disease. It served as a the main trade for China and Japan.

Tissot’s Japanese Vase perfectly exemplifies the effect of Japonisme on his style. The painting displays a Japanese woman surrounded by Japanese elements which give the impression of a painting that was produced in Japan from a native artist. The painting

Tea, known to Asia as a luxury used for medicinal purposes, became a way of life for Europeans. It served as a huge asset towards the growth of Europe and Britain’s status as a world power.

Tea, as a popular commodity good in late-Ming China, experienced the farming in tea plantations, picking through tea farmer’s hands, stir-frying in tea manufacturers’ houses, and then was bought and delivered by licensed merchants through the trade routes to tea markets. After it was sold, tea finally arrived at its destination, the places where tea would be consumed. Two types of space were mostly used by tea drinkers to enjoy their pleasure of tasting tea: tea houses (茶馆) and tea huts (茶寮). The tea house, which was originated in the Southern Song Dynasty and served for tea-drinkers from various backgrounds, continued developing in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in urban areas; however, tea connoisseurs became more and more interested

He became very animated at this point in his descriptions saying “At this point the practice of tea drinking was very elegant and a beautiful ritual to behold. It was a social custom in which certain hospitality, preparation, and serving rules had to be applied to maintain the culture.” John was especially interested in the innovations made during this tea time. He goes on to discuss how the emperor now controlled all aspects of tea cultivation and production, establishing new systems of grading leaf tea and even determining quality of the tea.” He told us tales of how only select members of a chosen class were allowed to drink certain teas, with the precious "tribute grade" teas from revered mountains reserved exclusively for the

The novel Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata exposes the emerging movement from tradition to westernization in post-war Japan. Kawabata enriches his novel with a variety of intricate relationships between children and their parents, exposing how loss of tradition begins at home. Ironically, Kawabata then depicts how even teachers of tradition manipulate it with their hate and jealousy to achieve their sinister motives, tainting the new generation’s knowledge of tradition and thus moving them away from it. The movement away from tradition allows the new generation to easily recognize and be influenced by the westernization during post-war Japan. Through parents, Chikako’s poison, and the new generation; Kawabata explores the decaying tradition of the tea ceremony, successfully exposing the shift from tradition to westernization in post-war Japan.

One of the most significant national holidays in Japan is the Coming of Age, this takes place on January fifteenth. This day represents the start of adulthood for every individual celebrating a twentieth birthday that year. With the title of adulthood comes a list of new responsibilities and expectations to uphold. The individuals turning twenty now have the freedom to drink, vote and become an official member of society. The new members of adulthood are required to attend a monthly meeting which takes place in their particular community. The purpose of the meetings are to inform the new adults of their responsibilities, they are told that they are now responsible for their actions and their actions will now reflect upon their communities. In addition, on May first, every company in Japan help a ceremony for new members joining their team. This was made into a huge celebration because it was essentially a lifelong commitment. In Japan, a fundamental rule is that people are not laid off unless an extreme circumstance takes place. One of the most important holidays occurs on September twenty-eighth: Confucius birthday also known as ‘Teacher’s Day.’ This is a celebration that occurs to celebrate Confucius life and all of his achievements. Holidays are a large part of the Japanese

Imperial pageants, such as the Meiji Constitution’s Promulgation ceremony and the emperor’s 25th wedding anniversary began in 1889 (Fujitani 207), contributed to the sense of membership in Japan. Transportation and media were necessary to keep citizens informed on events without being in Kyoto or Tokyo (ibid). These technological advances created a “sense of national simultaneity” (Fujitani 202) throughout the nation and was a somewhat sufficient way to have the citizens believe in the new traditions of the Meiji era (Fujitani 202-203). For those that did not live in major cities like Kyoto and Tokyo, where these extravagant events took place, ceremonies and festivals had been created to celebrate the imperial events (Fujitani 207). These festivities

Knowing Chinese tea culture thoroughly is a wise way for people to explore the Chinese society and culture. As a traditional drink, it has been planted and consumed for over five thousands years. The climate of China is perfect for growing tea, which leads to large quantities and good quality of tea. According to the line diagram, “Dynamics of manufacture of tea in China, thousand tons” there were about 1,200 thousands tons of tea manufactured in 2008, which made China the biggest tea manufacture country in the world. As we can see, tea has a special position in Chinese society. Due to its popularity, Chinese tea gradually raises international interest, and leads China to be a more influential country in the

Attention getter: In the East tea has always been looked at as playing a major role in having good health, happiness, and wisdom, and it has now begun to gain more attention from researchers here in the West.