My CIP was the practice of Urasenke-style Tea Ceremony. I selected\u00a0tea ceremony because the concentration of my study is Japanese history. A very\u00a0important aspect of this history, particular the warring states and Edo periods, is tea\u00a0ceremony. Tea ceremony holds a place, not just in understanding the Samurai class,\u00a0but also understanding a uniquely Japanese aesthetic. Many of my favorite subjects\u00a0of historical study, such as Ii Naosuke, were avid practitioners of the tea ceremony\u00a0and in order to gain a better understand of that history, I have decided to jump in head\u00a0first. The school is conveniently located several blocks from the Imadegawa subway\u00a0stop and can be reached after a brisk five-minute walk beginning from the main gates\u00a0of the Doshisha campus. The classes are taught in a very old machiya with three\u00a0traditional tatami mat rooms and a small kitchen nestled in the back. The first room is\u00a0where people leave the belongings while they are in class. They then walk to the back\u00a0room and take up seats on the edges of the room. Sensei sits at the front of the room,\u00a0in seiza, facing all of her students, who are also expected to sit in seiza. There were\u00a0two tea-making stations in this room. Two different set-ups where advanced students\u00a0would come into the room, lay down their materials, heat the water, and make the tea\u00a0under the watchful eye of sensei.<\/p>\n
I attended class twice per month and each session was two hours long.\u00a0For the first 30 minutes I would sit in the back room, watching while the advanced\u00a0students practiced their art. Sensei would choose one of these advanced students\u00a0to serve me a round of tea and sweets. Then, I would go to one of the other tatami\u00a0mat rooms with an advanced student who would serve as my assistant teacher and\u00a0show me the basics of Sado. Thus far, I have learned how to enter the tea room,\u00a0how to open and close the door, how to walk to my place, how to sit down and stand\u00a0up, how to fold a cloth, and how to use that cloth to clean a tea caddy. This session\u00a0takes up the remaining hour and a half of the time. In the future I hope I will get to\u00a0demonstrate some of these skills for sensei. Before leaving, I am treated to a more\u00a0informal round of tea and sweets in the front room, where I practice. Sometimes,\u00a0when there are too many students for the advanced students to serve, someone will go\u00a0to the kitchen and make tea with a water heater. Finally, we have been taught how to\u00a0clean tea cups after an informal tea service.<\/p>\n
I have really enjoyed my time practicing Sado. As an art, Sado is possessed of a\u00a0cavernous depth that cannot properly be explored in the time I have. For me, Sado\u00a0has served as a source of relaxation and focus. Making slow, methodical, precise\u00a0movements and cementing them in my muscle memory is time consuming, and\u00a0sometimes frustrating, but each small success is rewarding. It is difficult to retain\u00a0some of the learned processes, however, because I only attend twice a month. The\u00a0tea class I attend is so popular that sensei\u2019s schedule only had room for two more\u00a0monthly sessions. As unfortunate as this is, I feel grateful to have spent as much time\u00a0there as I did. Sensei and all of her assistants are extraordinarily hospitable and kind.<\/p>\n
They have accommodated my bumbling gaijin ways and limited Japanese ability at\u00a0every turn and provided an excellent environment in which to learn and grow. Not\u00a0only have I been able to improve my Japanese vocabulary and make new friends, I\u2019ve\u00a0been able to immerse myself in a crucially important piece of Japanese culture and\u00a0better understand its place in Japanese history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My CIP was the practice of Urasenke-style Tea Ceremony. I selected\u00a0tea ceremony because the concentration of m … \u7d9a\u304d\u3092\u8aad\u3080