{"id":5785,"date":"2016-03-31T20:44:38","date_gmt":"2016-03-31T11:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/?p=5785"},"modified":"2016-03-31T20:44:38","modified_gmt":"2016-03-31T11:44:38","slug":"nicolle-bertozzi-chanoyu-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/blog\/2016\/03\/31\/nicolle-bertozzi-chanoyu-lessons","title":{"rendered":"Nicolle Bertozzi: Chanoyu Lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"

In addition to continuing my CIP at the Kubota Birendo sudare<\/em> shop this semester, I began studying the tea ceremony. Thanks in large part to everything the Kubotas taught me about the tea ceremony last semester, I decided that I wanted to learn more about the ceremony myself. In addition to researching chanoyu<\/em> as part of an Independent Study research project, taking lessons myself seemed like a natural next step. I was introduced to my tea teacher, Arai-sensei, through a colleague of my IS project advisor at the beginning of this semester, and have been taking weekly lessons ever since.<\/p>\n

In the world of chanoyu<\/em>, which is often seen as very rigid and uptight, Arai-sensei is known for being very relaxed. He makes room for casual conversation during his lessons and is always happy to answer questions from his students. As I have never taken tea lessons with anyone other than Arai-sensei, I cannot compare firsthand how his teaching style differs from those of, say, an Urasenke-certified teacher. I can say, however, that the environment of Arai-sensei\u2019s tearoom is very calm. Generally, there are two stations set up for students to practice their temae<\/em>, the choreographed motions one goes through when preparing a bowl of matcha<\/em> for one\u2019s guests. At the center of the tearoom, Arai-sensei sits seiza<\/em>, keeping a watchful eye on the students\u2019 temae<\/em>. While acting as the shokyaku<\/em>\u2014or main guest\u2014of the student\u2019s ceremony, he guides the student through the temae<\/em>, correcting errors and explaining each step along the way.<\/p>\n

One of the first things that caught my attention about Arai-sensei was how carefully he pays attention to each of his students\u2019 temae<\/em>; even when there are two students practicing at the same time, Arai-sensei always keeps track of exactly when the shokyaku <\/em>is supposed to bow during the course of each ceremony. Additionally, he can tell immediately when something in the temae<\/em> is out of order, even when that something is as easy to overlook as a cloth folded along the wrong seam.<\/p>\n

As opposed to the teaching style one often finds in America, in which students are divided into classes based on experience level, Arai-sensei\u2019s chanoyu<\/em> lessons are designed for students of all levels. At the same time that I would be struggling through the beginner\u2019s temae<\/em>, there might be a student practicing alongside me who had been taking lessons for years, for whom the motions of the temae<\/em> felt natural. Watching these students during their practice is considered a great learning opportunity for beginner students, so I was often invited to observe their temae<\/em> seated next to Arai-sensei. What surprised me, however, was that the opposite was true as well: Observing the temae<\/em> of a less experienced student is considered to be just as valuable. It is a chance to revisit the basics, when each movement of the temae<\/em> is still executed as a conscious effort. There is a term in Japanese\u2014shoshin<\/em>, or \u201cbeginner\u2019s heart\u201d\u2014that is believed to be an important part of any student\u2019s core practice. No matter how far one advances in their training, it is incredibly important to return occasionally to the beginning.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until I explained my tea lessons to the Kubotas that I came to understand how fundamental this philosophy of the\u00a0shoshin<\/em>\u00a0is in the Japanese traditional arts. A student of tea himself, Shinji Kubota nodded along knowingly as I told him about the other students observing my practice. \u201cIt really is a great way to learn,\u201d he said. \u201cYou notice so much about how the flow of the temae<\/em> works when you are watching someone learning it for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

My study of the tea ceremony this semester has proven to be an incredibly valuable experience. It has provided me with many insights into the world of tea, which has of course been central to my research project. More so than that, however, learning tea has connected me to a new community within Kyoto, a city where the art of chanoyu<\/em> continues to thrive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In addition to continuing my CIP at the Kubota Birendo sudare shop this semester, I began studying the tea cer … \u7d9a\u304d\u3092\u8aad\u3080 →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_locale":"ja","_original_post":"5785"},"categories":[124,8,37],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5785"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/311"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5785\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}