Hatsumoude

"Hatsumoude" is New Year's visit to shrines. According to some authorities, it has began since Meiji Era only one years ago by a train company's campaign. Right way to pray, bow twice, clap twice, then bow once, was defined by the shrine association in 1948. It isn't classical tradition.

70s' cultic UFO trends in Japan

I didn't have any leisure this GW. I got some UFO books published in 1970s at an annual secondhand book fair near by. Yukio Mishima's UFO story "Beautiful Star" was made into a movie and will be released soon. The 70s' cultic UFO trends is as interesting as the novel.

Tea and Blood

Many people enjoy the Japanese Tea Ceremony, which is Japanese traditional way of tea started in the 15 century. It has a strict way for preparing and tasting tea, so it might be looked like a kind of ritual. It is one of reasons why they take the strict way that they practice it as like a sport, so they learn how to control their behavior, take concentration, or make beauty of their movement through it. They not only enjoy practicing the way of tea but also love artistic tea utensils and many variety of things, for example scroll picture, follower setting, the form of tea room and Japanese garden. They love talking about what are made careful selection of in the tea ceremony, and someone make them by themselves. Therefore, the Japanese tea ceremony is a kind of culture. This culture has been learned, followed and improved for a long time in Japan.

The other day, I explained this culture to my English teacher. I had difficulty for it, because she was a Filipina who teach me English from Cebu through the Internet. This lesson used the real-time online video chat, so we could have talk interactively. I told her about the tea ceremony in English, and if she had some questions, I answered them there and then.

When I finished my explanation, I asked her if there is a similar culture of the Japanese tea ceremony in the Philippines. She had a few seconds for thinking, and said that it resembled a "blood compact". I asked her what was a blood compact. She told it was a kind of ritual for unity of citizens in the fight against something. They drink their blood each other as a ritual.

At first, I thought that it didn't resemble the Japanese tea ceremony at all, because I thought the blood compact was very eccentric and barbaric, but the tea ceremony was neat and elegant. However, in a while, I changed the mind and figured out that she was right.

The culture of Japanese tea ceremony began at 15 century. Actually, there was a lot of provincial war in Japan at this period, so to say the age of civil wars. Despite many battles, some shoguns like practicing the tea ceremony, building the their own unique tea room and collecting favorite goods for it. The most powerful shogun, Hideyoshi Toyotomi hired a person who was a famous tea ceremony master. His name was Sen-no Rikyu. He established the form of the tea ceremony, as we modern people know it.

Shoguns had some reasons to do the tea ceremony. It was not only enjoyable for them but also it was a kind of their status symbol, and useful for practicing keeping their cool and concentration. Additionally, I think that it was like a tool for improving human relationship. They must have invited their fellows or the person who might become enemies in the future. They tried to develop their mutual understanding through drinking tea in spite of blood. Traditional tea room have Nijiri-guchi and Katana-kake. Nijiri-guchi is a very small entrance. Everyone who is getting in the room has to bend down. It showed they had no battling spirit there. Katana-kake is a hook of swords. It must be at the outside of the tea room, so they have to leave any weapon in the tea room. These things show warriors improved just their relation through the tea ceremony. I think that it was not to make contract for unity like as a blood compact, but it is similar to the blood compact on a point of view as a kind of ritual for developing human relation. It began originally at such a period of civil war in Japan.

Japanese Tea Ceremony as a measure

After getting up I have a small breakfast, and then I make a cup of green tea and drink it every day with trying to calm down. I make it in a style that followed simple Japanese tea ritual. I try to concentrate to make a cup of tea, but I actually can’t help but think other things, for examples, I think what I should do today, how I can say someone what I have to say and I regret something that I made mistake on the previous day. Therefore, I can’t concentrate to make a cup of tea. These thoughts affect a work of making a cup of tea, for example, I forget wash Cha-sen (a tool for mixing tea), I drink tea from the wrong side of a tea cup (I have to set the opposite side of painted pattern on a tea cup in front of me) and spill a little water on a table. I make mistakes in a procedure of the ritual or dealing with stuff.

I realize that my mind moves like smoke when I make mistakes while making a cup of tea and drinking it. I think that I might have the same kind of mind in my daily life, and I might not be able to realize that. However, the ritual of tea can show such aspects of mind and it makes me realized it. I am interested in it. This is a kind of measure for my mind’s situation.

Japanese Tea Ceremony - history

I’d like to try to figure out the outline of the Japanese Tea Ceremony and Japanese artworks’ history. This is from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century in Japan.

There ware stronger warriors (samurai) who governed their own area in the Muromachi-era. The Muromachi-era is in about the sixteenth century. Some of them had their own artists and they asked them to create artworks for their castles.

I think the most important artist in the Muromachi-era is Kano-Eitoku. He created many kinds of artworks. My favorite is his picture of tigers and trees. He drew it on a folding screen. We Japanese sometime use a folding screen for just displaying pictures instead of separating a room. He drew two terrified tigers but they have something charming. He used gold papers on this picture, so this picture is golden and shining.

This era’s artworks were dynamic and glittering like this. Most of warriors preferred such kind of artworks in the Muromachi-era.
The Japanese Tea Ceremony movement started in this era. Actuarially I think the real spirits of the Japanese Tea Ceremony isn’t match to warriors’ preferring, because these spirits preferred something simple. However some warriors wanted to do the Japanese Tea Ceremony by themselves. I think they found aristocratic things in it – ceremony or ritual is something aristocratic, so it made some problems after that.

Anyway, the Japanese Tea Ceremony movement was supported by powerful warriors and it was improved in the Muromachi-era.
I will write about that in Edo-era at the next time.

Japanese Tea Ceremony

I am interested in Japanese tea ceremony, because it has not only a particular ritual form but also it has two particular aspects of Japanese culture.

First, some Japanese tea ceremony masters have been like an art director from the beginning, 500 years ago. They have unique directions in artworks, for example, ceramic teacup, architecture, Japanese garden, art of calligraphy, and some kind of painting.
Second, Japanese tea ceremony is based on the Zen philosophy. The Zen is a kind of Buddhism religions. The Zen respects good manner and meditation in our lives, so this influences our life style.

I want to write more for another day.