Page 40 - E-module IC Reading

While some Japanese perform tea
ceremonies as just a hobby today, most
people consider it a form of traditional
arts and call it the art of tea. One may Hobby, consider,
have to spend years practicing these practicing, finally
forms to finally reach the point where reach the point, very
he/she can perform every single step with little mental effort.
very little mental effort. This way of
thinking applies to martial arts and other
Japanese customs and traditions as well.

The tea ceremony consists of the
Tearoom, sweets,
preparation of the tearoom, sweets, and
serving, casual
the tea itself. The serving of tea usually
chatting, seasonal
comes with casual chatting about changes.
seasonal changes.
However, in the preparation phase,
participants keep silent. That is why the Silent, meditational
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tea ceremony is considered activity.
a meditational activity.
During the tea ceremonies, the host
prepares the tea and serves it to the
guests but does not drink it because The host, the guests,
everything is for the pleasure of the the pleasure of the
guests. The procedure of Japanese tea guest, temae.
ceremony steps is called temae in
Japanese.
There are two types of tea ceremonies: Chakai, informal tea
chakai (informal tea ceremony) and chaji ceremony, chaji,
(formal tea ceremony). formal tea ceremony

Chakai, also known as the typical tea
ceremony gathering, only lasts 45 Typical tea ceremony
minutes even though the training takes gathering, training.
years.
Chaji, on the other hand, involves the
3. Conclusion participation of senior tea masters and Involves, senior tea,

the service of traditional kaiseki meals last up.
which can last up to 4 hours.
Uransenke school,
Major Japanese tea ceremony schools
omotesenke school,
such as the Urasenke
slightly different
School and Omotesenke School follow
slightly different steps and procedures. steps and
procedures.