Temae with Ro in winter

Similar to Furo Temae

For Ro temae in winter, the first steps are similar to that of Furo temae (see: opening the sliding door and presenting the sweets). Ro Temae starts to differ from that of Furo when a Mizusashi is brought into the room because no brazier is there to align it with.

Example Chashitsu illustrations are based on a Yojohan Chashitsu four and a half mat Chashitsu layout.

Bring in tea utensils

Mizusashi is placed in the center of the Temaedatami past the Ro at about one Kama width. (see illustration). Following Mizusashi are Chawan and Natsume. As is seen in the illustration, they come right beside the center of the Mizusashi. Imagine they are about three centimeters apart. Lastly Kensui with Hishaku and Futaoki are brought into the Chashitsu.

Women: sit straight, facing the Mizusashi when putting down the Kensui. With the left hand Hishaku is lifted, the right hand reaches across the body to pick up Futaoki. Hishaku is lowered down on the Mizusashi again, place Futaoki on the palm of the left hand. Hold the Futaoki at stomach hight and turn right in a smooth motion so that the center between the knees face the inner corner of the Ro (see illustration). Place the Futaoki next to the Ro approximately three centimeters from the edge of the Ro and the Tatami. Now the left hand grabs the Hishaku from the top and hold it in front of the chest at an angle so that the inside of the Hishaku can be seen (Kamaeru). Hold the Hishaku between the thumb and index finger and it anti-clockwise. With the right hand place the Hishaku on the Futaoki parallel to the legs. Now greet the Kyaku and announce that you will begin making tea for them (“ippuku wo sashiagemasu”). Prepare yourself by taking a relaxed breath and adjust clothing so that it will be comfortable to sit in the same position for the duration of the tea ceremony.

Men: Sit diagonally from the beginning and place Mizusashi on the left side. Pick up the Hishaku and hold it in front of the chest (Kamaeru). While holding Hishaku in front, take the Futaoki from the Kensui and place it next to the Ro. Turn the Hishaku anti-clickwise and place it on the Futaoki parallel to the legs. Now greet the Kyaku and announce that you will begin making tea for them (“ippuku wo sashiagemasu”). Prepare yourself by taking a relaxed breath and adjust clothing so that it will be comfortable to sit in the same position for the duration of the tea ceremony.

Cleaning the Natsume

Once Teishu is comfortable, the Chawan is picked-up with the right hand, transferred to the left hand and put down in front of the knees with the right hand. Make sure there is enough space left for the Natsume to fit in between the Knees and the Chawan.

Pickup the Natsume with the right hand and place it between the knees and the Chawan. With the left hand remove the Fukusa and fold it. Hold the Fukusa in the right hand and pickup the Natsume with the left hand from the left side with four fingers at the back and the thumb at the front. Wipe the top of the Natsume in the form of the Hiragana syllableこ (Ko), then flow to the left side down. Place the Natsume in line with the Mizusashi and the corner of the Ro. (see illustration 2)

Cleaning the Chashaku

The Fukusa is still in the right hand, open it and fold it again. (Women should not make sound when folding the Fukusa for the second time but men should. This is called “ Ototateru”( or simply: making sound). Fold the Fukusa again. This time hold the Fukusa in the left hand and pickup the Chashaku with the right. Place the Chashaku on the Fukusa which is held in the left hand in front of the body at stomach level. Hold Chashaku at the end and slide the Fukusa forward with the left hand, cleaning the top and the bottom. Slide back to the right hand and now wipe the Chashaku on the sides. Slide back up and then one more time down cleaning the top and bottom. Place Chashaku on the Natsume. Take the Chasen from the Chawan and place it next to the Natsume also in the same line (Men can now move the Chawan closer to the knees and fold Fukusa and attach it to the Himo of the Hakama again. Women should place it beside the right knee for later use to remove the (hot) Futa from the Kama.)

Remove Futa from the Kama

With the left hand pickup the Hishaku and hold it at chest height so that you can see into the cup of the bamboo-ladle (Kamaeru).
women: Take the Fukusa which is still biside the right knee and place it on the Futa of the Kama so not to burn one’s hand while transferring the Futa to the Futaoki . Take the Fukin from the Chawan and place it on the Futa. Now take the Hishaku in the right hand and scoop a full ladle of hot water into the Chawan. Rest the Hishaku on the Kama with the cup facing down and as before in line with the legs.
Men: Without the Fukusa, with the right hand remove the Futa from the Kama and place it on the Futa-oki. Take the Fukin from the Chawan and place it on the Futa. Now take the Hishaku in the right hand and scoop a full ladle of hot water into the Chawan. Rest the Hishaku on the Kama with the cup facing down and as before in line with the legs.

Cleaning the Chasen

Take the Chasen with the right hand and stir the water in the Chawan gently from the right side down to the left and back. Put the Chasen down facing to the right. Hold the Chawan steady with the left hand. Lift the Chasen with the right hand and slowly bring it up while turning it in order to check all the hairs of the whisk. Look closely to make sure the Chasen is clean and in perfect condition. Bring it down again and stir again from right to left and back. Put the Chasen down on the right for one moment and repeat two times more (lift and turn). Next, whisk the water to warm up the hairs of the Chasen and to make soft so that they won’t break while whisking the powdered green-tea with the water later on. Finish by drawing a の (Hiragana “No”) shape in the water and place the Chasen next to the Natsume again.

Warming the Chawan

Hot water which was just stirred with the Chasen is still in the Chawa. Pick up the Chawan and place it on the palm of the left hand. Holding the Chawan with two hands, slowly tilt the Chawan around in an anti-clockwise motion three times to warm the tea-bowl. Next, discard the water into the Kensui with the left hand only, take the Chawan with the right hand and put it down in front of the knees again.

Scoop Macha into the Chawan

With the right hand take the Chashaku from the Natsume and pick up the Natsume with the left hand from the side. Bring the Natsume in front of the chest, hold the Chashaku with only the little and ring fingers so the other two fingers and the thumb are free the take the lit from the Natsume. Place the lit next to the Chawan on the right. Bring the Natsume closer to the Chawan and scoop one-and-a-half spoons of powdered Macha into the Chawan. Bring the Natsume closer to the chest again. Smoothen out the powdered Macha in the Chawan and tap the Chashaku twice on the edge of the Chawan in order to remove some Macha which might still be stuck to it. Put the lit back on the Natsume, place it back by the Mizusashi and the Chashaku on top of it.

Remove lit from Mizusashi

Before adding hot water to the powdered Macha in the Chawan, the lit of the Mizusashi should be removed. With the right hand lift the lit, bring it closer to the body, and flip it so that the top is facing to the right. It is now in a vertical position. Take it with the left hand with the thumb on the right and place it standing against the Mizusashi on the left side.

During the Japanese tea ceremony there is a lot of transferring utensils from one hand to the other for aesthetical reasons. At first, these small movements will seem unnecessary in the beginning but after becoming more familiar with the Temae one will come to realize the simplicity of it.

Scoop hot water into Chawan

To take the Hishaku from the Kama, use index and middle finger to lift it from underneath. Slide these two fingers slightly forward and bring them around to hold the ladle like a pen. Take a full cup of water; pour it slowly in the Chawan. If a full cup of hot water is scooped from the Kama, we should pour a little more than half of it to get the perfect mix of green-tea. - It will take years of experience to get the correct balance of Macha and Oyu. Return leftover Oyu to the Kama and place the Hishaku on the Kama.

Whisk Macha and Oyu

Take the Chasen in the right hand and hold the Chawan with the left to make sure it doesn’t tumble over when whisking. Whisk the Oyu and Macha to froth with about half of the Chawan covered with foam. Depending on the ceramics, a rough Chawan might require extra care when whisking, making sure Macha doesn’t fly all over the room. When the green-tea froth is well mixed, finish by drawing a の (No) shape in the Chawan so that the foam floats in the center. Place the Chasen in front of the Mizusashi again.

Serving green-tea to guests

Now tea is ready to be served to the guests. Pick up the Chawan with the right hand and place it on the palm of the left hand. Turn it two times about one-quarter anticlockwise so that the Shomen (front side) of the Chawan comes to face to guest when he or she comes to receive it. With the right hand the Chawan is placed on the other side of the Temaeza Tatami border. (Women should turn about forty-five degrees toward the guest, so that the arm doesn’t need to be stretched very far to place it on the other side of Temaeza Tatami border. After the Chawan has been put down, women can turn back facing the Furo again.)

Dialog with Shokyaku

At this time the first guest or Shokyaku will move forward, either crouching or walking. The Shokyaku is the only one who can ask questions or comment on the tea and other Dougu in the Chashitsu. Read more about: Shokyaku and Teishu dialog. And about proper etiquette for guests at the Japanese-tea-ceremony

Cleaning the Chawan

After the Shokyaku has finished drinking, he or she returns the Chawan to exactly the same place were it was picked up, but the front or Shomen should face the Teishu.

Teishu takes the Chawan and places it in front of the knees. Again the Hishaku is picked up and about half a scoop of Oyu will be poured into the Chawan. The Chawan is picked up with the right hand and placed on the palm of the left hand at chest height. The Chawan is slowly tilted around in an anticlockwise motion three times in order to rinse it. The waste water is discarded into the Kensui with the left hand. – At this moment the Shokyaku may announce that all guests have had enough to drink and ask the Teishu to finish the tea-ceremony. If nothing is being mentioned by the Shokyaku, the Teishu will continue making tea.

Continue making tea

When the waste water is discarded into the Kensui, the Fukin cloth is picked up and placed in the Chawan. The Fukin is opened and folded over the rim of the Chawan with half of it inside and half of it outside. With the thumb inside and the four fingers on the outside, the rim is wiped for one-third at a time, encircling the whole Chawan and ending up at starting point. (Chawan is held by the left hand and turned with the right) Now that the rim is clean, the Fukin is slid off upward and place in the Chawan. Holding the Fukin with thumb, index and middle finger the inside of the Chawan is wiped clean drawing a ゆ (Yu) shape. Both the rim and inside of the Chawan is clean so the Fukin can be placed on the Futa again. Put the Chawan down in front of the knees again. Now the next bowl of tea can be prepared continuing with scooping powdered Macha in to the bowl again. See step: Scoop Macha into the Chawan

Finish the tea-ceremony

Announce ending the tea ceremony

If Shokyaku asks Teishu to finish, with the bowl still in the left hand, the right hand is placed on the Tatami and a small bow in recognition of the Shokyaku’s wish is made. Then the bowl is placed in front of the knees again. Teishu will now properly bow and announce that he or she will finish the tea-ceremony.

Clean the Chasen

To finish, cold water will be ladled into the Chawan with the Hishaku from the Mizusashi. Pick up the Chasen with the right hand, and hold the Chawan with the left. Stir the water in the Chawan gently from the right side down to the left and back. Put the Chasen down facing to the right. Slowly bring it toward the face while turning it. (This is to check whether the Chasen is clean or not.) Repeat two times, and then gently whisk the water to further clean the Chasen. Place the Chasen next to the Nutsume again. Discard the water into the Kensui, place the Fukin in the Chawan, put the Chawan down with the right hand. Place the Chasen in the Chawan.

Cleaning the Chashaku

Remove the Fukusa from the Obi and fold it in order to wipe the Chashaku. Take the Chashaku from the Natsume with the right hand. Hold the Fukusa in the palm of the left hand and place the Chashaku on top, first wipe top and bottom, slide back and wipe the sides. And one more time the top and bottom. Place the Chashaku on the Chawan facing down. Now there might be some Macha green-tea powder stains on the Fukusa, so above the Kensui, gently whipe twice with the right hand. Now the Fukusa can be folded and attached to the Obi. Lift the Chawan with the right hand on from the top of the rim, and then hold it shortly with the left in order to switch position of the right hand to a grip which is more from the side. Place the Chawan in front of the Mizusashi.

Ladle fresh water into the Kama

According to the number of guests to whom tea was served by the Teishu, about the same amount of water has to be returned to the Kama. Let’s assume three guests were served tea, and then usually two scoops of fresh water are ladled from the Mizusashi to the Kama with the Hishaku. When done, place the Hishaku on the Kama again. Now the Mizusashi will not be used anymore, so the lit can be put back. Take the lit with the right hand, and bring it closer to the chest. Grab it with the left hand above the right and turn it horizontally. Hold the ear of the lit and place it on the Mizusashi.

Close the Kama

Pick up the Hishaku again, with the left hand, hold it at chest height so that you can see into the cup of the bamboo-ladle (Kamaeru). With the right hand pick up the Futa of the Kama and place it on the Kama.

Take Kensui back to Mizuya

After the Futa has been placed on the Kama again, the Hishaku is still held in the left hand. Grab it from the above with the right hand and pick up the Futa-oki with the left hand. Now, with thumb, index, and middle fingers of the right hand, hold the Futa-oki under the Hishaku. The Hishaku is held horizontally in front of the chest. With the left hand, lift up the Kensui and stand up holding the Kensui at hip height beside the body. The Kensui is considered unclean and is kept out of the guests’ sight for as much as possible. So when holding the Kensui the Teishu will turn anticlockwise in order to not show it to the guests. In front of the door, Teishu sits down diagonally and places the Kensui in front of the knees. The Futa-oki is placed next to the Kensui. The Hishaku is laid on top of the Kensui with the cup of the ladle facing down. The sliding door is opened in two stages again, two-third then one-third. When the door is opened, hold the Kensui, Hishaku, and Futa-oki in the same way again and walk to the Mizuya.

Take Chawan and Natsume to Mizuya

In the same way the Chawan and Natsume were brought into the room, they are now carried back to the Mizuya. Take the Chawan in the left hand and the Natsume with the right. These are high-ranking utensils so turn clockwise when walking to the Mizuya.

Take Mizusashi to Mizuya

Last is the Mizusashi. Kneel down in front of the Mizusashi and pick it up with both hands as low as possible. When outside of the sliding door, turn around and kneel and sit down, place the Mizusashi in front of the knees. Now it’s time to officially part from your guests, so place both hands onto the Tatami and bow thanking the guests for coming. Close the door.