| "Sado - Chashitsu (Tea Room)" If you wish to know "Cha-sitsu", you need to know "Cha-ji (Tea Ceremony)". Cha-ji consists of 2 acts of drama. The first act is to start with the guests coming into Cha- sitsu through the "Roji(Garden)". After serving light meals (Kaiseki) to the guests, a Teish puts coals into the "Ro (fireplace)". Once the coals are put in the Ro, guests leave the room to have a small rest until the Teish guides them to the next stage. When the 2nd act starts, the Teish makes "Koi-cha(thick tea)" in the beginning, and then changes the coals to serve "Usu-cha (weak-tea)" after that the Cha-sitsu and Roji are designed to proceed with Cha-ji efficiently and to mark the limited space beautiful and functional.  Though there are various sizes of Cha-shitsu, the basic size is a 4.5 Tatami mat room. They say that the Cha-sitsu is smaller than a 4.5 Tatami mat room and is suitable for creating a quiet atmosphere and "wabi", which is a unique sense of our self. On the other hand, the bigger size of Cha-sitsu is suitable for the colorful Cha-kai (tea- ceremony). Some of the Cha-sitsu of a smaller size has a unique entrance called "Nijiri-Guchi". Since the size of the entrance is only 66cm high and 63cm wide, the guests have to bend over when they enter the room. There are several theories about the size of Nijiri-Guchi, but it is commonly considered as a divide between Cha-sitsu and common life. When you enter the Cha-sitsu, you still can find "Tokono-ma", where the floor is higher than the actual floor level. A Teish locates the hanging scrolls and flowers.As for the tools, there are "Ocha-Ire" (small case for tea leaves), Cha-shaku" (tea-spoon), "Hi-shaku"(ladle?) and "Cha-kin" (cloth for wiping Cha-wan). Ocha-ire is small enough to fit in one hand, but there are many kinds of "Wamono", but some people like the colorful Chinese "kara-mono". There are various kinds of production processes, and the size of the Cha-wan is much bigger than the traditional chawan that we use for drinking green tea in our daily life. The Cha-wan will be selected in accordance with the season or the type of ceremony being conducted. To be continued... |