Introduction
What about the impressions do you have for Japanese tea ceremony called "Sado（茶道）"? You might feel it's super serious so don't want to experience it at all or... you've already enjoyed your Matcha Latte at a cafe like starbucks near from you :)
I think you can check or enjoy about basic "Japanese tea ceremony" by yourself, so today I want to introduce you a woman who is doing more freestyle "Sado" in her special way.
Sado and me
By the way regarding Sado for me, just experienced a little at the tea ceremony club when I was 11-12 years old. I tried to take a tea ceremony lesson about 5 years ago... but I couldn't decide to do it because I didn't have confident to continue it ^^;
But as I do weaving work, I sometimes need to participate to tea ceremony after studying or tour sessions, but I don't know the real manner of it so I always look around me and I'm asking for elders go first... to learn how I should act at the place. It's shame but not every Japanese knows about real tea style. But anyway I think I should take lessons to feel confidence to enjoy tea near future.
Driving a car all over Japan for having a tea ceremony
Mrs. Tsuruko Hanzawa, who is over 70 years old drives a car in Kimono style brings every cooking and tea tools and hold a tea ceremony wherever she wants to have... she visits throughout Japan.When she was 20's, she was a kindergarden teacher, but she studied about cooking and she becomes a Japanese cuisin shef. After her 40's, she started working as a tea ceremony chef and also she got a driver license and started kind of "delivering service" for temples or tea houses.
"Ichigo-Ichie/一期一会" is a famous word in Japan originally concerned with Sado/Tea ceremony mind. It means like ”once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” . Mrs. Hanzawa think about this "tea ceremony tour" as "Ichigo-Ichie" so she invites stranger people in country side for her special Japanese food course and tea for finish.
Everywhere can be her Kitchen
She sometimes borrow someone's house as a kitchen.
She stops wherever she feels good, then asks people gathering together to have her meals and she makes schedule the date and the time to treat them. After that she starts preparing Kaiseki/懐石 dishes using a few days, and often she uses fresh ingredients from that area. Several days for preparing, and the Tea ceremony itself takes 4 hours.
Tea ceremony with fishermen
She suddenly asks to fishermen to participate her Tea ceremony for weekend... Fishermen are hesitated first but accept her invitation... Mrs.Hanzawa speaks soft and calm... so fishermen can't doubt she is stranger. While having tea. some of fishermen let her know it is the first time for him having such a authentic tea ceremony in his whole life.
Do her very best whatever the condition is
Sometimes she felt sick from that long trip but still she kept promise because people take time and looking forward to have her dish. Sometimes she made a bamboo tools by herself to boil some hot water in a cold snowed countryside. At this time she invited high school students.
Having tea freely any location as she wants
Other time she visited small mountain village and spread the cloth to the field, having tea with old women who just finished their work.
Although "Sado/tea ceremony" is considered as a serious ceremony in temple or situations, but when I watched this documentary... I changed my thinking about it.
Of course there is some rules, but if there's no rule... it means just a "free". Her way of entertain people looks super open, but she knows about "tea ceremony" very well so she keeps the basic rules. But from her lots of experience, she watches people in front of her very well and she notices what they want and what they need... I think it is real "hospitality" and "communication".
at the end...
Mrs. Hanzawa talks slow and gentle so feels like calm person in first impression, but as I wrote here. she drives by herself and makes all settings alone and does cooking and serving. She is strict by herself but also she has deep "hospitality" mind, which is very touching to me and I wish I could act like her in her age (at least too early for me to act like her right now^^;).
It seems she has some lectures in Chiba pref.(next to Tokyo) and sometimes in Kyoto, so I wish I would take her lesson and would like to see her way of acting, and enjoy her hospitality and of course beautiful cuisines and a tea.
Thank you so much for your visiting & reading this post.
【SOURCE】
NHK documentary
Tsurunosaryo(鶴の茶寮）
SEIBIN corporation
KODANSHA BOOK CLUB
there's more post from my friends concerned with tea ceremony
売茶翁(baisao) from @sumi
売茶翁の漢詩を読み直してみた from @argon
this is my other post related on this article
売茶翁（ばいさおう）と半澤鶴子さん from @yo-yo