Nodate (english version)

"Nodate" in Japan means a tea ceremony done outdoors. There are various types of nodate, which may be more or less sophisticated: it goes from a simple cup of matcha done with a thermos to a real ceremony with portable tatami and made with all the equipment of a true classic ceremony.
I spent some of the hottest days of July on the mountains (about 1600m high) in beautiful lawns and breathtaking views. I had not with me all the equipment to do the tea ceremony, but I could not fail to make a simple nodate in an environment so beautiful! I organized a "set portable" studied to make nodate: a basket to hold a traditional chawan (a size just smaller than standard) and Natsume (from chabako). How chashaku and chasen I used those leaflets that are comfortably inside a small container made of bamboo. Unfortunately I could not bring with me on top of the mountain the tatami so I did with a mat and a thermos, but I can assure you that was a truly wonderful experience!

Tokonoma (english version)

It's a long time that I don't write, but also the tea masters take holidays! Although it may not have published anything on the blog, but my practice has not stopped and accompanied me in this hot summer.
I'll start this post with an account of .... my birthday! Yes, you read right: for my birthday I asked my husband to build a tokonoma for me.
What is a tokonoma? It is an architectural element that is part of all traditional Japanese houses. This is a "recess" in the wall which forms the essence or "heart" of the house and where you can watch the best treasures of the family. You can hang a beautiful jiku, put a composition ikebana (or Chabana if it is a room for tea ceremony), you can use for a koro (incense burner) or you can expose a vase or a statue particularly significant. In traditional homes was the only place that could be "decorated" in the home. There are many types of tokonoma: those of the traditional houses are planned during the construction of the house itself, but there are also some "adjustments" for those who have a modern house or a Western home. In these cases the tokonoma is "built" like forniture trying to integrate as much as possible in furnishing the room in which it is placed. For example, my teacher, who unfortunately does not have a traditional house, has built a very similar in a cabinet without the doors, whereas I wanted something that was lighter like structure and more rustic and natural effect, so my sweet husband decided to simply create two columns pine resting on the mat and that they cover as a simple "shelf" of the same type of wood. The final effect I leave you to judge. To complete my stay I bought the mats I needed for the space of a traditional tea ceremony room, four and a half tatami mats. Certainly my living room is not in real Japanese style but little by little I want to turn for a space of my own where I could exercise even better in the art of tea.
To cap it all, my better half has "invented", on my advice, a tsukubai (ritual fountain) for "apartment" that recreates, however, the natural atmosphere of Japanese gardens.

My first chaji (english version)

My teacher, just like me, has birthday in July and this time I decided, instead of the usual birthday gift, of calling her for a chaji.
It was a great experience because I had never invited anyone before for a chaji organized entirely by me.
A chaji is a full tea ceremony: includes sumi (charcoal) ceremony, kaiseki meal, two desserts and two-course of tea.
To make life easier I decided to make a chaji "simplified" by eliminating the kaiseki meal and adopting the formula of Zen-cha, reversing the order of usucha and Koicha so that the charcoal had time to heat the water for good afford to make a good thick tea.
It was very tiring but it helped me to learn how to organize the management of work (I started to prepare several days before) and my teacher was very pleased with the work I have done.
(Actually I do not know why it was so happy because I have made many mistakes, but she is always so patient ...). As you can see from the photos I used a typical summer Korean-style brazier with a shiki-ita in Oribe style. I then used a mitsusashi of 1800, a Natsume usagi maki and a type of chaire akahada. The cup for koicha was a classic aka-raku while for usucha was a hira-chawan of 1800.
I wanted to give the atmosphere of an informal and relaxed chaji so I put in a tokonoma a jiku with a simple phrase that translated into Italian means something like "take a cup of tea." The choice of this phrase would mean to me: let us not be too strict and we take this opportunity to drink a simple cup of tea.

Il mio primo chaji

Anche la mia maestra, proprio come me, compie gli anni nel mese di Luglio e questa volta avevo deciso, invece del solito regalo di compleanno, di invitarla per un chaji. E' stata una bellissima esperienza perché non avevo mai invitato nessuno prima per un chaji organizzato interamente da me. Un chaji è una cerimonia del tè completa: dura molto tempo e comprende due cerimonie di carbone, un pasto kaiseki, due dolci e due portate di tè. Per semplificarmi la vita ho deciso di fare un chaji "semplificato" eliminando il pasto kaiseki e adottando la formula dello zen cha, cioè invertendo l'ordine di usucha e koicha per far sì che i carboni avessero il tempo di scaldare bene l'acqua per permettermi di preparare un buon tè denso. E' stato molto faticoso ma mi è servito per imparare a organizzare la gestione del lavoro (ho cominciato a prepararlo diversi giorni prima) e la mia maestra è rimasta molto contenta del lavoro che ho svolto. (In realtà non so perché sia rimasta così contenta visto che ho fatto moltissimi errori ... ). Ecco qui alcune foto della preparazione: Come si vede dalle foto ho usato un furo tipicamente estivo in stile coreano con uno shiki-ita in stile oribe. Ho usato poi un mitsusashi del 1800, un natsume usagi maki e un chaire di tipo akahada. La tazza per koicha era una classica aka-raku mentre quella per usucha era una hira-chawan anch'essa del 1800. Volevo dare al chaji un'atmosfera informale e rilassata per cui ho messo nel tokonoma un jiku con una frase molto semplice che tradotta in italiano significa più o meno "prendiamo insieme una tazza di tè". La scelta di questa frase voleva significare per me: cerchiamo di non essere troppo rigorosi e prendiamo questa occasione per bere una semplice tazza di tè. 

Nodate

Per "nodate" in Giappone si intende una cerimonia del tè fatta all'aperto. Vi sono vari tipi di nodate, che possono essere più o meno sofisticati: si passa da una semplice tazza di matcha fatta con un termos ad una vera e propria cerimonia fatta con furo e tatami portatili e tutta l'attrezzatura classica di una vera cerimonia.
Ho passato parte dei giorni più caldi del mese di Luglio in montagna (a circa 1600 metri)in mezzo a splendidi prati e viste mozzafiato. Non avevo con me tutta l'attrezzatura per fare cerimonia del tè, ma non potevo rinunciare a fare un semplice nodate in un ambiente tanto bello!


Mi sono organizzata con un "set portatile" studiato apposta per fare nodate: un cestino tradizionale per contenere un chawan (di dimensioni appena più piccole di quelle standard) e un natsume (da chabako). Come chashaku e chasen ho utilizzato quelli pieghevoli che stanno comodamente all'interno di un piccolo contenitore in bambù.



Purtroppo non potevo portare con me sulla cima del monte ne' i tatami ne' il furo così mi sono dovuta accontentare di una stuoia e di un termos, ma vi posso assicurare che è stata un'esperienza davvero meravigliosa!