Way of Tea » Tokyo

Beautiful Tea Ceremony Photos

Blake Harvey — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:30:21 +0000

I came across a gorgeous set of tea ceremony photos on Ajpscs’s photostream the other day. The majority of the photos are close up images of various chawans (tea bowls) and wagashi (tea sweets) held by graceful hands with rich, vibrant kimonos patterns filling in the backgrounds.

Click here to view a slideshow of all the tea ceremony photos.

Chair Design inspired by Tea Ceremony Chasen

Blake Harvey — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 07:02:36 +0000

Hiroki Takada’s unique tea ceremony inspired chair design was a featured product of Tokyo’s Design Week. Made of bamboo the chair is styled after the chasen (or whisk) used in the tea ceremony to whisk the tea.

Read the full article

View more images on Takada’s website

Contemporary ceramics update the tea ceremony

Blake Harvey — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:42:53 +0000

Within the tea world there are stunning gardens, contemplative tea rooms, seasonal flowers, delicious foods, and varied tea vessels made of bamboo, lacquer, glass and most often clay. It’s the latter material that is the most varied and used in the Way of Tea throughout its long history. How contemporary ceramic artists are adapting their tea wares to the present day is the theme of a remarkable exhibition now showing at the Musee Tomo, Tokyo, and titled “The Musee Tomo Prize, Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony: Free Creativity and Atypical Usage.”

Read Full Article

Video of a Tea Ceremony at Nezu Garden

Blake Harvey — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:22:17 +0000

An excellent video from “Let’s Visit Tokyo” provides a detailed look at what really happens during a private tea ceremony in a small tea hut in Nezu Garden in Tokyo. The video shows the whole “light-tea” portion of a tea ceremony. Be sure to check this one out! View article and tea ceremony video

Urasenke Holds its 2010 Hatsugama-shiki (New Year’s Tea Celebration)

Blake Harvey — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:43:13 +0000

Beginning on January 16 and lasting 5 days, Urasenke held its annual New Year’s Tea Celebration at Urasenke’s Tokyo Branch headquarters. Read full article (We will post the English translation once it is available.) Read about the 2008 Hatsugama in English (Similar utensils, scrolls, and flowers are used from year to year. This should give English readers a better understanding of Urasenke’s Hatsugama-shiki.)

Barack Obama visits Japan

Blake Harvey — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:57:23 +0000

TOKYO — US President Barack Obama charmed his Tokyo audience on Saturday with references to green tea ice cream, Japanese traditional hospitality and, of course, the small town that bears his name. Read full article