Tea “Beyond” Japan
Part 2: Chanoyu in the Diaspora
Originally published Kyoto Journal #71, 2009
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| Tea Beyond Japan @ Daibosatsu NY 2009 |
Part 2: Chanoyu in the Diaspora
Originally published Kyoto Journal #71, 2009
Please also see Part 1:
I
am not your typical or natural tea student: a left-handed, cross-country
skiing, Jewish feminist. Studying chanoyu for the past 24 years has been both challenging
and intriguing for all those reasons. I have been fortunate to find a great
teacher who can teach me. I have been encouraged by her to make the practice my own within her
very formal teaching.
In
1987, after having studied Urasenke chado in Los Angeles for almost three years as one of
less than a handful of students of non-Japanese heritage of the Distinguished Tea Master Sosei Matsumoto, sensei, I was invited to apply to the Midorikai program for
non-Japanese people at Konnichian in Kyoto for the first of three short-courses
(i.e. part-time); the others being in 1989 and 1991. Now 24 years into the
practice, I’m anxious to write the next “chapter” about American tea
practitioners of chado. It will chronicle how tea “beyond” Japan has been manifest in the
“diaspora” through the individual and collective efforts of those of us who
have embraced the premise and practice of chado. Here is a taste.
Formali-tea
While
Urasenke has the largest number of non-Japanese tea student ranks, other
schools have gaijin and nihonjin (people of Japanese nationalities) students, teachers and
practitioners, including Omotesenke and Mushanokojisenke (who with Urasenke,
constitute the largest and primary progeny of Sen no Rikyu, the root teacher of
tea practice established in the mid-16th century). There are many other formal
tea schools, including but not limited to Edosenke, Dainippon Chado Gakkai,
Enshuryu, Sohenryu and Yabunouchiryu, among others (See Wikipedia for an interesting extensive list.) with branches wherever people of Japanese
heritage live. Periodically, their top teachers are sent forth from the
headquarters to us in the hinterlands to teach, and expat devotees make
pilgrimages to take refresher courses, participate in annual and special
events, etc. back in Japan.
American
chajin are encouraged to go to Japan to study in advanced courses, but these
programs are conducted in Japanese language only. Annually for Urasenke, there
is a conference, in Japanese language with translation, that is held in Hawaii.
It is attended by many folks who wish direct connection with the grand tea
master and other top members of the family.
Urasenke,
has a Seinen-bu “youth group” system which encourages visits from Japanese counterparts.
In Los Angeles, the “youth” group, which includes folks up to 45(!) years of
age, hosted a group from Kanazawa.. The entourage, headed by the 10th generation grand master of the Ohi pottery family Chozaemon, participated in a large, beautiful public event at the
Huntington Gardens’ Japanese House. They brought wonderful utensils and even
water from a famous well. On another occasion, that of the start of the
Pan-Pacific Yacht Race, another official Urasenke group was hosted at the
famous Marina del Rey with festive public tea demonstrations and a kencha offertory tea ritual held for the
sailors’ safety on the high seas.
These unquestionably lovely events have
been held on Japanese terms. The question of the integrity and sustainability
of a universality of chado practice – one outside Japan – needs to be explored
on if it is to be proven truly universal in spirit.
[Note: Since that time, the Huntington's Japanese Garden has been redesigned, the Japanese House restored and Seifu-an, Arbor of Pure Breeze) a Japanese Tea House has been added.]
Always a Guest ...
When
I first was a guest student at Midorikai in 1987, I was quite lost, like Lewis Carroll’s
Alice, in my own wonderland of tea. I had no benefit of any life-sustaining
proficiency in Japanese language and discovered that use of tea ceremony conversation
in “secular” settings was not productive or even appropriate. I can’t read kanji, and in fact, when I reported for
the first day’s class, kimono and new tabi socks in a bulging furoshiki carrying cloth, it was to the
wrong school’s headquarters! Once set on the right path, it became perfectly
clear to me that to get the most out of the experience the best strategy was to
err on the side of formality by focusing on acquiring the skills of a good
guest. Was it audacious to think that I, a foreigner, could be the host
sometimes as well?
It
was easy to develop a sense of privilege as a “foreigner” in this environment,
both as one who was visiting at the behest of the Grand Tea Master and the
other, as one whose place in the full, orthodox chajin hierarchy was most
likely always going to be off the radar screen if only Japanese standards were
applied.
That
sense of being a “foreigner” in tea upon returning to the USA, continued,
inappropriately I felt, especially as I was drawn deeper into the study and
practice. it seems most appropriate to practice in a vernacular that enables me
to access more of the spirit from which a bowl of tea can be made. I found that
I wasn’t alone. There are lots of folks who are into tea in and “beyond” Japan.
How to find them?
Urasenke’s Resources for Foreigners
The
Urasenke International Association Kokusaibu (headquarters in Kyoto) has
employed several graduates as teachers editors and administrators of the
Midorikai program. They have been, for the most part North American bilingual
males, many of whom had begun their tea studies in Japan around the time of the
Vietnam War. Despite their excellent proficiency and loyalties to their
teachers / employer, they have never been admitted to the formal ranks of gyotei and mizuya teachers, the official ranks of
men whose families historically are patronized to serve at the discretion of
the grand masters’ family, I hope they will find a way to share some of their
experiences with us by composing their own memoirs when the time is appropriate
(1).
The long-lived Midorikai
students were then, and it seems remain, a mix of free-spirited and deeply
serious 20–30-year-old college graduates from the Americans, Middle East, other
parts of Asia, the Soviet Union, Australia / New Zealand, South America and
Europe. All were extremely helpful to me when I was visiting.
As then Hounsai
Oiemoto, now the retired Grand Master Daisosho Genshitsu Sen, Urasenke XV had
hoped, a number of Midorikai graduates became the vanguard of Kyoto-supported
Urasenke Foundation branches or who work in liaison offices 21-cities
world-wide; others are teaching chanoyu independently throughout the USA and in
their homelands (2). But, sadly, the
vast majority have not institutionalized their practice with the same vigor.
This has been a disappointment to the family enterprise, and, in light of the
bursting of Japan’s economic bubble, a realignment of the program took place.
Another
critical change has been the cessation in 1999 of publication of the scholarly
and useful Chanoyu Quarterly, a journal with translations of other works and new
articles in English which was excellently managed by editor Gretchen K. Mittwer
through 88 volumes (3). In 2008, now
six years since the ascendance of Zabosai Oiemoto, as Sen Soshitsu XVI,
there is are several fine English language publications of use to non-Japanese literate practitioners, including A Chanoyu Vocabulary:
Practical Terms for the Way of Tea, Urasenke Chado Textbook and English for Use in the Way of Tea (with kana references that are handy for us who do not read but who do understand the audible conversations, vocabulary, etc.), all of which may be found online. While there is a two-volume beginner “guide” to studying
Urasenke Chanoyu sourced from Chanoyu Quarterly, and a few other general publications authored by members of
his family, unfortunately, most of the other, more technical books -- especially the "Green Books" and
contemporary periodicals - Tanko, Nagome, titles on flower arrangements, cooking, and others of a more general nature -- issued by Urasenke’s Tankosha publishing arm are not
translated from Japanese.
While one cannot learn tea from a book (or even the
Japanese language videos now offered), it leaves those of us who continue to
study without language proficiency at a loss. This is all the more reason to
find other tea folks with whom to create a critical mass of like-minded
community.
Sustainabili-tea
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| "we" Chajins @ Sunrise Springs NM, 2000 |
While
it was a bold, perhaps radical undertaking contrasted to the
be-true-to-your-school path that is the hallmark of most institutions in Japan,
at no time was there any will to discount lineage or to create a new way of tea
for 21st Century outside Japan. We sought to strengthen our individual
experiences of chanoyu by finding others who were entrusted with other pieces
of the “puzzle”.
The
first one was held at Sunrise Springs, a retreat center in Santa Fe New Mexico, with four other
biannual gatherings at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center (north of San Francisco) and
Daibosatsu Zen Center (New York State) since then. Anyone who had a chado
practice that wanted to come and contribute was and continues to be welcome. Most
Japanese-native tea folks have no idea what to make of it. It falls outside
their realm of activity. In 2009 another gathering, “Friends of Tea” will be
held at Daibosatsu, June 10 - 14.(4)
At
the first gathering, after the initial excitement of the social “reunion” of
folks who hadn’t seen each other since Kyoto, we decided to figure out what we
wanted to accomplish during the few days together. In addition to the
residential facilities, there was tea room, utensils and lots of tea. Tea
gatherings were held at-will, available 24/7, as long as host found a guest.
This included the most informal styles of chabako, a picnic box style of tea
procedure, which was employed daily before sunrise on the dock of the small
pond on the land.
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| The Way to Sunrise Springs: Coffee Shop Temae |
Some
live near Japanese “towns” in their communities with access to utensils, tea,
sweets and spaces to support the practice. Others, considering themselves
“outlaw” practitioners, relied on the internet and mail order to stock up. Many
of us developed crafts skills to create our own utensils or had commissioned
works by domestic artisans. We discussed what we needed to keep our practice
alive outside Japan, including making the charcoal, forging iron kettles and
even growing tea!
All
in attendance seemed to embrace the concept of Daisosho’s mission in spirit,
that there can be found “Peace in a bowl of Tea” wherever it can be shared by
like-minded individuals. We have had no desire to create new ritual forms, but
to find a way to witness each other’s chado, watching how our processes vary
from each other, and to try to find ways that they can work together. Seeking
ways to incorporate locally accessible resources, whether wood to build a tea
room or foodstuffs for a new recipe for a kaiseki dish, it was tea presented in
the spirit of sustainability!
At
the final session of the first gathering, a tea ritual, we honored the teachers
among us who were actively pursuing their vocation and memorialized those
pioneers – our own tea ancestors -- who were not with us.
The
next gatherings had more structured topical workshops and lectures, and
incorporated the now signature elements of impromptu tea-making and, at the
conclusion, a temae tea service performed in tandem by Urasenke and Omotesenke hosts, to
seal our collective effort in time and space. Topics of discussion included
philosophical foundation of chanoyu, poetry, historic writings, kaiseki tea meals preparation, and
hand-made tearooms and gardens. There were practicum sessions on calligraphy,
crafting tea utensils and sweets, surviving the physicality of sitting seiza, and talks by resident scholars.
We’ve also welcomed craftspeople who make utensils – most notably ceramicists –
who want to find new patrons for their handwork. During the gatherings at the
zen centers, we were invited by the sangha to join them in meditation and service. In turn,
we invited them for tea. The spirit of living with tea 24/7 was energizing.
Very
few Japanese nationals have joined in; those who did have told us they are
encouraged by our independent spirit of chado, something they are not necessary
at liberty to find at home. Most of my Japan-born tea colleagues in Los Angeles
just can’t understand what we could possibly do in that setting. My dear
teacher finds them “interesting”. Folks from Europe see our model as a useful
example to assemble a critical mass of practitioners across national
boundaries.
These events have also inspired another pan-school gathering, the
autumn Daichakai at Hakone Gardens in Saratoga California. Established by the
late Omotesenke teacher Stuart Lenox with support of teachers and students in
Northern California from a variety of traditions – Urasenke, Omotesenke,
Mushanokojisenke, Yabonouchi, Dai Nippon Chado Gakkai, Edosenke and others --
the annual day-long multiple-venue event is staged throughout locations in the garden
that support both formal (thick) and less formal (thin) procedures, with guests
(kimono preferred) accommodated on chairs and tatami, inside tea rooms and outside in
the garden. John Larissou's comments about the first one remains interesting.
The
“virtual” chado community has several forms. “wakeiseijaku” is an English language online
group at Yahoo.com that is a network of chado practitioners, with input from
people of various traditions / lineages and experiences. Since this article was written, Facebook pages (official and unofficial), blogs and other web-based sites have also been added by various individuals and schools' headquarters and branches. Additionally some of the commercial purveyors of tea, sweets, dogu and other items of necessity are being translated. There are archives,
including photos and some recipes, diagrams for making tea related utensils and
structures.
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1
For another “backstage” look at the Urasenke tea world and the practice of
chado, see An Introduction to Japanese Tea Ritual by anthropologist / tea
instructor Jennifer L. Anderson, State University of New York, 1991
2
It should be pointed out that all teachers of Urasenke chado are not employed
by the school, family or business. Most teachers are “free-lancers” who have
been granted licenses to teach from the Kyoto headquarters. Midorikai alumni
are among them, as well as some having been hired to run Urasenke Foundation
schools. Urasenke International Liaison offices and Foundation Branches can be
found Asia: Kyoto (headquarters), Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Tianjin; Australia:
Sidney, Brisbane; Europe: London, Rome, Paris, Dusseldorf, Mevzhaussen,
Amstellaan; The Americas: New York, Hawaii, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington
DC / McLean, Virginia, Vancouver, Mexico City, Sao Paulo. For more information:
http://www.urasenke.or.jp/texte/world/agency.html
3
A full index can be downloaded at www.urasenke.or.jp/texte/study/book/image/chanoyu-quarterly.pdf
4 A fully volunteer-developed opportunity that has no online presence at this time, the programs have included okashi making, chashaku carving, making shifuku, discussions on the roji, tea garden and architecture, poetry and tea philosophy and many
opportunities to make tea, practice zazen with the residents. A past gathering remains online http://www.friendsintea.org/.
I
welcome anyone who has experience in chado to contact me to strengthen our
community and celebrate this wonderful practice. lwdeutsch@earthlink.net
