In summer, suggest coolness. In winter, warmth.
There's a story that Sen no Rikyu, 16th-century tea master and influencer among influencers, was asked by a disciple to explain the Way of Tea.
He answered that it came down to seven rules: preparing a satisfying bowl of tea; laying the charcoal so that the water boiled well; offering a sense of coolness in summer and a feeling of warmth in winter; arranging the flowers as if they were in the fields; being ready ahead of time; preparing for the possibility of rain and being considerate to your fellow guests.
Hearing this, the disciple said, 'Well, I know that.'
'If you can do all that', Rikyu reportedly said, 'I will become your disciple'.
For tea students, each of the seven rules represents the tip of an iceberg of difficulty.
Creating a sense of coolness in summer is particularly challenging, not least because a kettle is boiling near the host, who is in all likelihood, sweating through layers of kimono.
Yet the methods devised by generations of tea practitioners reflect the creativity of the Way of Tea, or chado, and offer practical solutions even for those who will never scoop tea from a natsume caddy.
Merging Zen principles with mindful attention to everyday activities, chado demonstrates graceful ways to remain cool - and centered - in summer’s heat.
Drinking Tea: A Scoop of History
All forms of tea come from the camellia sinensis plant, thought to have originated in the area covering northern Myanmar and south-western China.
Cultivation spread to other parts of the country and Chinese tea culture flourished. By the Tang dynasty (618-907), tea drinking had shifted from medicinal use to a sensory pleasure, culminating in Chajing, the first known manuscript on tea and tea culture in the world.
At that time, tea leaves were pressed into bricks. Later, during the Song dynasty (960-1279), powdered green tea became popular - a form that would become central to the tea ceremony in Japan.
Tea was probably introduced to Japan in the early ninth century, likely by the monk Kukai, who travelled to China, studied there and brought esoteric Buddhism and brick tea back with him. For the next few centuries, tea in Japan remained exclusive to the temples and imperial court.
In the 12th century, Eisai (1141-1215), best known for establishing the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism in Japan, returned from his studies in China with powdered tea and promoted it for its health benefits.
Eisai also gave tea seeds to one of his students. Myoe, the abbot of Kozan-ji, planted them at his temple as well as in Uji, where the commercial cultivation of tea began. Even today, tea grown in Kyoto enjoys a good reputation, with Uji boasting Japan's oldest tea shop.
The popularity of tea grew beyond the temples and the court to samurai circles. The gatherings of this era were often rowdy events. Contests to identify different types of tea were accompanied by poetry sessions, heavy drinking, gambling and displays to show off expensive Chinese utensils. No one worried about how many times the tea bowl had to be turned.
Yet, boisterous as they were, these parties had elements that would be refined into the tea gatherings of today.
Zen and Tea
The wabi style of tea, emphasizing simplicity and natural beauty, took form in the 15th and 16th century through the influence of tea masters such as Murata Juko, Takeno Joo and Sen no Rikyu.
A student of eccentric Zen monk Ikkyu Sojun, Juko expressed the belief that any act in daily life could lead to enlightenment. Making tea and drinking it was thus approached as a spiritual practice, one that saw beauty in imperfection and everyday objects.
His ideas were refined by Joo, a cultured merchant from Sakai city, who simplified tea-room design and valued humble Japanese-made utensils over expensive Chinese imports.
Rikyu, Joo’s most renowned disciple, took the wabi style of tea to new heights. Informed by his Zen practice, his innovations challenged the ordinary mind's tendency to label, divide and become ensnared by fixed ideas.
He appreciated the beauty of common objects and, by bringing them into the tea room, questioned standard definitions of aesthetics and value.
He designed tea houses with small, low entrances that required guests to remove their swords and crawl inside, symbolically leaving class distinctions at the the threshold, if only for the length of time it took to share tea.
His legacy lives on through the Urasenke lineage - one of the three main tea schools descending from his family along with Omotesenke and Mushakojisenke.
Thanks to their efforts, as well as those of the other lineages, the Japanese Way of Tea, also known as chanoyu, is practiced around the world. While often introduced as a gateway to Japanese culture, it is also taught as a path that leads towards harmony, mindfulness and seasonal sensitivity.
So When is a Japanese Tea Ceremony Held?
The short answer: whenever you like.
Chado gatherings are broadly divided into chaji, which includes a meal followed by matcha, and chakai, the abbreviated form in which only tea and sweets are served.
A chakai can be held at any time but chaji are more strictly defined. The Urasenke school teaches seven main types of chaji which are named according to their function and the time of day when they are held.
The noon tea gathering - shogo no chaji - is regarded as the standard form, with the others being variations.
A Mountain Abode in the City
If you have the chance to attend a tea gathering in a freestanding tea house or a tea room set beside a garden, you will be guided through a sequence of spaces.
The progression heightens anticipation and artfully creates a sense of departure from the mundane world despite the setting's modest scale.
The roji, also known as a tea garden, plays a crucial role in this journey as the path that takes guests right up to the entrance of the tea room.
Designed to suggest a mountain dwelling even in the heart of a city, tea gardens include features such as stone lanterns, irregular stepping stones and a tsukubai water basin.
The process of purification that takes place in the roji is both literal and figurative - having washed away the dust of the everyday world, the guests enter the tea room.
Koicha and Usucha: Through Thick and Thin
A full-length tea ceremony such as the noon tea gathering runs for up to four hours. Typically, charcoal is laid in the hearth or brazier while the guests watch and a multi-course meal is served before the host makes the tea.
After the guests return from a break, koicha - thick tea - is prepared. Charcoal is laid again, readying the fire for usucha, the thin tea usually associated with matcha, to be made.
In summer, asa chaji, the morning version of the full tea gathering, is favored. It begins between 5 and 6 o'clock and ends by 9 o'clock, before the heat of the day kicks in.
Seasonal Tea: In Summer, Wetter is Better
For an asa chaji, the host would take care to wet the stepping stones and fill the stone basin with cold water though, as tea almanac Chado Saijiki notes, 'floating ice cubes is overdoing it a bit'.
One of the first things that the guests see in the tea room is the calligraphy displayed in the tokonoma alcove - the focal point of the gathering.
For the scroll at a morning gathering, Chado Saijiki recommends a phrase suggestive of coolness or a poem in admiration of the dim light before sunrise.
A kama kettle in the shape of lotus leaves or with a design of a dragon ascending to the heavens would be good, it says, adding: 'The kettle in summer is expected to be as small as possible.'
The host usually serves the tea and sweets in the tea room but, for an asa chaji, the confectionery 'might taste better if it is served under the shade of green leaves at the waiting arbour during the nakadachi break rather than in the tea room; cold cake made of arrowroot served in this way would be delicious'.
Kuzu - arrowroot - confections often accompany the tea in this season. Not only are they refreshing when chilled but their appearance also suggests ice, offering psychological relief from the heat.
For the same reason, glassware is a fixture in summer tea events and is used as fresh-water containers, sweet dishes and tea bowls.
Other traditional Japanese sweets for July and August include kingyokukan jelly, mizu yokan - red bean jelly with a higher water content - and kohaku: agar sweets designed to induce coolness through their translucence.
When the guests at a chaji re-enter the tea room, the calligraphy in the alcove has been replaced by flowers. 'Dripping wet summer grasses are what one needs,' says Chado Saijiki. 'This makes the second half more enjoyable.'
Summing up its recommendations, it concludes: 'Remember, simplicity is the soul of asa-cha. Pick out one good thing, paying attention to one thing, and that will take care of the others.'
Wabi-Style Tea Rooms: Space and Shadows
A central concern of traditional Japanese architecture, including tea-room design, is mitigating the intense heat and humidity of summer. From open, airy layouts to deep eaves and carefully positioned gardens, many features evolved to create a sense of coolness during the hottest months.
In summer, dividers such as fusuma doors and verandah screens are replaced with porous versions made of reeds to encourage ventilation - any hint of a breeze must immediately be shown the way in.
For this reason, a tea room larger than four and a half tatami mats is preferred; a smaller chashitsu is likely to become stuffy in summer.
Furnishings and objects are kept to the bare minimum: an empty room looks and feels cooler.
Chashitsu design revolves around the control of light: keeping a room dim in summer not only cools it down but also makes it more restful.
Shadows, it could be said, bring out the flavor of the tea.
Types of Temae
At a chado gathering, the matcha is prepared in front of the guests rather than being brought in from another room - one of the most important innovations in the history of Japanese tea.
In the quiet choreography of tea preparation, the host’s spirit of hospitality can be conveyed without a single word.
These procedures, codified over centuries and known as temae, form the core of tea training, often prompting copious note-taking and frantic last-minute reviews on the way to the tea room.
Tea procedures vary according to the season. The Urasenke school's temae for the hottest months of the year include araijakin and habuta, where a large leaf is used as the cover for the fresh-water container. Another common item in the summer line-up of tea utensils: wide, shallow bowls, which help the tea to cool faster.
In most temae, a tea whisk and chakin - a little cloth used to wipe the tea bowl - are placed in the bowl and carried into the tea room. But for the araijakin procedure, the bowl is also filled with water.
The chakin is wrung out in front of the guests - elegantly! Not like wringing a dishcloth! - and the water in the bowl is emptied into the wastewater container.
The sight of this little waterfall and the tinkling as it hits the metal container are just another way to suggest coolness.
The Art of Tea as Imagination
Chanoyu goes beyond physical sensations; the Way of Tea uses the senses as doors to access the powers of association and imagination.
The guests do not need to hold the sopping-wet chakin; they can feel a little cooler just by watching the host lift it from a bowl of water and listening to the stream as the cloth is slowly wrung out.
In much the same way, the character for 'waterfall' brushed with powerful strokes onto the displayed scroll invites the guests to imagine themselves hearing the roar of the water and standing in the cooling spray.
Tea is served not only in a room but also in the imagination.
It Takes Two
Tea could be compared to a stage magician's craft because of its many methods to attract, hold and direct the attention.
When the motivation is pure, this is done out of concern for the guest. The stone lanterns and boundary stones in the roji garden, for instance, symbolize the host's desire to guide the guests to a deeper understanding.
Above all, it must be remembered that tea is a practice that requires at least two people: the host and the guest.
Be sure to keep yourself cool as the mercury climbs. Better still, create coolness for another person.
Written by Janice Tay