Japanese Tea Ceremony : How to Drink Maccha

I had a trial lesson of Japanese green tea, or Maccha  with my Finnish friends and my family.

Do you know it?

There are many Maccha sweets all over the world, but real Maccha is definitely different.

This is Maccha powder, tools to make Maccha tea and a cup of it.

  

The teacher put the Maccha powder in a cup we selected in advance, poured hot water into a black pot in the center of tatami floor and stirred it according to the following photo.

"It depends on if you stir well whether it becomes bitter or sweet", the teacher said.

If a person stir badly, it becomes very bitter.

Even my kid could drink and said it tasted very well !!　

There are some rules to drink Maccha.

A tea ceremony is one of Japanese typical cultures but not many Japanese know how to drink it.

It was a good chance for us to know it.

I'll share some of the rules with you here as much as I remember.

At first, we bowed deeply when we entered the room one by one.  And we fold our own legs under ourselves and sat in line, though we took a relax and didn't sit in the formal way in the upper photo.

When the teacher made Maccha from the left friend, he came to the teacher, got it with both hands and went back to his seat. And he put it between his next person and him while saying "Osakini itadaki masu", which means "I'll drink before you".

Next he put it back to his front, bowed deeply to the teacher and Maccha with a feelings of gratitude.

He picked up his Maccha cup, turned to the left a little twice and could drink it.

After finishing it, he had to wipe with 2 fingers where he drank from the left to the right.

And he turned back to right twice, the cup was back to the before.

I asked for the teacher why we should turned the cup.

According to him, the front of a Maccha cup is really important and valuable, so we can't put our mouth there.

So we have to turn it twice to the left first so as to prevent touching, and after drinking we have to go back to where it was.

There were many rules to drink Maccha, we couldn't enjoy the tasting at first, but the more we saw each other very anxious and nervous, the funnier it became.

We had a really good experience and a lot of funny memories !!

今日は、先日行った抹茶体験をアップします。
フィンランドのお友達に日本文化を体験して貰いたくて、また私たちも茶道を知らないので、良い経験と思い行きました。
ここは英語で説明をしてくれるので、外国人観光客が沢山訪れているようです。
なので、お茶を立てていない時は寛いでていいよと先生はすぐに言ってくれました。
ということで、寛いだ状態で一枚パチリ！

だけど、寛げだのはここまで。
お茶会が始まると、まあ、たくさんのルールがあって、しかも先生の英語の説明はサラッとしたものだったので、ちゃんと合っているのか、次何をしたら、何を言ったらいいのか分からないとみんなの顔に書いていました。
お互いの顔を見てるうちに、だんだんと笑けてきて、凛とした空気の中にも、和やかなひと時がありました。

初めての正座だったけれど、お茶会の間、ちゃんと正座をしていたお友達、すばらしい。
だけど、その後、立てなくなって、ふらふらしていて、まあ、その面白かったこと。
終わってから、感想が言い合えて楽しかったです。

フィンランドに戻って友達とウイスキーを飲む時に、２回左に回して呑み、呑み終えたら二本指で拭って、今度は右に二回やでと、教えるそうです。

この日は、奈良で神社参拝、蕎麦打ち体験してからの、この抹茶体験をしました。
そしてその後、天然無垢で作った家具工場を見学したのですが、どれもこれも、すごく気に入ってくれました。
天然無垢の家具、お値段もご立派だったけれど、でも本当に品の良さはすぐに分かりました。
ちょうど子ども机を探していたのですが、このお友達の一人が趣味で楽器や家具を作っているので、今の作品が出来上がったら、作ってくれるそうです。
だけど、いつになるんだろうか…。