KJ
71 Special Online Feature
Tea
“Beyond” Japan: Chanoyu in the Diaspora
By Lauren W. Deutsch, contributing editor
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 Gakki,
Enshu, Sohenryu and Yabunouchiryu 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 “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 grand master of the Ohi
pottery family, 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.
Always a Guest ...
When I was a guest student of Midorikai, 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 proficiencies 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 Daishoso 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 into the ascendance of Zabosai Oiemoto, as Sen
Soshitsu XVI in 2002, there is a fine English language translation of
A Chanoyu Vocabulary: Practical Terms for the Way of Tea. While
there is a two-volume beginner “guide” to studying Urasenke
Chanoyu, and a few other general publications authored by members of
his family, unfortunately, most of the other, more technical books and
contemporary periodicals 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
In 2000 a group of Midorikai alumni, other Urasenke students and a few
active tea practitioners from Omotesenke, some 30 women and men mostly
Americans with 10 – 30 years chado experience -- decided it was
time to get together. The group had no structured or formal “we;”
its impetus was a reaction to various urges of dedication: to tea practice,
to Urasenke, to each other as long-distance acquaintances. The “reunion”
was unofficial, neither sanctioned nor supported by the Kokusaibu. It
was decidedly “informal” within an otherwise very formal
world. (In a most perfect world, I was to have asked my sensei for permission
to attend.) We connected without pretense, purely on our own terms,
to assess our collective resources, expressed in our own vernacular,
to witness the spirit of tea, as we expressed it, “beyond
Japan.”
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 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 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.
When we convened as a group, discussions were deeply serious and became
an unofficial manifesto on what chado in its most seriously practiced
form could mean “beyond” Japan, the role of a chajin
tea person in the larger pan-national world and how we viewed our relationships
with Japan. We had earnest discussions about how those of us, without
formal employment by or other relationship to Urasenke, expressed our
commitments to the school; some want to “give back in some way
of thanks for the life-changing experience,” others want to declare
a certain independence, and still others, isolated by not actively studying
with a teacher, feel they have become like ronin, samurai
without a lord.
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 tea rooms 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 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. For
more information on this event, most recently held on October 19, 2008,
contact John L. Larissou, larissou[AT]flash.net.
The “virtual” chado community has several forms. “wakeiseijaku”
is an English language online group at yohoo.com that is a network of
chado practitioners, with input from people of various traditions /
lineages and experiences. There are archives, including photos and some
recipes, diagrams for making tea related utensils and structures.
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://urasenke.org/contact/offices.php
3 A full index can be downloaded at www.urasenke.or.jp/texte/study/book/image/chanoyu-quarterly.pdf
4
For more information on this event, open to any active chanoyu practitioner,
please go to www.friendsoftea.org.
The organizers, Bettina Mueller and Gavin Lower are planning to include
okashi cooking, chashaku carving and making shifuki,
brocade bags for thick tea containers, discussions on the roji,
tea garden, a lecture by Edo Shimano Roshi and many opportunities to
make tea, practice zazen with the residents.
I welcome anyone who has experience in chado to contact me to strengthen
our community and celebrate this wonderful practice. lwdeutsch[AT]earthlink.net
Lauren
Deutsch has been a contributing editor to Kyoto Journal since 1991.
She has been studying chado for twenty-four years with Sosei Matsumoto-sensei,
in Los Angeles. She was granted her teaching certificate and the professional
tea instructor name of Sochi by Hounsai, Sen Soshitsu XV, in 1997.
Copyright
held by the author
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