THE TEA HOUSE

 by Phillip Starr

The old Japanese tea hut (chaseki, but also known by other names) is rather small; often just a single room used for tea ceremony (chado). Sparsely decorated, it often features an alcove in one corner where a scroll and flower(s) are displayed. And that's it. No gawdy pictures or posters, no fancy furniture (one sits on the matted floor), and usually, no windows. The focus is on the ceremony itself (which maintains very precise movements not unlike kata) rather than on gulping down tea.

Sen no Rikyū, also known simply as Rikyū, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on chanoyu (known also as chado), the Japanese "Way of Tea". He was also the first to emphasize several key aspects of the ceremony, including rustic simplicity, directness of approach and honesty of self. It was Rikyu who determined that the entrance to the hut should be small so that persons wanting to partake of the ceremony would have to enter on their knees.

The entrance is quite small; so small, in fact, that it's not possible to simply walk inside. You must get on your knees to crawl through the doorway. This applied to anyone wishing to enter the hut, even the shogun himself. There were no exceptions. Why was the doorway made in this way? It was done so that all who entered would have to humble themselves first.

I can scarcely imagine some of today's swaggering “masters” (many of whom have the title plastered all over the back of their training uniforms) humbly entering such a place. Too bad we don't have something of this sort for competitors at tournaments nowadays...