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Nov 11 2011 12 Comments

Traditional tea ceremony in a Tokyo temple

Traditional Japanese tea ceremony is a fascinating practice. Its acute focus on aesthetics, however, along with an extremely strict adherence to specific movements and manners, probably makes the whole thing rather uncomfortable and stifling — at least for a beginner, anyway.

But to simply sit and watch it is an absolute treat.

Japanese tea ceremony

And from a safe distance, those movements and manners are a mystifying marvel.

Japanese tea ceremony

Categorized: Culture, Food and Drink, Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Reimi says

    11/11/2011 at 11:31 am

    I feel the sound of silence :o]

    Reply
  2. Don says

    11/11/2011 at 12:06 pm

    I like the composition and setting in these shots! In this situation, is the person practicing or does it have a symbolic meaning? I guess I just don’t know the context and am curious.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      11/13/2011 at 10:21 pm

      Thanks Don! Yes, she was training. There was an older woman watching her. Very carefully too. The tea made by her and others was also being served to people (like me) who were passing by.

      Reply
  3. ameiji says

    11/11/2011 at 3:46 pm

    Cute miko 🙂 But why the ceremony is taking place outside? Is it a training?

    Reply
    • Lee says

      11/13/2011 at 10:22 pm

      Yeah, training. Or at least I think so. She was being watched ever so carefully.

      Reply
  4. Mr. S. says

    11/11/2011 at 8:00 pm

    http://youtu.be/54iG6deEaW0

    Real tea-making. Yes, safe for work.

    Reply
  5. winnie says

    11/11/2011 at 10:45 pm

    She is so graceful. Is she doing a Ceremony Presentation?
    I think she will be very happy that you have took nice pictures of her. 🙂

    Actually, I would wish to learn Japanese Tea Ceremony in some days.
    But ,I have been procrastinating to go for it. Haha 🙂

    Reply
    • Lee says

      11/13/2011 at 10:25 pm

      A mixture of presentation and training I think. She certainly didn’t seem to mind me taking photos, so I hope so!

      Reply
  6. Alain alexandre says

    11/13/2011 at 4:05 pm

    delicate as the scent is…

    Reply
  7. john says

    11/14/2011 at 5:40 am

    She must be fairly advanced in her training now; that’s quite a big cone she’s working with.

    Reply
  8. Bella says

    11/18/2011 at 6:15 am

    Simply lovely–the photographs and the practice. How utterly fascinating it must be to watch!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      11/18/2011 at 3:59 pm

      It is. I’d never seen it before. At least not for real. So it was a real treat.

      Reply

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