Japanese Green Tea Ceremony

So after playing soccer in Bizen, as I had explained before we went to a nearby temple for a tea ceremony amongst other things.

Here are some simple explanations for you on what to do at a tea ceremony:

First off, you sit souzan style, or with your feet tucked underneath you. This is very painful for me and some people, but classically the entire duration should be attended in this seating position.

You will receive sweet treats on a square sheet of paper that has been folded once. These are two be eaten before the green tea.

When you receive the tea, bow and thank to thank the person.

Then, moving the bowl to the right so it is in front of your right leg, closer to the person sitting to your right, say: "もう一服いかがでございませんか？" (mou ippuku ikaga de gozaimasenka?). This means in very formal Japanese, "Would you like another one (bowl of green tea)?"

A formal response to this is, "いいえ、もう結構です。”(iie, mou kekkou desu), or "No, no thank you." You can actually say yes, implying that you would like another bowl of green tea, thus effectively taking it from the person and having your second, but this is rude and not done.

Then you move the bowl of tea in front of your left leg, and say to the person to your left: "先にちょうだい致します。”（saki ni choudai itashimasu), or again in formal Japanese, "First, I will drink." (implying excuse me).

Now you may move the bowl back to directly in front of you, and pick it up. Before drinking though, holding the bowl in your left hand, turn it clockwise three times in your left palm with your right hand. Then drink once. The second time you drink, finish the entire bowl, thus if you take a very small first drink, you will have to take a large second drink. Make sure though that the first drink is shorter than the second.

After drinking all the tea, rotate the bowl counterclockwise three times again using your right hand to turn the bowl.

Put the bowl back down on the tatami and say "ごちそうさまでした" (phrase said after drinking/eating something given to you to thank them for it).

If you are sharing bowls (i.e. they are not being washed between people, rather just returned and used directly again) then you are to take the paper which the sweets were on, and bending it around the rim, wipe the rim where you drank, folding the paper when you're done with the wipe so that when you put the paper back down on the tatami clean sides are touching the tatami, not where you wiped.

At this point, if there are other bowls circulating or the person making the tea is busy, you are encouraged to examine the bowl. Green tea is usually served in very ornate bowls, and the pictures convey stories or folklore. Do not though, lift the bowl off the tatami but tilt it instead. Also, sometimes on the bottom of the bowl is interesting information written. Again, to look tilt and lower your head, do not lift the bowl off the tatami.

This process is repeated with people being served in a clockwise fashion.

I think you can converse during it, although for very formal ones, I am not sure. We talked during ours and asked questions on what to say, do, etc. (although I remembered quite a bit from the first tea ceremony I attended with Jimbo-sensei for the full moon showing last year).

Perhaps this all seems a little trite, but I find it very interesting and really enjoy the process as well as green tea. There is also a whole process associated with how to make it (taking out the box with all the utensils, what order to use them in, how to orient the spoon, how to whisk, etc.) so as you can imagine, this really can get complex and that's why there are tea ceremony clubs at some middle schools and high schools: For students who are interested in the complexities of the Japanese tea ceremony.

This was quite the informative post. If I made an error on something or forgot to include something, please let me know!!!