Japan 2025 – Tokyo – The Tea ceremony workshop – Part III

The whole ritual is repeated 3 times.

The first time, Soka shows us how to prepare the tea.

The second time, she makes tea for each of us.

The third time, we make our own tea.

We are presented different bowls and each of us has to choose one and then we need to explain our choice. As the bowls are presented, I feel like I’m Harry Potter at Olivander and the wand is choosing me. Because I spot immediately a light blue bowl that makes me think of the sea, so I take it with no hesitation. It’s like the bowl is blinking to me.

As we already drank koicha, we’ll prepare usucha this time.

So, we are given the bowl with the tea and the water inside and the only thing we have to do is to use the whisk till the surface of the tea is covered in a light green foam.

We take the bowl, we turn it clockwise, we lift it and we bow at the same time and when we start drinking. Once finished, we put the empty bowl back on the floor.

The final part of the workshop is focusing on additional information about the different kinds of tea, their preparation and the water temperatures that goes with each of them, to the benefits of drinking tea regularly and the four principles of Chado:

Harmony – Wa

Respect – Kei

Purity – Sei

Tranquillity – Jaku

That’s where we learn that the matcha is made of leafs that are grown in the shadow and that’s why its color is livelier. The active ingredient is L-theanine, which gives a sense of relaxation, calm, but also mental clarity, without the irritability that instead might come with caffeine.

The workshop ends after approximately 90 minutes.

I know I’ll buy some matcha to bring home.