The Tea Ceremony

The Japanese tea ceremony is a traditional ritual influenced by Zen Buddhism, where powdered green tea, or matcha, is ceremonially prepared by a skilled practitioner and served to a small group of guests in a tranquil setting. A tea practitioner, must be familiar with the production and types of tea, with kimono, calligraphy, flower arranging, ceramics, incense and a wide range of other disciplines and traditional arts, in addition to his or her school's tea practices, making the study of the tea ceremony to take many years and often lasting a lifetime. Even to participate as a guest in a formal tea ceremony requires knowledge of the prescribed gestures and phrases expected of guests, the proper way to take tea and sweets, and general deportment in the tea room.