Tea ceremony training report: MS&AD InterRisk Research & Consulting employees’ first “tea ceremony” experience (4)

Author: Yoh Otsuka (Senior Researcher and Senior Consultant, Nikkei Business Publications Intelligence Group)

The author was invited to conduct a corporate training course entitled “Experience Business Tea Ceremony Skills” in the conference room of the MS&AD InterRisk Research & Consulting office. The training consists of three parts: lecture, tea ceremony and “practical experience”. 17 personnel from the company participated in on-site training and online training.

At the beginning of the meeting, the author made some suggestions on how to apply the spirit of tea ceremony in business. She explained that communication skills can be improved by learning the tea ceremony, inspiration and creativity can be expected in the unusual environment of the tea room, and leadership and project management skills can be gained by hosting a tea ceremony.

At the end of the lecture, she introduced the “Seven Rules of Tea Ceremony” created by the famous tea ceremony master Sen no Rikyu. “Zhigui” is a four-character word that means “harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility” and expresses the state of “harmony between host and guest”, “mutual respect”, “pure utensils” and “pure heart”. Have a firm heart that will not be disturbed under any circumstances. “

The “Seven” or seven rules are: “Make tea the way your guests would like to drink it,” “Add charcoal to keep the water boiling,” “Arrange the flowers so they look natural.” “If you are out of town,” “Entertain guests, Let guests enjoy the coolness in the summer and keep warm in the winter”, “Be ahead of time”, “Always be prepared for rain”, “Guests should also care about each other. “The first four are mainly for hosts, and the last three are mainly for guests.

All seven rules may seem obvious, but are difficult to follow perfectly. Staying ahead of the curve is valuable time management advice, while being prepared for rain can be thought of from a risk management perspective, so both are useful in the business world.

Hanging on the wall is a note that says “Kisakko” (which means “Have a cup of tea”), and underneath is a red bamboo vase filled with gentian and other autumn flowers.

The author explains Sen no Rikyu’s “Seven Rules of the Four Seasons”. There is a note on the wall that says “Kissako”.

A relaxing cup of fine tea

The second part of the training course focuses on “bon-ryaku-temae”, the basic tea ceremony form taught at Urasenke Tea Academy. This is a method of brewing tea on a tray using the minimum necessary utensils such as a tea bowl, tea container, tea spoon, and tea whisk, allowing you to easily enjoy the tea ceremony anywhere. On the day of training, tableware was placed on the table in the conference room, and hot water from an electric kettle was used for the tea ceremony.

In a previous article, the author mentioned the “ryurei” method, in which utensils are placed on a table and participants sit in chairs. This method combines “ryurei” and “bon-ryaku-temae” styles, allowing participants to experience tea ceremonies in corporate offices and other venues without the need for a tatami room.

When there are multiple guests in the tea ceremony, the person sitting in the highest seat is called the “main guest”. The diner is the guest of honor and speaks to the host on behalf of all guests. The next guest (i.e. the “jikyaku”) sits next to the “shkyaku”, then the third guest, and so on until the last guest, called the “makkyaku” or “tsume”.

On the day of the training, MS&AD InterRisk Research and Consulting Consultant Terumi Nakamura served as the keynote speaker, and Welfare General Manager Masahiro Morimoto served as the second guest.

Guest etiquette is also very important

In tea ceremonies, many times the host and guests, or the guests alone, bow to each other. Guests are also expected to bow to hanging scrolls and other utensils to show respect.

Before the tea ceremony begins, the host and guests bow to each other. This is called sore.

When a bowl of tea is served, the guest places the tea between himself or herself and the guest next to him, then says “osakini (itadakimasu)” and bows. It means serving tea to the first guest first, and then serving tea to the second guest. The first guest then places the tea bowl in front of him or herself and says “otemae chodaishimasu” to the host, indicating that he or she will accept the offered tea. After that, the guest holds the tea bowl in both hands and raises the tea bowl to a height slightly above eye level.

Before drinking tea, guests should turn the tea bowl clockwise twice. The reason for this is to avoid placing his/her mouth in front of the tea bowl, which usually has patterns painted on it. After drinking, turn the bowl counterclockwise to return the front to its original position.

The next step for the guest is to “see” the bowl, appreciate its shape and texture as a whole, look closely at the painted pattern, examine the artist’s name engraved on the back of the bowl, and appreciate that. Tea set prepared by the host.

In this way, every action a guest makes while enjoying a cup of tea is related to his or her appreciation of the host and the guests’ thoughtfulness toward each other. Mr. Nakamura and Mr. Morimoto also performed a series of actions like this before drinking tea.

The diner, Mr. Nakamura (right), and the diner, Mr. Morimoto, both look at the tea bowls

Employees experience the tea ceremony first-hand

The third part of the training provided the participating employees with the opportunity to try making tea themselves.

First, a tray with candies is passed around, then each employee places one on a piece of “kaishi” paper. The snacks prepared for this event were Obusedo’s candy. When passing the sweets, each participant says “osakini” and passes the tray to the next person, just like when drinking tea.

Afterwards, tea bowls are distributed and participants use teaspoons to scoop matcha from the tea container into the bowls. Most of the participants had never used a tea whisk before, but they all stirred the tea beautifully. After one person has finished making tea, the next person drinks it, giving everyone a chance to make tea and drink a cup of tea made by someone else.

Welfare manager Ms. Sonoko Yamaguchi and assistant Ms. Yukiyo Nishiyama, who served as the secretariat for the day’s training, have tea ceremony experience and were responsible for serving the tea brewed by the students to the guests. Ms. Yamaguchi noted that the participants seemed to enjoy the tea ceremony and all seemed happy. “This is my first experience with Ruri-style tea, but I think it’s a good introduction because the threshold is very low,” she said.

“I don’t know why, but after the training, I felt refreshed. I can understand why the lord and the famous business owner who tensed up their nerves every day became lovers,” said Mr. Morimoto, the organizer of the Bon Hand Ceremony. “Tea. “

For more details, please contact:
Nikkei Business Publishing House

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