A chaji runs through a meal (kaiseki), the first charcoal procedure, moist sweets, thick tea, the second charcoal, and thin tea as a single sequence. Four or five guests attend, and it lasts around four hours. Food, fire, tea, utensils, and garden are all composed around one theme. It is the most complete form of the practice, and the one to which everything in a lesson is ultimately directed.
Forms
The noon gathering is the basic form. Others are keyed to time and season: the morning gathering in high summer, the winter night gathering by lamplight, the gathering marking the opening of a jar of new tea, and the pre-dawn gathering. Each has its own conventions and utensil combinations, and the arrangement changes fundamentally between the hearth and brazier seasons.
Structure
Guests gather in a waiting area, pass through the garden, and enter. The first half brings the charcoal procedure, the meal, and sweets. Guests then withdraw to the garden (nakadachi) before returning for the second half, where thick tea is the high point, followed by the second charcoal and thin tea. The withdrawal is not an interval for the host's convenience: it resets the guests' attention between the two halves.
For a first-time guest
An invitation to a chaji is a significant commitment on both sides — the host may have prepared for weeks. Guests are expected to arrive early, to know the basic guest procedures, and to write afterwards. Most people attend a large open gathering (chakai) several times before a chaji.
Sources
- 茶事（改訂新版 世界大百科事典） / コトバンク
Supports: 茶事が単に茶を点てて供するだけでなく必ず懐石を伴うこと。懐石・初炭・花・濃茶・後炭・薄茶の6項目からなり、(1)(2)を前席（初座）、(3)〜(6)を後席（後座）とすること。この食事を伴う総合性が「茶会」ではなく「茶事」と呼ばれる所以であること
About this article
Edited by the operator of Chaen (a one-person operation) / Last updated:
Tea ceremony descriptions can vary by school and source. Where interpretations differ, this glossary avoids definitive claims and focuses on broadly shared understandings. If you notice an error, please let us know viaContact. To learn about our organization, seeAbout Chaen.
Term info
- Category
- Etiquette
Related terms
- Kaiseki (the meal at a tea gathering)kaiseki
The plain seasonal meal served in the first half of a full gathering, whose purpose is to prepare the guest for thick tea.
- Shozumi-demae (first charcoal procedure)shozumi-demae
The charcoal procedure performed before the meal at a full gathering.
- Koicha (thick tea)koicha
Matcha kneaded with a little water into a thick paste, traditionally shared from a single bowl; the centre of a full gathering.
- Usucha (thin tea)usucha
Matcha whisked lightly to a foam and served one bowl per guest; the form of tea most people meet first.
- Ichiza konryu (building the sitting together)ichiza konryu
The principle that host and guests construct the gathering jointly; a guest is not an audience.
- Jo-ha-kyu (beginning, development, close)jo-ha-kyu
A three-part structuring of pace, applied to a whole gathering and to individual procedures.