Kuchikiri is the cutting open of the jar of new tea — picked in early summer, sealed, and carried through the summer — and the first tasting of that year's tea. It is the most formal occasion in a practitioner's year. It is often held at the same time as the opening of the hearth, and a kuchikiri gathering is positioned as the culmination of the year.
Timing
New tea is picked in early summer, packed into the jar as leaf, aged through the summer, and the jar opened around November as autumn deepens. In Uji and other tea-growing districts, kuchikiri gatherings are held at this season, and connoisseurs wait a year for the one sitting. In the Edo period the transport of tea jars to the shogunal house was institutionalised as the ochatsubo dochu, an indication of how highly jar-aged tea was regarded.
Why it matters
It is the one occasion at which the tea itself, rather than the utensils or the arrangement, is the subject. Everything else in the gathering is composed around a first taste.
Sources
- 口切りの茶事（精選版 日本国語大辞典） / コトバンク
Supports: 口切りの茶事が、葉茶壺に入れ目張りして保存しておいた新茶の封を陰暦10月初め頃に切り、抹茶に挽いて客に飲ませる行事であること
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
- Seasonal
Related terms
- Robiraki (opening the hearth)robiraki
Opening the sunken hearth in November — called the practitioner's new year — often held with the jar-opening.
- Matchamatcha
Shade-grown green tea leaf stone-ground to a fine powder, whisked into water rather than steeped.
- Nagori (regret at a season's end)nagori
The October theme of taking leave of the brazier season, using utensils worn by half a year of use.