Tea ceremony glossary

The vessel holding clean water for the kettle and for rinsing; the utensil offering the widest freedom of material and form.

A vessel with a spout used to add cold water to the kettle after the charcoal procedure.

The back room where utensils are prepared and cleaned; the space said to reveal a practitioner's real ability.

The doorway linking the tea room to the preparation room, through which all of the host's movement passes.

Taking an object made for another purpose into the tea room as a utensil; where a host's invention shows most sharply.

The monk (1173–1232) who cultivated Eisai's tea seeds at Toganoo, establishing tea growing in Japan.

Chinese tea culture of 1368–1644, in which steeping in a pot was established; the ancestor of Japanese senchado.

The first dish of the meal, placed on the far side of the tray; where the host's choice of vessel is most tested.

The smallest of the three Sen family schools, centred on Kankyuan in Kyoto and known for economical, unadorned movement.

The tea master (1423–1502) who began the turn toward wabi tea by serving tea in a small thatched room.

A name given to a tea scoop, bowl, or flower vessel, condensing the theme and season of a sitting.

Utensils with documented history, transmission, and a name; the highest rank in the classification of tea objects.

Small individual plates used to serve sweets one guest at a time.

The host's fundamental orientation toward the guest; understated attention rather than demonstrated service.

The grilled fish course, served from a shared bowl that guests pass among themselves.

A Kyoto school founded by Yabunouchi Jochi, a contemporary of Rikyu, preserving a tea style close to that period.

The history and associated stories attaching to a utensil or a sitting; broader than the physical transmission.

A thin-tea container with a wider mouth and fuller body, suited to large decorative surfaces.

Appearance produced by chance in the kiln — flame movement, temperature, falling ash — beyond the maker's control.

The reference size for a tea room — four mats and a half — sitting on the boundary between shoin and thatched styles.