Every year, Tea Festival in Uji is held on the first Sunday of October. Uji is one of the two main producing areas of green tea in Japan. (The other is Shizuoka.)
This festival began after the World War II to express our appreciation to people who established & worked for tea ceremony. Expecially Zennist Eisai, Monk Myo-e and a tea ceremony master Sen-no Rikyu are important. In the beginning of 12th century, Zennist Eisai brought tea from China to Japan, and Monk Myo-e made the first tea farm in Uji. Sen-no Rikyu is the one who established tea ceremony in 15th century.
In thanks for their works, green tea, using this year's new tea leaf, is made & served in this festival. But first of all, what they do is to draw water from Uji river.
This tea must be very special(ё_ё)
Then the water is carried to Kosho-ji Temple where tea ceremony is held.
The water arrived at the temple,
then the ceremony began.
But they didn't just make a cup of tea.
First, they grinded fresh green leaf
with a stone mill.
You see, it's special!
Master Horinouchi, a tea master from Omote-sen school, makes a cup of tea for three great men. Even a tea master wears a mask when he makes tea at a temple or a shrine as he's making it for Gods, Budda and our forerunners.
In the end of the festival, tea masters visit the monument of tea whisks to show their gratitude. It's a memorial service for tea whisks. Does it sound strange? But the Japanese have thought that even tools have spirits. This idea is vanishing from the modern society, and I do wish it remain for many, many years to come.
