Ryurei Guest Table

Japanese tea ceremony is called Chanoyu, Sado or simply Ocha in Japanese and is one of the most important characteristics of the beautiful country of Japan. It is a choreographic ritual of preparing and serving Japanese green tea, called Matcha, together with traditional Japanese sweets to balance with the bitter taste of the tea. Preparing tea in this ceremony means pouring all one's attention into the predefined movements. The whole process is not about drinking tea, but is about aesthetics, preparing a bowl of tea from one's heart.

In the beginning of the Meiji era, the then Grand Master of the Urasenke school of tea ceremony created the ryurei (standing bow) style of tea preparation. The host sits on a stool at a special ryurei tana, which is essentially a type of modified table, and the guests sit on stools or chairs or benches with smaller tables in front of them. He created this specifically for foreign guests at the Kyoto Exhibition in 1872, and it was considered pretty radical then, although it has now been adopted by all the major schools.

A good example of the Ryurei type of tea ceremony can be seen before the various public performances of the Kyoto geisha districts, where a person may get a chance to enjoy a cup of tea brewed by a geiko (geisha) or maiko.

On the table, a small sweet (manju) is placed on a cup and napkin, which is meant to counter the bitter taste of the tea. Manju is a popular traditional Japanese confection. There are many varieties of manju, but most have an outside made from flour, rice powder and buckwheat and a filling of an (red bean paste), made from boiled azuki beans and sugar. They are boiled together again and kneaded.