Kimonos,Ikebanas,Tea ceremony ....

[glaylover]

The tea ceremony 'event' can be for many different occassions. They have a tea ceremony before the cherry dances in spring in Gion and I assume the other geisha areas. They also used to perform the ritual for private guests. Tea ceremony also used to be performed by samurai, it it good for tranquility and forging good relations. I can't remember other reasons why except these days for artistic reasons.
It is performed usually in a separate teahouse in a garden setting.
Guests wash their hands in a special stone basin before entering the tea house through a special door on their knees(or at least that is what I had to do). The whole ceremony is done in virtual silence, thus giving the feeling of tranquility and being able to focus and appreciate the movements and intriquite positions of not only the tea master and guests but also the implements used.
You will be quite involved with ceremony, you don't just sit there and drink the tea. There are special movements for picking up the bowl, turning before you drink and holding the bowl and even how many sips you take.
Kimono should be worn for traditional tea ceremony.
usually traditional sweets will be served with the tea, as the mach tea is quite strong and bitter and this conteracts that. also some tea ceremonies last many hours, but they are usually served with a meal.