June 21, 2020
Wakin
Something interesting to ponder. If you took all the world’s problems and put them all together in a big ball in front of you, including your own, and you were asked to take one off the pile, you would always choose your own. Is that true?
- Seto hitoeguchi mizusashi (NOT magemono)
- Wakin dougu:
- Doburo + rikyu konomi kama
- Aodake futaoki (in fact, all shikaden and in general all hakobidemae should always be aodake. the only time you use non-aodake for hakobi is for nagori. Otherwise, if you have a futaoki with a kao, that should go on a tana)
- Nakabushi chashaku (he hadn’t heard of the ikuchiyo naming thing)
- Rakujawan
- Usucha shin chasen
- Interesting on this, the chasen we use is actually shin! and it’s for usucha, as opposed to the one with thicker tines that is made for koicha, or ones of a different shape, ie the rikyu shape which is straight flared out like a triangle.
- WAKIN AND CHAKI
- The wakin is the important piece in this set. Normally the two go together, at least if you buy them from a douguyasan, but there is no requirement of a pairing between a wakin and a chaki’s shifuku. If someone gifts you fabric and you don’t have enough, you make a wakin out of the fabric first. The shifuku doesn’t matter.
- It’s typically a tantansai kuwa nakatsugi, but it can be anything. It could be a chaire, it could be a natsume, etc.
- Wakin dimensions are substantively similar to regular kobukusa, but he doesn’t know the precise dimensions (or if they are exactly the same as a regular kobukusa)
- Efugo kensui
- Wakin atsukai
- So my notes from before are pretty wrong. Well, rather, let me be clearer. The particular temae that I did today was seen by a gyotei and not corrected, so presumably it’s correct or at least mostly correct.
- First, pick up from the lower left corner with R (overhand).
- Then, L comes in (underhand) and immediately moves up the side of the wakin. L should hold deeply.
- Then R reholds from that corner (underhand), and slides around the bottom and up so that both hands grasp the kobukusa from the side.
- Then R comes in and holds the chaki with 4 fingers. Pinky stays underneath the kobukusa.
- Then you move it to where it needs to go.
- Then you release both hands at the same time, naturally. On the way out, you can gently press down on the side of the kobukusa with your thumbs (ie hands in tea-hand position, with index finger and thumb touching).
- Temae (my notes from before were pretty incorrect)
- NOTE: You DO avoid the dougu in front of the mizusashi, just like it’s karamono.
- Start with wakin out mizusashi no mae, kami ichimai from the front of the mizusashi
- Bring out chawan, leave at kattetsuki
- Leave and return with kensui like usual
- Take out hishaku, futaoki, etc like usual. (chawan is still at kattetsuki)
- Bring wakin + chaki combo to temae ALONE. Kiyome is done separately.
- Take off the shifuku, all the time holding with 2 hands, flip hi no hou, and place back by the shikiita.
- Note here: When you buy wakin from douguyasan, you typically get a shifuku that’s folded over. However, if you were to custom-make a shifuku for your chaki, it wouldn’t have that crease in it. So act like it’s a custom-made one and ignore the crease. There’s no folding it down or anything.
- Same goes for ootsubukuro — better to leave it laid totally flat when it’s in storage rather than folded over.
- Yoho-sabaki, then sou-sabaki to clean chaki. Pick up chaki 2h (R supporting but not nigiriconde). Nibiki then doubuki 3x. Place back on the wakin, and move wakin back to MIZUSASHI NO MAE.
- Then, bring bowl to temae from kattetsuki 2h. Clean chashaku like usual, 3x. Bondate-style, place chashaku down on wakin (rehold to pinch sides with R). Put chasen to kensui no kata, then refold and nibiki the mizusashi no futa, then immediately put the chakin on the lid (no moving the bowl bc it’s already at temae).
- Continue like usual until you’re about to scoop tea (no abbreviations, so nikai age for chasentoshi at the beginning and the end)
- To scoop tea, handle the chaki like karamono. Take with R, supporting with L. Give to L when you get to the bowl. Take off the lid and place it on the wakin. Then take the chashaku directly with R (the same as you do with bondate, ie from top and bottom) and start scooping.
- Kakidashi, so 3x scoop then fwoosh the whole thing out.
- Put chashaku on bowl, wipe lid with fingers, put lid back on, give to R, and place back on wakin 2h.
- NOTE: For opening the mizusashi no futa, you should tilt it the same way as you do for mage mizusashi to avoid the dougu in the front.
- Continue like usual until shimai.
- After everything is clean and the chasen, chakin, and chashaku are back in the bowl, we move things to “honjimai,” sort of. Wakin is already in its place, so it stays. Bowl moves to kattetsuki, except instead of moving to karioki, it moves to hizasen mae like at the end of temae. Scoop cold water and close.
- For haiken, just take wakin as usual. Remember, no abbreviations, so yohosabaki and 3x doubuki. Fukusa goes to the right of the wakin.
- NOTE: You are allowed to fix the fukusa a bit if it’s wonky when you put it down. Pinching top and bottom of fukusa is enough to tighten it up a bit and make it look nice.
- No need to air-fold the fukusa. After you doubuki and remove the lid (placing the lid on the wakin), you can just fold against the side of the nakatsugi like usual.
- Wakin goes out to kantsuki, then chashaku and shifuku go to their normal positions [as if they were unmoved, and only the wakin was moved up to kantsuki].
- TO GO HOME:
- Pick up the wakin like usual and place in your left palm, thumb on top of the chaki.
- Pick up chashaku, nigiriconde, then pick up side of the shifuku (R)
- Bring R above the nakatsugi and steady the top of the nakatsugi with R ring finger knuckle.
- Move L thumb down onto the top of the wakin s.t. the only thing steadying the nakatsugi is your R knuckle.
- At sadoguchi, bring your thumb back on top of the nakatsugi, then do everything back in reverse and place down in their usual spots (no need to put wakin in a special place, usual chaire place is sufficient)
- Other notes:
- When scooping cold water, always do a full scoop. “Oyu takes energy, but mizu is free.”
- There’s no magic for doubuki of nakatsugi. Just gotta do it lots.
- My chashaku tends to be a little too genki. Be careful of that.
- Teaching used to be that R hand holding chashaku should be kami ichimai from your lap.
- What a weird temae. Basically it’s wamono that you treat like karamono.