茶箱花点前 Chabako Hanademae

今年は思いもかけず早く桜がほころび始め、その後の低気温であっという間に桜の季節が終わってしまいました。慌てて茶箱花点前のお稽古をしました。軸は久しぶりに『一期一会』、花は我が家の庭からレンギョウを切って活けました。お菓子は桜餅。塩漬け桜葉の良い香りがお茶室を満たしてくれました

Since this year’s cherry blossoms bloomed a little early and were short-lived because of the unexpected low temperature, we hurriedly practiced hanademae (flower procedure using a tea box)  before the flowers were gone. In the alcove I hung the scroll with the character ichigo ichie (one chance, one encounter) and nearby placed a branch of forsythia from my garden.

筅筒、巾筒、振出はいつもの通り箱に仕込み、棗、茶杓、お茶碗はすべて仕覆で包みます。古帛紗、たたんだ袱紗を箱中に入れ、お盆の上に茶箱を置き準備万端です。拝見なし、拝見ありの二通りをお稽古しましたが、拝見ありはやはり複雑で、時間もかかります。おままごとのような茶箱点前は特に女性の生徒さんたちは大好きです。

We served handmade sakuramochi (rice cake with bean paste wrapped in a preserved cherry leaf), which filled the tearoom with this scent of spring. We practiced this procedure with viewing the utensils first and later without viewing them. The viewing utensil procedure is quite complicated and takes time. The container of utensils looks like a playhouse. Everyone–especially the female students–enjoyed this tea box procedure.