“When people are having tea, all discrimination ceases to exist”

Great Master Sen Genshitsu, descendant of the founder of Sen no Rikyu tea ceremony, visited Ukraine for the first time. He gave an exclusive interview to The Day on the eve of his tea ceremony master class in Kyiv.

Oriental culture becomes more and more popular these days. Western countries still cannot fully comprehend its mysterious potential, but nevertheless, they are attracted by its exotics, fervently cherished and safely encoded spiritual treasures, by its unique esthetics. And if anyone dares to explore the ancient knowledge, doing that with the help of rational conception of the world, built on the classical logic, will become their first challenge and obstruction. In order to avert their disciples from this path, great masters of Zen Buddhism (which gave birth to Japanese tea ceremonies) offered a variety of riddles that helped followers reach enlightenment.

During the long centuries of its existence, the Way of Tea developed into a complex and full-fledged spiritual philosophy, which now is much more than just an exotic Japanese ritual.

The 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Japan was celebrated on September 15. To honor this event, the Great Master of the Urasenke Tradition of Tea, 89-year-old Sen Genshitsu spoke to Ukrainian public for the first time. “This is a very rare opportunity even in Japan. Those who are lucky to witness it, remember it for the rest of their lives,” said Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine Toichi SAKATA in his opening speech.

Sen Genshitsu had been the head of the Urasenke house for 38 years. He transferred this title and the hereditary name Soshitsu to his elder son Zabosai. After that, he became referred to by the title Daisosho, signifying his status as the once Grand Master. At present, among other positions, Sen Genshitsu is UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and President of the United Nations Association of Japan. In 1997, he was awarded the Order of Culture by the Emperor of Japan.

In his speech, Sen Genshitsu asked Ukrainians to pay attention to the banners that were placed on the stage and interpreted their symbolism in this way: “The beautiful blue sky and endless golden wheat fields are perfectly complemented with the sun that we see on Japanese flag.” He also said that both Ukraine and Japan went through a lot of hardships: both countries experienced nuclear catastrophes, but both are naturally not warlike. And also he said: “Ukrainians are as patient and kind as Japanese people.” “I know you had to endure much trouble in political sense, but you managed to get on your feet and create your country by yourselves,” Sen Genshitsu said.

In order to illustrate the fact that the Way of Tea is also the way of patience, it would be appropriate to cite the Great Master’s words from his public speech in Moscow during perestroika. Sen Genshitsu looked at people’s skeptic faces and said: “I understand what you are thinking right now: why would we care about tea, when our country is about to fall apart! You idealize Oriental culture too much. You think that tea ceremony is a product of well-being, of calm and philosophical leisure. But in reality, it is one of the survival tools in the era of a total civil war.” The Way of Tea emerged in Japan at the end of the16th century, during the war that lasted for a century. The war with a very cruel outcome not only for the country, but for tea masters as well. Master Sen no Rikyu, who systematized main principles and created three schools of tea ceremony, was forced to perform hara-kiri, and so were a lot of his followers. Some of them were executed. And it was in those harsh times of Japanese history that people desperately longed for a harmony that would restore their strength.

For warriors, tea ceremony was not just beauty for beauty’s sake, it was a training of mental concentration.

On the eve of the master class at the National Technical University of Ukraine “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute,” Great Master Sen Genshitsu gave his only interview in Ukraine, and it was to The Day newspaper.

Today tea is the integral part of many countries’ culture, even of the ones that do not grow it. For example, in Great Britain it is a heritage of colonial times. And what is tea for the Japanese?

“Japanese people have two things that are inseparable from their life: tea and chopsticks. When we have tea with someone, we share our joyful moments. That is why when our guests arrive, we ask them: ‘Would you like some tea?’ Tea brings people closer during communication.

“Japanese tea has natural green color, which sort of passes to your soul, it is like you are drinking nature. And foreigners value our tea for its health-improving qualities.

“There are a lot of places in Japan where you can have traditional tea, but coffee is also getting popular there. Unlike Great Britain, which imports tea, or Russia with its cold weather, Japan grows tea, because the climate is suitable for that.”

The tea ceremony in Japan is based on philosophical and conceptual compounds. Why did it happen this way, how was this philosophical system formed, and what influences did it experience?

“It is true, tea is a philosophy that is a part of Japanese mentality. A whole philosophical movement was created when tea and Chinese Confucian tradition came to Japan. It happened in the 12th century, and after that tea consumption spread all over Japan.

“Tea added a meditative compound and an element of pleasant leisure to the traditional lifestyle. People received an opportunity to spend a few minutes free from work, when they could rest and just look at flowers or the moon… In Japan they call it ‘time, when the wind blows.’ This is the wind that takes away all the worries of routine life and lets the soul have a rest. It is the time to write haiku or waka [Japanese poetry genres. – Ed.].

“When people are having tea, all discrimination ceases to exist, everybody is equal. Despite the status, you can offer tea to anyone. And even the most respectable and high-ranked officials will not show off their status during a tea ceremony. Tea teaches people to be tactful and sincere. That is why they say about the Way of Tea, ‘it is not a ceremony, but a life path.’ This is what you cannot see with your eyes. Every single one of us decides for themselves and walks this path alone. In order to see this path, we need this ritual.”

Did the role of tea ceremony change for the Japanese?

“Tea teaches people of peace and serenity. These things remain unchangeable for centuries.

“The job of samurai warriors was to fight for their shogun [head of the samurai government, the highest military rank. – Ed.] and for their families; but they knew that war is not a good thing. That is how Bushido was created [samurai moral code. – Ed.], which says that you cannot hate your enemy, because the first meaning of fighting is competing. Noblesse oblige is one of the key notions of samurai code. This is where the Way of Tea and Bushido meet. We cannot defy war, but we can soften its impact thanks to tea. Even during fighting, both sides remain human. You need to fight without hatred, because you never know whether you are going to win, or you will be killed. Thanks to tea, aggressive moments of wars were softened, and this is the main role of this drink.”

You are the representative of the 15th generation of the dynasty that originated the tea ceremony as we know it now. What does being a keeper of history and traditions of this kind of art mean to you? Do you feel the responsibility before the country and the nation, and what kind of responsibility is it?

“I was born in an unusual family, because it has been keeping the tea ceremony traditions for 500 years now. I knew that my mission was to tell about the soul and spirit of tea to others. This is a broad path, in which art, religion, and philosophy are intertwined.

“Every kind of sport has its rules: if you know them, the game becomes interesting. Sportsmen undergo exhausting training sessions if they want to win. When training becomes systematic, these rules become a part of your personality, and later, one of your character traits and an essential part of your spirit.

“There is a huge gap between well-mannered and ill-bred people. In general, good manners are the same in all countries. And of course, there are manners in tea ceremony too.

“Ever since I was a little child, my mother taught me the proper way to bow, stir tea, and invite guests. Through tea ceremonies she taught me the proper way to behave. And only after that it came to a real tea ceremony.

“Often, especially abroad, people say that Japanese people are very kind. And this is not because we bow all the time, it is just that our bows express our attitude towards the world, people, and life. Perhaps, this is the most important element of Japanese culture.

“I think that I have to pass this tradition on, my role is to tell as many people as possible about it. This is the traditional Japanese culture that represents our country abroad. And so it turns out that I am a person who represents Japanese culture. This means that I have to become a better person each day in order to be suitable for the role I am destined to perform. If you loosen yourself even a bit, you will never become the best.

“In Japan even common schools have classes where students are taught the ritual of tea ceremony, the same applies to universities. People who are acquainted with tea ceremony, and those who never practiced it, differ in manners profoundly. Unfortunately, there are a lot of young people who are not interested in their native culture. And if in the past a whole family lived together under one roof, today families are separated, people live apart. Sometimes it happens that children kill their parents. I think that in order to avoid such sorrowful incidents, we need to promote tea culture in Japanese society.”

During the 200 years of the Edo Period, Japan was closed for the rest of the world. What is the reason of the spread of Japanese culture during the past few decades?

“Some say that this closedness did not do any good to the country, while others say that thanks to the shutting down of our borders, we managed to preserve Japanese mentality. When you are not allowed to do something, you only want it more. So, when Japan was cut off from the rest of the world, everyone wanted to go and see what was going on abroad. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, a lot of Japanese went to study in Europe. Besides, a few wars happened after the Restoration. One of them was the Russo-Japanese War, which was won by Japan. From European point of view, the winning side could claim at least a half of the territory of the defeated country. But we were so modest that we took only four islands. Save and preserve our country – this is our principle. Japan is not an aggressive country, and that is mainly thanks to Tokugawa years [the Edo Period. – Ed.].

“Besides, Japanese people always wanted to learn more about Europe, they were always in love with European culture. The first Europeans that Japanese encountered were Portuguese, then – Dutch. Thanks to them, Japanese realized that a whole another world exists, with a lot of different countries. And they did their best to learn as much as possible and overcome the 200-year period of isolation. Japan has a very limited natural mineral resource base, so people had to use their minds to come to prosperity. The situation forced us to get raw materials from Europe, invent something new, and improve it.

“Today the exchange of information and human resources is very rapid. We speak different languages, and even our lifestyles differ, but I do not think that in future people will be divided according to their lifestyle, whether it will be European or Japanese. I think there will be one major lifestyle with slight differences. The nationality disappears in the communication process, and it becomes insignificant, whether you are from Japan or Ukraine, because, first of all, you are a human being. In a present-day situation we need to apply every effort in order to keep the world in peace. You cannot think about your own little personal peace, you need to take a look at the whole world and help others. This is very important.”

What do you, as the popularizer of Japanese culture in the world, think about the level of difficulty of a non-Japanese mastering the secrets of tea ceremony ritual?

“I have been traveling around the world for over 50 years, and I have invited a lot of people to study what I teach. All of them treat tea ceremony with great love, and this helps them succeed. Lately, I have acquired many followers from Russia, Germany, and Great Britain. It pleases me that in their countries they are not viewed as some weird fellows. They wear kimonos, and nobody is startled by that; they are accepted to tea clubs, and there is nothing wrong with a German serving tea. Some foreigners treat it more seriously than a lot of Japanese. Moreover, there are already cases when foreigners achieved more than Japanese in this area.

“There are a lot of tea servers in Japan today. Even I am surprised by the number of foreigners among them.”

Do you think that foreigners pose a threat to the country’s cultural values? For example, Japanese have not been dominating in sumo wrestling for a long time.

“You touched upon a very interesting matter. Indeed, there are a lot of foreigners among sumo wrestlers now, but this is a competition, where a person uses all its strength and plunges into sport, sacrifices everything to it. A similar situation happened with judo during the Olympics in London. Japan national men’s team hasn’t won a single medal. There are a lot of foreigners in tea ceremony too now. But I am glad it is this way, because knowledge is something you cannot keep secret. It should be given to people, and I am pleased that these traditions crossed the borders and became common to the whole mankind.”