#wabunka

Japan: chopsticks and tea Not wanting to just experience Japan through food and shopping, we signed up for a class on making chopsticks. We got up early and crossed town to discover a light tinkle of snow falling on our jackets when we emerged from the subway. We bundled up and walked a few blocks to find our translator Sairo waiting for us on a side street by a humble woodworking studio. Next to the entrance behind the parked cars we could see a huge variety of wood planks that we later learned were left exposed to dry out, over a ten year period before it would be used for furniture or other objects. Sairo introduced us to the woodworking master, a 70-something gentleman who had made everything in the shop. His tiny gallery included intricate inlaid wood boxes, bud vases, paper weights with hidden iron inside them. He used no nails or glue to make his products, only painstakingly created dovetail connections. The seems looked as if they had been made with laser, but this artwork has been created over thousands of years without the use of modern tools but rather patience and attention to detail learned in apprenticeship from masters like him. After admiring his work we went upstairs to the workshop to learn a bit about chopsticks making and try our hand at it. He had precut four types of wood for us to choose from. Santiago went with ash, and I chose a maple that turned out to be harder to work with. We used a wooden block and plane to cut down the corners from a square to create an octagon, and continued planing down in various stages and tapers to create the shape of a chopstick with a rounded bottom but squarish top. Santiago’s work was expert, but mine left more to be desired. Fortunately, a good master can help a student overcome imperfections to create a good final product. In the end we both came way with a pair of beautiful chopsticks we had honed ourselves (with expert instruction), as a wonderful momento and experience. When we descended back to the gallery to purchase a few of his art works, a local TV crew had come by doing a story about local artisans in the area. They wanted to interview us about why we had chosen this experience and what we thought. I’m not sure if we ended up on local TV or were left on the digital editing room floor, but it was sweet to offer our sincere appreciation for the opportunity to learn from this wood master. Later that day we traveled to the French part of Tokyo to a small restaurant that offered a Japanese tea ceremony introduction. Our interpreter Haruka is married to a Hawaiian man, so they speak English at home. She introduced us to our tea master, who led us in the art of making tea. The elevated tatami mat platform can be found in some Japanese homes but is rarer to find these days. It harkens back to samurai times as a way to welcome an important guest. The beautiful ceramic bowls were not the machine turned items you’d find in a shop, but rough hewn by hand to show details in crafting that could be appreciated in their color and irregularities. She showed us how to create the perfect matcha tea and present it to the guest, rotating the bowl just so for the guest to admire and sip in exactly 3-1/2 sips with a last slurp of appreciate and finality. We each took our position as tea maker and offered another cup to each other. The hardest part was kneeling on the tatami mat for an extended period of time and fighting the numbness in the legs. I guess we need proper kimonos and more experience. She said the proper poster is as if there is a piece of paper between your bottom and your heels, that one is never actually leaning on the feet but always strong in the core. What a treasured day getting a glimpse into the past and appreciating people who are carrying on these traditions.