The Roji and Utensils — Raku, Ido, Chaire, Natsume

The Roji — Spiritual Device of Transition to the Tea Room

The roji is the garden that serves as the path to the tea room, also called the tea garden. Not a mere path, it functions as a spiritual device of transition from the profane world to the world of tea (a “mountain hermitage in the city”).

The word “roji” is said to derive from the term in the Lotus Sutra’s “Parable of the Phantom City” chapter, meaning a place without cover, in the open air, and as Rikyū used it, indicates the entry to the spiritual world of wabi-cha.

The tea rooms of the previous article [Tea Rooms — the Three National-Treasure Tea Rooms] are interior spaces reached only through the roji. A tea room without a roji only half exists.

Elements of the Roji

Element	Function
Outer gate	Entrance to the roji
Outer roji	The front garden, where guests wait
Kokake machiai	A bench-like waiting seat
Inner gate (chūmon)	Border between outer and inner; guests pass at the host’s signal
Tobi-ishi (stepping stones)	The path, natural stones set in patterns like chidori-gake
Tsukubai	Stone basin for purifying hands and mouth
Stone lantern	Lights the roji
Inner roji	The garden near the tea room; a mountain feel
Sechin (toilet)	In the outer roji

Inner and Outer Roji — Three Stages of Transition

The roji is usually a two-part composition separated by the chūmon:

• Outer roji — On the entry side; here guests change into roji-bakimono (roji sandals) and wait at the outer bench
• Chūmon — Entrance to the inner roji; guests pass at the host’s signal
• Inner roji — Nearer the tea room; more still, with the feel of a deep mountain

This two-part composition enables three-stage spiritual transition: secular → intermediate world → the world of the tea room. The host meets guests at the chūmon and exchanges a silent greeting.

Tobi-ishi — “Walk Six Parts, Look Four Parts”

Tobi-ishi (stepping stones) are natural stones set as the roji’s path.

Features:

• Natural stones (irregular) as the base
• Sizes, shapes, and colors varied to give rhythm
• Patterns like “chidori-gake” (plover), “gan-gake” (goose), “uchi-de”
• One-step intervals (about 30-40 cm)
• Forcing the pace of walking, an effect that composes the heart

Rikyū on stepping stones:

“Walk six parts, look at the view four parts.”

Utility and view together. The design turns the everyday act of walking into deliberate spiritual practice.

Tsukubai — The Rite of Purification

The tsukubai is the stone basin at which the guest purifies hands and mouth before entering the tea room.

Composition:

• Chōzu-bachi — The central stone; the basin holds water
• Mae-ishi — The stone the guest stands on; the largest
• Yuoke-ishi — Where hot water is placed in winter
• Teshoku-ishi — Where a hand-lamp is placed in the night gathering
• Umi — The lowered surround for drainage

The guest stands on the mae-ishi, draws water with a ladle, and purifies left hand, right hand, and mouth. The gesture is akin to the misogi purification of Shinto. The word “tsukubai” is from “tsukubau” (to squat); the guest lowers his body in the act of purifying hands, expressing humility on entering the tea room.

Stone Lanterns — From Shrines and Temples to the Roji

Stone lanterns were originally shrine and temple lights, and Rikyū adapted them to the roji.

Types:

• Kasuga-gata — Kasuga Shrine style; formal and refined
• Oribe-gata — In Furuta Oribe’s taste; carves a cross into the shaft (also called Christian lantern)
• Yukimi-gata — Broad, low kasa (crown); conscious of snow scenes
• Misaki-gata — Modeled on coastal views

The lanterns Rikyū prized were repurposed from old shrines and temples, and their mossy, weathered plainness matched wabi. A reflection of Rikyū’s aesthetic of finding beauty in the aged.

“Shichū no Sanko” — A Mountain Hermitage in the City

Rikyū aimed at “shichū no sanko” — a space that lets you feel the state of a hermit deep in the mountains while remaining in the middle of the city. The roji is the device that makes this transition possible:

• On passing the outer gate, the noise of the street recedes
• Walking the stepping stones, only the sound of one’s own footsteps
• Bathing in the water at the tsukubai, the heart quiets
• Passing the mossy paths of the inner roji, the feel of the deep mountain
• Through the nijiri-guchi of the tea room, another world entirely

This whole transition is achieved in only a few tens of meters. The roji is a place for “walking meditation.” Close to today’s mindfulness thinking.

Roji Plants — “Arrange the Flowers as They Are in the Field”

Roji planting avoids showiness, centered on moss and evergreens:

Favored:

• Moss (sugi-goke, hai-goke)
• Pine, oak, kashi (evergreens)
• Bamboo, yadake (thickets)
• Camellia, sazanka (restrained flowers)

Avoided:

• Somei-yoshino and other showy cherries
• Rose, peony, and other lavish flowers
• Showy autumn trees

The idea communes with Rikyū’s rule “arrange the flowers as they are in the field.” The tea flower (chabana) in the tokonoma is one or two wildflowers; the roji, by having no flowers, sets off the one bloom of the chabana. An aesthetic of subtraction.

The Utensils — “Nearest the Guest’s Body”

The center of the utensils is the tea bowl (chawan). The guest takes the bowl with both hands, brings the lip to the mouth, and drops the gaze into the mikomi (interior). The single bowl chosen by the host touches the guest’s hand, lip, and eye directly — there is no more intimate utensil in all of chadō.

Historically, tea bowls were objects of collection by rulers, and Warring-States lords sought bowls “worth one province and one castle.” Toyotomi Hideyoshi loved the gold tea bowl, Sen no Rikyū idealized the kuro-raku.

Three Vantages on a Tea Bowl — Front, Mikomi, Kōdai

Views of a tea bowl fall into three:

• Front (shōmen) — The most beautiful face when the bowl is set upright. The host presents this face to the guest in the temae. The guest, before drinking, confirms it, and when drinking, turns the bowl slightly to avoid the front (“not to soil the front”)
• Mikomi — The interior. The color and foam of the tea change expression
• Kōdai — The ring on the bottom. The glaze, body, and texture of the clay are exposed. The expert values this most

Raku Bowls — Rikyū’s Ideal

The Raku bowl made by Chōjirō under Sen no Rikyū’s direction embodies the extreme of wabi-cha.

Features:

• Hand-pinched (no wheel)
• Low-fired (about 800 °C) for a soft feel
• Kuro (black) glaze or aka (red) clay
• Light in the hand

After Chōjirō, the Raku family has continued sixteen generations and continues to make bowls in Kyoto today (the Raku Kichizaemon house). Kuro-raku symbolizes the state of “muichimotsu” (nothing at all), aka-raku the “warmth of the earth.” A rare succession in the world: “one ceramic house has continued 400 years, and its bowls have remained at the heart of chadō.”

Ido Bowls — The Summit of Korean Ware

Ido bowls were made in the Yi dynasty of Korea originally as common rice bowls for everyday use. They crossed to Japan in the late Muromachi and were praised by tea masters as the extreme of wabi.

Features:

• Large-scale, distorted form
• “Kairagi” — puckering on the glaze
• A deep kōdai with rough finishing
• Overall a warm “biwa-iro” (loquat color)

The representative work, “Kizaemon Ido,” is a National Treasure, held today at Kōhō-an of Daitoku-ji. A legend has it that a daimyō gave up a fief for a single bowl. A rare aesthetic discovery — “finding the extreme of wabi in the common ware of another country.”

Tenmoku Bowls — The Height of Karamono

Black-glazed bowls fired at the Ken kilns of Song China. The name “tenmoku” comes from the Mount Tianmu where Japanese monks studied.

Features:

• Natural yōhen (kiln-transformed) and yuteki (oil-drop) patterns on black glaze
• Ends of the rim in graceful lines, often with silver fukurin (rim band)

Yōhen Tenmoku — Three in the World, All in Japan

Only three yōhen tenmoku survive — the Seikadō Bunko “Inaba Tenmoku,” Fujita Art Museum, Ryōkō-in of Daitoku-ji — all National Treasures, all in Japan. None are extant in mainland China; a strange fate: “the highest Chinese ceramic ware survives only in Japan.”

Highest-formality bowl, used in the daisu (formal shelf) temae.

Shino, Oribe, Hagi, Karatsu — Regional Wares of the Momoyama and Edo

Shino, Oribe — The Innovations of Mino

Innovative bowls fired in Mino during the Momoyama (see the previous article [Rikyū’s Seven Disciples and Daimyō Tea]):

• Shino — White feldspar glaze, plump form, pale scarlet kiln-effects. The representative “U-no-hana-gaki” is a National Treasure
• Oribe — Distorted forms, bold green glazes, free painting

Hagi Ware — The “Seven Changes”

Bowls of Hagi in Yamaguchi. The “kannyū” — fine crackle — from the differential shrinkage of body and glaze. Tea and water seep into the crackle, and the color changes over the years. This is called “the seven changes of Hagi,” a bowl one enjoys developing with use.

“One Raku, two Hagi, three Karatsu” — the Edo-era ordering of tea masters’ preferences. Raku the highest, then Hagi and Karatsu.

Karatsu Ware — Wabi in Saga

The e-karatsu and Chōsen-karatsu fired at Karatsu, Saga. Plain, strong style.

Kuni-yaki — Individualities of the Regions

Bowls fired at kilns across Japan — Shigaraki, Bizen, Iga — each with its regional character.

Chaire, Natsume, Chashaku — The Three of the Tea-Container Set

Chaire (tea container)

A container for koicha (thick-tea) matcha. Both karamono and wamono are treasured:

• Katatsuki — With rising shoulders. Notable: “Hatsuhana Katatsuki”
• Nasu — Eggplant-shaped. The representative karamono chaire
• Bunrin — Apple-shaped

In the Warring States, some chaire were considered “worth one province and one castle.” Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi vied to hold famous ones.

Natsume

A lacquered container for usucha (thin-tea) matcha. Named for the jujube (natsume) fruit it resembles:

• Chū-natsume — Standard
• Hira-natsume — Flat
• Fubuki-natsume — Spherical lid
• Kuro-natsume, shu-natsume

Made by master lacquerers. Each iemoto has its “Rikyū taste” or “Sōwa taste” designated form. It ties, incidentally, to the previous article’s note that Ichiō Sōshu of Mushakōji-senke came from the lacquerer Yoshioka family [Yabunouchi and the Other Schools].

Chashaku (tea scoop)

A bamboo scoop for lifting the tea. Often made by the tea master himself, it is the utensil in which the tea master’s individuality is most directly expressed:

• Node in the center — Rikyū style
• Ori-tame — leaving some scrapings
• Mei (name) — The name given to a chashaku (“Tsuyu,” “Yamazakura,” “Hatsu-shimo,” seasonal words)

Tomozutsu — A bamboo tube made by the same maker. This serves as the chashaku’s “certificate.”

Kama and Mizusashi

Kama (kettle)

An iron kettle for boiling water. Kilns include Ashiya, Tenmyō, and Kyō-gama:

• Ashiya — Chikuzen Ashiya; the oldest
• Tenmyō — Shimotsuke Tenmyō; simple
• Kyō-gama — Kyoto; precise design
• Kama-shi (kettle masters) — The Ōnishi family (in Sen taste), the Nakoshi family, the Nishimura family — generations of craftsmen

Mizusashi (fresh-water container)

A vessel for the cold water used in temae. Ceramic, metal, or wood:

• Shigaraki onioke — Jōō’s taste
• Bizen — Simple
• Sometsuke, karamono

Hana-ire and Kakemono — The Stars of the Tokonoma

Hana-ire (flower vase)

The vessel in which the chabana is arranged in the tokonoma. Diverse: Rikyū’s invention of the bamboo ichijū-giri, kago-hana-ire (basket vase), karadō (Chinese bronze), ceramic.

Kakemono (scroll)

The most important element of the tokonoma. Bokuseki (writings) of Zen monks (like the Engo bokuseki in the previous article [Murata Jukō]) rank highest. Below that come shōsoku (tea masters’ letters), gasan (paintings with inscriptions), tanzaku, shikishi.

“The content of the tea event is decided by the scroll,” and the host chooses the scroll according to season, guest, and intention.

From This Article to the Next

We have traced the roji and major utensils. The next article turns to the actual practice of the tea event — chaji, kaiseki, and sweets, their progress and season. The flow of the four-hour formal chaji, the ichijū sansai kaiseki, main sweets and dry sweets, and the seasonal turn between the furo and the ro — the whole picture of how tea is actually done.