Now it is August and lately we have been having wonderful hot days here in London. In the tea ceremony, we sometimes use the Natsu chawan (the summer tea bowl) during the hot summer months. The Natsu chawan is flatter and wider than the more usual bowl, so that the tea can cool more quickly.
Some people also use a glass tea bowl, tea caddy or water jar so there is some coolness for our eyes. And the great tea master Sen no Rikyu famously mentioned in 16th century that ‘we showcase coolness in summer and warmness in winter.’ Seasonality is an important element of the tea ceremony, encouraging us to enjoy every season, so it is a very special idea to choose a particular material, like glass, to help us enjoy coolness through what we perceive.
Hiroshi Sugimoto’s glass tea room in Naoshima, Japan, generates a sensation of coolness.
