April - Celebrating Birth

Tsurigama hanging kettle

They say “April showers bring May flowers.”  While the sakura are in full bloom in Japan, here in Stow, Ohio at the Snowflake Tea Room, April brings the hope for warmer weather to blossom and the birth of spring flowers taking their first breath of air.  As the temperature rises and the days get warmer, we prepare for the journey of the kettle in the sunken winter hearth to a hanging kettle or tsurigama.  The cast iron kettle is suspended on a chain from the ceiling.  As the kettle is being used by the host, it swings gently giving the impression of a soft spring breeze floating across the tatami mats.

Many of the wagashi and higashi traditional Japanese sweets for spring mirror the look and feel of the seasonal and stunning sakura blossoms.  These sweets are artfully crafted and typically made from plant ingredients.  Higashi (dried sweets) are made from a rice flour, sugar and starch mixture then pressed into molds to dry.  At the tea room we offer these Japanese confections before serving tea.  They sweeten the mouth before a sip of matcha green tea which can be bitter.  Since we do not add sugar to matcha, this helps to balance the flavor of the tea.

Wagashi and higashi sweets for spring

On April 8, Buddha’s birthday is celebrated at Buddhist temples in Japan.  The commemoration is called Kanbutsu-e or Hana Matsuri  (Flower Festival).  On this day, a basin of water with a small childlike statue of Buddha is placed in the center of a hanamido or “flower hall” that has been adorned with colorful flowers.  With arms simultaneously pointed upward and downward, the baby Buddha statue symbolizes the words of Buddha after birth, “I alone am honored in heaven and on earth .”

Kanbutsu-e celebration

Visitors sprinkle sweet hydrangea tea or amacha over the head of the statue as if bathing a newborn baby.  It is a symbolic gesture recreating Buddha’s birth in the garden of Lumbini where he was anointed after birth with pure water from heaven.  In the past, this sweet tea was thought to have magical powers.  Families would drink the tea and write spells with ink made from the tea to ward off unwanted animals and spirits.

In the month of April, as the season changes we also give birth to a different style of tea that incorporates a portable box or tabi-dansu with the tea utensils arranged inside.  Tabi means travel and dansu means chest.  It is therefore fitting for this traveling chest to be used in the tea room, for outdoor ceremonies or when a proper tea room is not available.

"April Snow" tabi-dansu

When doing tea outside of the tea room, tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591) preferred to have his utensils by his side.  He is credited with inventing the box for his travels with warlord Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1536-1598) during times of battle in the 16^th century.  Made of plain palownia wood, the latched front door and two shelves inside are removable and allow for a variety of ways to use the box for tea ceremony.  For example, the middle shelf can be removed and used as a protective tray for the natsume or tea caddy and chasen or tea whisk versus placing the utensils on the bare ground when outdoors.  

We look forward to our April Snow tabi-dansu making an appearance for it is indeed a sure sign that the birth of spring is near.  We hope you will join us at the tea room to welcome spring.  Please make time to come and enjoy a bowl of tea with us.

April style at Snowflake Tea Room

Photo credit:
Jeanenne Gribble, tea student
Elaine Robinson, tea student