Member’s Chaki in Bondi Junction, June 25th
Arriving for this year’s Members’ Chakai it felt like it was mid-winter. Never mind, the tsukubai was filled with warm water for the guests, and the chashitsu was warm. The scroll read Tsuru wa tobu sen-jaku no yuki (Cranes are flying over one thousand feet of snow), written by Rev. Bokudo. The temae took the tsuzuki-usucha (続き薄茶) form. For the main sweet, Itoko Inoue had made jouyo-manju, “Matsu no yuki” (snow on a pine tree), served directly from a steamer to individual kashiwan. The koicha was also served in individual bowls. The usucha sequence began as shibori-chakin (絞り茶巾) with hana-Mishima cylindrical chawan with a pattern of sacred bamboo under snow. So, even though the chashitsu was warm, no one doubted that it was winter.
