Study of the Effects of Japanese Tea Ceremony Will Give the Peace of Mind of Guests

Tea ceremony, which is considered to be the representative of Japanese traditional culture, is used as one of methods to learn the spirit of “Omotenashi” that is a particularly Japanese form of hospitality. That is because when conducting a tea ceremony, care and sympathy shown toward one’s guest is considered to be the most important. In tea ceremony, there are attitudes, such as “Treasure Every Meeting, For It will Never Recur” that are crucial when hosting guests. Especially, attitudes that “the host must prepare thoroughly for the guests, stage a pleasant experience” and “the guests enjoy the preparation of the host” are important. In “Omotenashi”, the side that is providing the service and the side that is receiving the service are equal, and the guest and the host (the one who invites guest) are also equal in tea ceremony. Moreover, there are many types of utensils (tea things) that are used for tea ceremony. Many of them are specific to tea ceremony, and the ways they are used are also unique Originally, tea ceremony (Sado) was called “Chato” or “Cha no Yu”. The name “Sado” was adopted in early Edo period, and it is used until today. The ultimate aim of tea ceremony is the sense of harmony between the host and the guest. Therefore, elements such as tea things, chiefly among them the tea bowl, or hanging scroll with Zen wisdom hang in the alcove of tea room are more than just individual artworks. Rather, they are parts that constitute the whole, and the passing time of tea ceremony itself is regarded as a total work of art. The traditional Japanese act of boiling water, prepare tea and serve it, and the style and art based on this act, is considered to be a particularly Japanese “Omotenashi”. In tea ceremony, the host that is holding the ceremony invites guests after careful preparation, and the guests are expected to understand the intention of the host, behave appropriately to the situation and show gratitude. In other words, they create pleasant space by the host and the guests becoming one. This “reciprocity of the host and the guests” is also called “unity of the hosts and the guests”. In our series of research, we study that the Japanese tea ceremony will give the peace of mind of guests or not. We made several groups as customer of tea ceremony. Each customer set heart rate mater and measured the R-R interval. After the experiment we analyze the peace of mind on each step (called Otemae) of the tea ceremony. We found that peace of mind is different for each group. By analyzing peace of mind in the tea ceremony, we will be able to enjoy Omotenashi, based on the spirit of tea that aims to “Treasure Every Meeting, For It will Never Recur”.