Chawan or bowl?

[Wosret]

Is there anything specific that differentiates chawan from a regular footed bowl? I'm having trouble telling the difference!

[Salsero]

My impression is that any wide, footed bowl is a chawan. I have several sencha cups that I bought as "Yunomi Chawan" or "Chawan Teacups." I don't know if there is a way to distinguish between chawan as a shape for a cup and chawan as a bowl for making matcha. I'm sure Chamekke or Joel or Pentox or Olivierco will be along shortly to explain the whole deal.
(crosses fingers)

[tsusentei]

Cha Wan literally means something more like Tea "Ceramic Basin", not bowl. It is a very generic term that can be used for any open-faced ceramic object that holds your tea as you drink it, within reason, I suppose. Yunomi are typically referred to as chawan when they are used in conjunction with the sencha tea ceremony. Even Yunomi simply means "Hot-water Drinker". When dealing with shapes, colors and other aesthetic features the Japanese tendency is to be so specific, that they don't usually mention it unless it "matters" because these decisions are so involved that the answer is often disputed. I hope this helps, I am not used to doing this chat/blog stuff. Was this too specific?

[Salsero]

the sencha tea ceremony

We like our tea info pretty specific on this forum! Thanks.

Now... what is the sencha ceremony? I thought tea ceremony always meant matcha.

[Pentox]

the sencha tea ceremony

We like our tea info pretty specific on this forum! Thanks.

Now... what is the sencha ceremony? I thought tea ceremony always meant matcha.

There's sencha preparation ceremonies too, they're not really associated with the traditional tea ceremony, i.e. those following Urasenke and the like.

They are also much less documented and lesser known.

And just as a point of clarification, chawan is not a term specific to tea ceremony. The normal bowls people use for rice are called chawan as well. If there is the two in context that may be mixed up they are differentiated by saying which purpose they are for, rice vs. tea.

[Space Samurai]

Now... what is the sencha ceremony? I thought tea ceremony always meant matcha.

This is information I received from Toru of Artistic Nippon last year when I was reseaching kyusu. He mentioned "senchado."

"Senchado is similar to Chado - the matcha tea ceremony. However one of the differences is that in Senchado metal kettles are not used boil water because it is believed that it affects the taste of the sencha in a negative way. Instead, a terracotta pot called "bofura" is used.

Here is a link to the whole thing. http://anotherteablog.blogspot.com/2007/07/kyusu.html

I haven't looke recently, but I didn't find much on sechado at the time.

[Space Samurai]

From my observations, "chawan" and "yunomi" tend to have different shapes. Chawan will tend to look more like bowls and yunomi are more cylindrical, more like cups.

I also look at the diameter of the bowl/cup. To me, anything 4 inches or smaller is too small for easy matcha preparation. All my matcha bowls are 4.7 - 6 inches.

[chamekke]

Originally the sencha tea ceremony was developed as a relaxed and conversational way of enjoying tea with others, in contradistinction to the matcha tea ceremony which is more Zen-oriented and formal. Ironically, however, over time it adopted many of the same stylistic elements as matcha tea ceremony, even developing an iemoto system.

Patricia J. Graham writes at length about the history of senchadou in her book Tea of the Sages: The Art of Sencha - although, disappointingly, she says very little about the practice of senchadou in the present day. The Japanese-language book 煎茶の心得 - Sencha no Koronoe illustrates the teas, utensils, and practice of senchadou, but of course it's in Japanese only. Great pictures though!

The Ogawaryusecha [Sencha] Tea Ceremony School has an English-language website where you can read more about it:
http://www.ogawaryu.com/enindex/enindex/enindex.html

I'm unaware of any senchadou activities outside Japan, but if anyone learns of any centres or teachers, I would love to hear more!

[chamekke]

Is there anything specific that differentiates chawan from a regular footed bowl? I'm having trouble telling the difference!

I think this has already been covered by other people, but basically: a chawan for matcha has to be large enough to accommodate a chasen (bamboo whisk), yet not not so large that the liquid will splash about; the inner dimensions of the bowl need to permit the matcha powder to be mixed smoothly and evenly; and the foot needs to be stable so that the bowl doesn't rock while the whisking is taking place.

The cups used for drinking sencha can be called either yunomi (generally cylindrical, as Space Samurai notes) or chawan. The chawan used for sencha-drinking sometimes have a bowl-style shape that is similar to some matcha chawan, but the ones used for sencha are typically smaller in size.

(Matcha chawan are as big as they are because they must serve as a "mixing bowl" as well as a drinking bowl - that's why the amount of matcha in a single serving is relatively small.)

In tea ceremony there are other, more specific features to look for, but most of these aren't too relevant for people who simply want to make themselves a bowl of matcha at home.

[Wosret]

Thank you very much, everyone!