Kyoto

At a tea ceremony in Kyoto, our host Hinako san spoke of the ceremony’s four principles - harmony, respect, purity, tranquility - then showed us how to prepare and enjoy matcha.

Some takeaways: don’t use boiling water, it makes the tea bitter.

Don’t talk politics or business, listen instead to the breeze and the birds.

A subtle last-sip-slurp expresses your appreciation but please, no ramen-level slurping.

Being part of the tea ceremony was like being invited to dance. Our host was graceful and full of joy; we learnt some new steps.

Before the tea ceremony, we visited Japan’s most famous rock garden at Ryoanji Temple.

The garden has 15 rocks, placed within a rectangular plot of raked pebbles.

At least one of these 15 rocks is always hidden from view, no matter what your vantage point.

To some people, the garden suggests a tiger carrying cubs across a pond. Others see a representation of the infinite; others hear a call to look inward.

On the face of it, nothing but moss grows in the Ryoanji rock garden; the rest of its components are inanimate.

But when you consider the play of light and the river-flow of pebbles; when you take account of the backdrop, some of it fixed, some of it borrowed, when you think about its meaning and/or let go of such concerns, you realise the garden is alive.

Perhaps it’s a mirror. Or a window. Or a rock garden, pure and simple.

Group photo courtesy of Riki Inamura, Riki’s Tours Japan.