The Mainichi Shimbun

Tea Ceremony Held on Mount Fuji
An Elegant Tea Performance
A Mobile Tea Room at the Eighth Station

Ahead of the end of the summer climbing season on Mount Fuji on September 10, a special tea ceremony, the “Mount Fuji Summit Tea Ceremony,” was held on the 7th at a temporary tea room at Eboshiiwa Shrine, located at the eighth station of the Yoshida Trail on the Yamanashi side of Mount Fuji.

The event was organized by the Fujisan Tenpaigu Shrine of the Shinto Fusōkyō organization and the Hashiguchi Architectural Research Institute, with support from The Mainichi Shimbun, the NPO Fuji-san Club, and others.

Tea ceremonies have previously been held near the summit of Mount Fuji, including at the Okumiya shrine of Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha at the summit. However, this was the first time that a mobile tea room had been used for such a ceremony.

The tea room measured approximately 1.8 meters in length, width, and height. It was constructed with a stainless-steel frame incorporating twisted yarn woven using traditional techniques from Gunnai textiles, a traditional textile craft of Fujiyoshida City, Yamanashi Prefecture.

Tea master Mori Sōyū (45), of the Urasenke school, heated meltwater that had seeped out from between the rocks using an electric heater. He then poured the hot water into traditional Akahada-yaki tea bowls from Nara and performed an elegant tea-making ceremony.

Despite occasional rain, approximately 50 mountain climbers took part in the event.

A 47-year-old woman who runs a restaurant and had come from Kyoto said:

“I thought this was an opportunity that might never come again, so I hurried here. The space was even more beautiful than I had imagined, and I was amazed to experience such an authentic tea ceremony.”

A 22-year-old male university student from France said with a smile:

“The tea ceremony seemed rather difficult, but it was my first experience, and I found it very interesting.”

Architect Shinichiro Hashiguchi (49), who designed the tea room and organized the ceremony, said:

“I wanted this tea ceremony to express our gratitude for the blessings of Mount Fuji. I also had the opportunity to speak with people involved in Gunnai textiles, which was a very valuable learning experience. I would like to continue this initiative in the future.”