Tea Party between Hirokatsu and Mariko as seen in Shogun
This work is sharpened in images, Japanese dialogues, etc., and it is difficult to convey it only in English, so I will explain it.
What is a tea ceremony room?
Hirokatsu Toda, Mariko’s husband, invites Mariko to his tearoom to thank her for her hospitality.
In a Japanese tearoom, the owner first selects a hanging scroll. Then, he prepares flowers and tea utensils to match the hanging scrolls.
The tea room is said to be a sacred world of its own.
The stepping stones
The stepping stones in the video are a guide to the sacred world of the tearoom.
While crossing the stepping stones, the participants prepare their hearts and minds.
tsukubai
Then, the participants will walk to the tsukubai.
This is where we purify our hands and mouth.
This means not to use dirty hands and dirty mouth.
Nijiriguchi
After passing through the narrow entrance called “Nijiriguchi,” one enters a sacred space.
Here, there is no hierarchy of status, no hierarchy between men and women.
There are no pretexts, and it is a world where one can speak one’s hidden heart.
It is a world of the spirit between the master and the guest.
When a guest enters a tea room
First, the guest enters the tea room without the master.
Then, by looking at the hanging scrolls and the room, they sense the master’s purpose.
The hanging scroll
The hanging scroll in the video is “Willow Green and Flowers Red.
A beautiful spring view of lush fresh green willows and flowers in crimson
It means waiting in anticipation for the coming of spring.
the flower in the tokonoma
Also, the flower in the tokonoma (alcove) is a single camellia with a large bud that is about to bloom.
Camellia is another flower that reminds us of spring!
The camellia also reminds us of spring,
Hirokatsu’s desire
they are a symbol of Hirokatsu’s desire is to melt Mariko’s icy heart with the warmth of spring,
and to have a good relationship as a couple.
the master enters the tea room
When the master enters the tea room
First, the guest teams up with the master’s intention,
begins to talk and asks and answers questions to his master.
Questions and Answers between Hirokatsu and Mariko
At first, the guest speaks. Mariko says
winter is ending soon
I understand your intention .
But the conversation does not end there.
In the form of a linked poem in Japanese poetry, the first line, or question, is
“The plum blossoms part from the fragrance of the flowers.
The fragrance of the plum blossoms wafts from the flowers and leaves.
is the superficial meaning.
Because flower and nose are the same sound in Japanese,
I wonder if you have forgotten that the arrow you shot grazed my nose.
It could also be taken as
Hirokatsu’s answer to this question is
My mind is drawn to the distant haze
he replies
The fragrance of the plum blossoms, the wind drifting
Like the haze, I am drawn to you, who are out of reach.
I am drawn to you, the unreachable
the master offers tea
When the question and answer are finished, the master offers tea
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
It is not a Japanese honorific, so the master does not feel any distance between him and Mariko.
In response, Mariko says
“Respectfully, I will have a cup of tea.
This is the highest level of Japanese honorific expression.
It is not used between husband and wife.
Mariko drinking tea.
The physical distance between the two is as far as it can go, even in a small tea ceremony room.
Your performance was wonderful.
The Japanese superlative honorifics are used, and the linguistic distance is as great as if they were strangers.
It is Japanese that puts distance to those who try to get close to you.
And she still looks cold.
distance
Hirokatsu couldn’t get enough of this distance.
It was only for you
I made the tea with all my heart for you.
Mariko said
I was not moved by the tea you made for me.
I was moved by the fact that we might never have the opportunity to drink tea again.
Hirokatsu recalls the time when they had just become husband and wife.
We were happy then. And he talks to her to make her think back to the happy times.
I struggle to remember clearly.
Here, Mariko tells her true feelings to Hirokatsu.
Mariko tells her true feelings
The rebellious Akechi family members were all condemned to death,
but Mariko, who was married to Hirokatsu, was spared death by Hirokatsu’s protection of Mariko.
Hirokatsu thought that Mariko would be happy because I saved her from death and that she would be grateful and love him for it.
But Mariko wanted an honorable end like a samurai.
She said she would obey her husband absolutely, but that was only on the surface, her true intentions were different.
Mariko was burdened with a past in which her family and clan had all been killed.
If possible, she wanted to die with them.
But she survived. She has lived a painful life while being blamed.
But Hirokatsu could not imagine her intention.
She wanted the honorable end of being Akechi’s daughter.
So she rejected Hirokatsu.