“When you touch the rim of the bowl with your lips, some people say it’s like kissing, it feels like lips,” Yumiko Sayama explains as she describes the difference in Japanese handmade tea bowls, or raku chawan, used for traditional Japanese tea ceremonies.

Sayama practices the art of the tea ceremony and collects tea bowls and other utensils used in the ancient Japanese ritual. The Honolulu resident, who moved from Japan nearly 30 years ago, built a tearoom inside her St. Louis Heights home. In the tatami mat room with authentic shoji screen doors, she practices her art and invites guests over to view the ancient ritual.

Sayama has been collecting tea bowls for over 20 years and uses them extensively for her tea ceremonies. She has more than 100 in her varied collection.

“We can feel the fingers of the makers when you touch the chawan,” Sayama says as she describes the differences between Japanese raku chawan, and other bowls coming from China and Korea. “When you hold the raku chawan, you can feel the hands of the makers, it’s a warm feeling.”

Tea culture, cultivation and consumption evolved in China many millennia ago and eventually spread throughout Asia. Powdered green tea, or matcha, was ceremonially prepared and served to guests. Chinese tea culture was mostly celebrated by the nobility and elaborate bowls were used to enjoy matcha in the festive ceremony.

In Japan, the tea ceremony is known as chanoyu, sado or chado, essentially meaning “the way of tea.” The ritual, influenced by Zen Buddhism and Shinto beliefs, is to help one have inner and outer peace and find harmony with nature. These new ideas changed the tea ceremony into a more modest, austere event.

The tea ceremony was refined by the historical figure Sen no Rikyu in the 1500s, and ceramic raku chawans were first made at his behest. Before his innovations, bowls from China and Korea had been a part of the ritual as there was no domestic production.

Japanese found these elaborate, imported bowls too ornate, hence Japanese potters began to craft simpler bowls akin to what would be found in a common home setting in rural Japan. These unadorned tea bowls fit the aesthetic of wabi sabi, the complex Japanese belief in finding happiness in the simplicity of everyday life and recognizing the beauty in imperfections.

Japanese raku chawans are made of ceramic and can be distinguished by their colors, glazes and treatments. They were made across the country, and Sayama has a network of friends in Japan who help her purchase antique chawans from auctions.

Her collection of bowls is kept in wooden boxes stacked along a wall in her tearoom. Within the boxes, the bowls are wrapped in cloth bags. The inside lid of the boxes shows a description of the raku chawan and signature of approval given by the grand tea master from the school of tea ceremony.

The great grandchildren of Sen no Rikyu established three branches of tea schools and they are overseen by his descendants. Currently the 16th generation oversees the schools. Sayama practices the Urasenke style of tea ceremony. Raku chawan that have the signed approval of the grand tea master of their school can triple in value but others that do not have provenance can still hold value due to their rarity.

Sayama states her most valuable chawan is over 400 years old and highly valued. But she emphasizes, “Chawan is for the tea... you have to use it... not just for display.” She says there are obviously priceless raku chawans that belong in museums, but she believes one must use them.

“Maybe a Shogun owned or used a particular chawan and that piece belongs in a museum. But to touch and drink with these chawans is more meaningful. They are meant to be used.”

Sayama has even incorporated bowls made from local coconuts to use in her ceremonies. She says many of her guests enjoy this touch as it reminds them of the beauty and specialness of Hawai‘i.

Her collection of tea bowls is extensive as well as her other utensils including whisks that mix the matcha, and ladles that pour the hot water from the chagama, or iron tea kettle. Traditionally, a chagama burned charcoal to heat the water but her kettle uses electricity to keep her in the modern age.

As she holds one special raku chawan, Sayama reflects, “How many people have drunk tea from this chawan? How many people have touched and drunk out of this chawan for 400 years?”

“Just imagine ... it’s so much fun to just imagine.”