日本語は英語の後に続きます。Japanese follows.
Many chajin (tea person) feel spring when
they see “tsurigama (hanging kettle)”.
Depending on the school, the tsurigama is
used at this time of the year in March and
April when the Ro (sunken hearth) is coming
to an end.
As the weather gets warmer, the gotoku
(trivet) is removed so that the hearth is
deepened, and a small kettle is used to
boil water with a small fire. For “tsurigama”,
a narrow and small kettle such as “Unryu”
or “Tsurukubi” is often used by hanging it
from a nail on the ceiling.
The kettle sways during the tea procedure,
but we enjoy it as if it were a spring breeze.
There is a little time left for the Ro season.
Whilst listening to “Shofu (pine wind)”, I
had a bowl of “matcha” with the bite-sized
4 color Ohagi (sticky rice ball coated with
sweetened red beans) I received as a souvenir.
It is said that Sen no Rikyu classified “yuso”,
which is the degree of boiling water, into 5
categories: “Kyuon (the weeping sound of
earthworms)” “Kaigan (the temperature at
which small bubbles form like crab eyes)”
“Renju (the temperature at which a stream
of bubbles rises as in spring water)” “Gyogan
(the temperature at which large bubbles
form like the eyes of a fish)” and “Shofu
(the temperature at which the kettle
squeaks)” and considered “Shofu” as good.
釣釜を見ると春を感じる茶人は多い。
流派によるが、炉も終わりに近づく
３月４月のこの時期は、気候も暖かく
なってくるので、五徳を外し、炉を
深くして、少量の火で湯が沸くように
小さい釜を使う。
「雲龍」や「鶴首」といった細長い
小さめの釜を、天井に打たれた蛭釘
から釣り下げ、使用する。点前中も
釜が揺れるが、これに「春風」を
重ねて風情を楽しむ。
炉の季節も残り少し。「松風」を
聞きながら、お土産にいただいた
一口サイズの４色おはぎで一服。
千利休は、湯の沸き加減である湯相
について「蚯音（きゅうおん）」
「蟹眼（かいがん）」「連珠
（れんじゅ）」「魚眼（ぎょがん）」
「松風（しょうふう）」の５つに分け
「松風」を良しとしたという。