What is ichigo ichie? The tea ceremony's one-time meeting
By Mio.KShare
Ichigo ichie is a phrase from the Japanese tea ceremony. It is usually translated as "one time, one meeting," and it means that this particular gathering, with these people, on this day, will never happen again in quite the same way, so both the host and the guests should give it everything they have.
The short answer: ichigo ichie (一期一会) means "one lifetime, one meeting." It began as advice for a tea gathering: treat this meeting as if it were the only one you will ever have. The idea is traced to Sen no Rikyū in the sixteenth century, and the four-character phrase itself spread from a book on tea finished around 1858 by Ii Naosuke. It is addressed to the host and the guest alike.
I study tea in Tokyo, in the Urasenke school. In English the phrase is often used to mean "cherish every moment," which is not wrong, but it leaves out the room it came from. Here is where it began, and what it asks of the people in that room.
What the words mean
| Part | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一期 | ichigo | Originally a Buddhist word for the span of a life, from birth to death |
| 一会 | ichie | One meeting, one gathering |
Put together: one meeting in one lifetime. (The ichigo here is not the word for strawberry; it only sounds the same.)
Where it comes from
The idea is credited to Sen no Rikyū, the sixteenth-century man of tea whose style is the root of the main schools today. Rikyū left no writings of his own. His student Yamanoue Sōji recorded his teaching instead, and one line of it says, roughly: from the moment you enter the garden until the moment you leave, respect your host as if this gathering will happen only once in your life.
About three hundred years later, Ii Naosuke, a feudal lord who was also a serious student of tea, opened his book Chanoyu Ichie Shū (A Collection on the Single Meeting of Tea) with the phrase in its four-character form. He worked on the book for about fifteen years and finished the fair copy around 1858; the phrase does not appear in his draft, only in the final version. His explanation is the one most people in tea still give: however many times the same host and guests meet, today's gathering will never come back. So the host takes care over every detail, and the guests notice and value every one of them, and both meet each other with sincerity.
From that book it passed into ordinary Japanese, where it is now used far outside the tea room.
What it looks like in a tea room
It is not a slogan anyone says out loud during a gathering. It shows up in what people do:
- The host prepares for these guests, on this day. The scroll, the flowers and the sweet are chosen for the season and the occasion, not left from last time.
- The guests pay attention to what was chosen. Asking about the scroll or the bowl is part of the guest's role. I describe that exchange in what to say at a tea ceremony.
- Each bowl is made for one person and handed over at once. It is not made in advance and kept waiting.
If you have never been to one, what happens at a tea ceremony walks through a gathering from start to finish.
Ichigo ichie at home
You do not need a tea room to take something from it. When I make a bowl for someone at home, the phrase reminds me of a simple thing: this bowl is for this person, now. Warm the bowl, make it properly, hand it over while the foam is still standing. Even making one for yourself, the same small attention applies, which is close to what I describe in whether making matcha is a kind of meditation.
It sits well beside wabi sabi: one is about things changed by time, the other about a moment that will not come again.
Questions I get asked
What does ichigo ichie mean?
"One lifetime, one meeting." Treat this gathering as one that will never happen again in the same way, and give it your full attention and sincerity.
Where does ichigo ichie come from?
From the Japanese tea ceremony. The idea is traced to Sen no Rikyū through his student Yamanoue Sōji, and the four-character phrase spread from Ii Naosuke's book on tea, finished around 1858.
Is ichigo ichie a Zen phrase?
It comes from tea, which grew up close to Zen, and ichigo was originally a Buddhist word for a lifetime. But the phrase itself is from writing on the tea ceremony. I go into tea and religion in is the tea ceremony religious.
Who is ichigo ichie for, the host or the guest?
Both. Ii Naosuke's explanation asks the host to take care over everything and the guests to notice and value it, so that both meet with sincerity.
How do you pronounce ichigo ichie?
Ee-chee-go ee-chee-eh, with even syllables and no strong stress.
Where this fits
If you would like to make a bowl for someone, the starter set has the whisk, the bowl and the scoop. A bowl chosen for the person you are making it for is a good place to begin.
Written by Mio.K, who chooses everything in this shop by hand in Japan.