What is robiraki? The tea ceremony's New Year in November
Updated By Mio.KShare
In the tea world, the year does not begin in January. It begins in early November, at Rittō, the first day of winter in the old Japanese calendar. That is when tea rooms put away the portable brazier they have used since early summer and open the sunken hearth in the floor. The opening is called robiraki, and it is the closest thing tea has to New Year's Day.
The short answer: robiraki (炉開き) is the opening of the sunken hearth (ro) in the tea room, around Rittō in early November. From then until early May, the fire is in the floor rather than in a brazier. It coincides with kuchikiri, when the jar of new tea picked in spring is unsealed for the first time, and together they make November the "New Year" of tea.
I study tea in Tokyo, in the Urasenke school. Here is what the season means, and why it starts when it does.
Two seasons, two kinds of fire
| Season | When | Where the fire is |
|---|---|---|
| Ro (hearth) | From Rittō, early November, until early May | A hearth cut into the floor of the tea room |
| Furo (brazier) | From Rikka, early May, until the hearth opens again | A portable brazier |
The year turns on these two openings. Early May brings the first brazier of summer; early November brings the hearth back.
When exactly is the hearth opened?
Around Rittō, which falls on about the 7th or 8th of November. The old masters gave gentler signs. Sen no Rikyū is said to have opened the hearth when the yuzu citrus turned yellow; Sen Sōtan, his grandson, when your breath began to show white in the air. Both are ways of saying the same thing: when it is cold enough that you want the fire close.
Kuchikiri: the new tea is opened
The same season brings kuchikiri, "cutting the mouth." Tea picked in spring was kept as whole leaf in a sealed jar through the summer. In November the seal on the jar is cut, the leaf is taken out and ground, and the new year's tea is used for the first time.
Because of the two together, the opening of the hearth and the first of the new tea, tea people call this season the New Year of tea. Houses prepare for it as for a New Year: the green bamboo of the garden fences is renewed, the tatami are replaced, and the paper screens are re-papered.
The end of the old tea
(The October season before the hearth opens has its own page: what is nagori.)
The weeks just before are called nagori, "what remains." By October last year's tea is running low, and the gatherings of that month are about the end of things: the last of the tea, the last of autumn. Then November turns the page.
The incense changes with the fire, too: from chips of wood in a wooden box to kneaded incense in a ceramic one. More in what is a kogo.
What this means at home
You do not need a hearth to keep the season. When the air turns cold in early November, it is a good moment to start again: a clean bowl, a new whisk if yours is tired, and the first bowl of the new season made slowly. I write about the twenty-four small seasons of the year in tea through the 24 seasons, and about the room itself in what happens at a tea ceremony.
Questions I get asked
What is robiraki?
The opening of the sunken hearth in the tea room, around Rittō in early November. It marks the start of the winter season of tea, which lasts until early May.
Why is November the tea New Year?
Because the hearth is opened and the new tea, kept sealed in a jar since spring, is used for the first time. Together they mark the start of the tea year.
What is kuchikiri?
"Cutting the mouth": the seal on the jar of spring tea is cut in November, and the leaf is ground and used for the first time.
When does the hearth season end?
In early May, around Rikka, when tea rooms change back to the portable brazier for summer.
Where this fits
If you are starting fresh this season, a new bamboo whisk is the one tool worth replacing. The rest of what you need to make a bowl at home is in the starter set.
Written by Mio.K, who chooses everything in this shop by hand in Japan.