Often, small books like this aren’t really worth reviewing. At least not in terms of their informational merit and use as reference material.

I picked up this slim volume alongside a couple other vintage books on Japanese tea at a used bookstore sometime last year. I was drawn in by the simple, aged cover and the green and yellow artwork decorating every couple of pages (credited to Shiba Sumitani). It makes for a handsome little volume on my shelf.

This book is a short, concise essay on the nature of chanoyu, that does a very solid job of outlining the ceremony while managing to throw a surprising amount of vocab at you.

The book isn’t long enough to contain a Table of Contents, and doesn’t try to be an exhaustive introduction. I’d describe it more as an artistic treatise that touches lightly on the history, aesthetic, and process of chanoyu, interspersed with Sumitani’s striking block prints.

Not overly useful to those looking as beginners to pick up the study of chanoyu, nor as an in-depth dive.

But, I think it’s an interesting piece of history to collect. It sits nicely on the shelf next to Zen in the art of the tea ceremony, and Okakura Kakuzō’s Book of Tea.

  • Availability: Looks to be consistently under $10USD on abebooks.