Long before matcha became a morning ritual around the world, it was the center of one in Japan. That ritual is Chadō, the Way of Tea, a practice that took shape in tea rooms in Japan more than five centuries ago.

THE FOUR PRINCIPLES
Chadō rests on four ideas set down by the 16th-century tea master Sen no Rikyū: harmony (wa), respect (kei), purity (sei), and tranquility (jaku). Harmony is the match between the tea, the season, and the people gathered. Respect shows in how the host and guests handle each bowl and utensil. Purity is literal, the room swept, the utensils rinsed, the hands and mouth cleansed before entering. Tranquility is what settles over the room once the other three are in place.

THE ROOM
The room is small, often just a few tatami mats and an alcove with a single scroll and a few flowers beside it. The entrance, or nijiriguchi, is built so low that everyone must kneel and bow to pass through. In the age of the samurai, warriors left their swords at the door, and even the highest-ranking guest had to bow to enter. Inside, everyone was equal.

THE TOOLS
The tea is made with a handful of well-worn objects. The chawan, or tea bowl, is the center of them all, often a host's most treasured possession. Each chawan has a front, which the host turns to face the guest. The guest receives it with both hands, turns it away before drinking, and studies it once the tea is gone. The matcha is kept in a small lacquered caddy, the natsume, and lifted from it with the chashaku, a hand-carved bamboo spoon.

Fresh water sits in the mizusashi and is drawn with the hishaku, a long bamboo ladle, from the kama, the cast-iron kettle that heats it. The kama sits at the heart of the room, set into a sunken hearth in the cold months and raised on a portable brazier in the warm ones, over smokeless Japanese charcoal. The tea is then blended with the chasen, a whisk carved from a single piece of bamboo and split into dozens of fine tines; the finest are still made by hand in the village of Takayama. Two smaller pieces complete the setting: the futaoki, a rest for the lid and ladle, and the kensui, the bowl for used water.

ICHIGO ICHIE
Matcha is served two ways: usucha, the lighter preparation most commonly enjoyed today, and koicha, a thicker, more concentrated preparation traditionally served at formal tea gatherings. Whatever is poured, the host chooses the tools and setting each time. There is a phrase for this in tea, ichigo ichie, one meeting, one moment, the understanding that a gathering like this one will never happen in quite the same way again.