chashitsu means an architectural space designed for Japanese tea ceremony gatherings, typically having shoji windows and sliding doors made of wooden lattice.
Why “chashitsu” is a great word
A small, austerely beautiful room constructed for the ritualized practice of chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony. From Japanese 茶室 (chashitsu), from 茶 (cha, 'tea') + 室 (shitsu, 'room'), literally meaning 'tea room'. Unlike a chaya, a general teahouse or public shop, or a mizuya, the utilitarian preparation area, the chashitsu is a consecrated architectural form, a vessel for a specific spiritual discipline. It is the hushed rustle of a tatami mat under knee, the soft, diffuse light through shoji paper, and the single, perfect scroll or flower arrangement in the tokonoma alcove—an architecture of humility, where every joint is mortised to still the world, if only for one bowl of whipped green tea.
Etymology
From Japanese 茶室 (chashitsu, “tea room”).
noun
- An architectural space designed for Japanese tea ceremony gatherings, typically having shoji windows and sliding doors made of wooden lattice.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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