ABSTRACT
The records made of tea gatherings (kaiki) constitute a genre that has not been well documented. These records exist for private purposes as well as for public ones. This chapter will describe, contextualize, and interpret the functions of such texts, as well as those of an associated genre, the memorandum (oboegaki). Though these records are extremely stark, they reflect a creative process undertaken by the host of the tea gathering. We will examine the record of one particular gathering, fleshing out both its obvious and secret parts. This explication will also demonstrate some of the ways participants talk about tea utensils. It will be argued that tea culture as practiced by elites is in part an intellectual, symbolic, and aesthetic “game” that makes various use of written records.
