The festivals of this month begin with setsubun, a custom older than a thousand years. Setsubun is held around February 3rd to mark the last day of winter and to welcome the spring on the lunar calendar. After everyone has returned home for the day, usually the male member of the family born under the same sign as the current zodiacal year, or the oldest male member, opens all the windows and doors in the house. Then taking roasted soybeans, daizu, from a masu, a square wooden measuring box, he tosses them around the rooms and out of the doors and windows, shouting oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi, "Out with the demons, in with good fortune." Square utensils reminiscent of this measure are most fitting at this time. Still better is to use an actual measure somewhere in the toriawase.
The following day is Risshun, the first day of spring. The demon, oni, of all the year's bad luck is driven out by Otafuku, personifying good luck for the next year. Setsubun has the feeling of a New Year's celebration. Otafuku is in truth the Goddess Arne no Uzume no Mikoto. Uzume in her dance of purification before the cave of Heaven in which Amaterasu Omikami, the sun Goddess, hid herself, was also a fertility rite ushering in the return of sun and spring.
February is the month of plum blossoms. Sugawara Michizane, the God of poetry and scholarship, is known as Tenjin and is celebrated at the Kitano Shrine. He was especially fond of plum blossoms, so much so that his memorial service on 25th February is also known as the Plum Blossom Festival. Although the real name of the festival is Natane no goku, or the Offering of Rape Flowers, the many plum trees planted in the shrine are the main attraction.
Peculiar to Urasenke is the dairo. Created by Gengensai (1810-1877) 11th Grand Master, the dimensions of this large hearth are 54.5 cm square as compared to the normal 42.4 cm square. The original is cut in the Tsugi no ma tearoom next to Totsutotsusai, both tearooms having been built by Gengensai. Following the original example, a dairo is cut in reverse orientation to the usual room, gyakugatte. Thus the guests would be seated to the left of the host, necessitating certain changes in the temae. The size causes the room to heat quickly in this, the coldest month, the only time the dairo is used. During nakadachi, the intermission of a chaji, the charcoal to be used in gozumi is placed in the hearth on the other side of the yukiwagawara, snowflake-shaped tile, which separates it from the burning shozumi charcoal until it is to be used.
At dawn, spring is at its best, the night opens slowly, the rim of the mountain grows light where the sky meets them. My heart flows out toward the thin purple clouds trailing in the dim light of morning. Makura no sôhi, the Pillow Book by Sei Shônagon.
The Chaji most appropriate to February, the month of the most severe cold, is the Akatsuki no Chaji, dawn tea gathering. The invitation is for four in the morning, and everything is arranged so that when the guests arrive the lights in the Roji are the remaining lights of the night and the kettle simmering in the hearth is from the evening before.
During Shozumi the water in the kettle is changed. Toward the end of the kaiseki, the candles are removed from the chashitsu, the skylight or tsukiage mado is opened, and the dawn light floods the tearoom. The change from Yin to Yang is complete.
A most difficult Chaji to perform with the host needing to be up all night. It is said that this is a Chaji only for experts, and so is rarely done.
Spring begins about the 4th February, but in fact it is still very cold and the period is called Yo Kan, lingering cold. A There are many days known as Saekaeru very clear and cold days. Though the feeling of spring must be considered.
The combination of body and mind.
Chokkan Sezjo; Insight and purity.
One flake of snow on the hearth.
In Chanoyu the feeling of the beginning of spring is shown by these hanging scrolls. The combination of body and mind.
Chokkan se; Insight and purity.
One flake of snow on the hearth.
At this time of the year there is snow remaining in the hills and thin ice on the Tsukubai.
'The camellia flower Fallen on the water is frozen, It is still cold.'Kit was a Kyoto man in the later part of the Edo period who studied under Buson.
Sen Shun Shallow Spring SÔ SHUN Early Spring. In this month there is a bracing feeling in the air and as such it is very much a part of the Spirit of Tea.CHAJO CHA SHIN The feeling and heart of Tea.
ITTEN BAI KA GAKU SAN ZEN SEKAI KAORU
If but one plum blossom is open, the fragrance spreads throughout the world.
'The shadows are weak and at an angle, The water is pure and shallow, The perfumes are fain4 And the moon floats in the dusk.'
'So ei ö sha mizu sei sen an kö fu dôtsuki tasogare.'
These lines contain the spirit of the host at this time of the year. lt is time for the tsutsu chawan, deep and pipe-like, and kama with large mouths, as the amount of steam from the kettle provides some of the warm feeling so necessary at this time of the year.
Chajin are very sensitive to the changes in the seasons. In the colour of the sky, the now occasional snow, and the play of light on the snow, all foretell the coming of spring.
In this context Sen Rikyû was very fond of this poem by Lord Fujiwara letaka.
'To someone who is waiting only for the flowers, I would love to show them The spring in the grass lying under the snow Of a mountain village.'
'Hana 0 nomi matsuran hito ni Yamazato no yukima no kusa no
Haru 0 misebaya.'
In a collection of poems both Chinese and Japanese WA KAN RÔ EI SHÛ there is this poem which is also in keeping with this month.
'With pieces of ice being melted by the breeze from the valley
Are waves which are the first flowers ofspring.'
'Tani kaze ni tokuru kôri no himagoto ni uchi izuru Nami no hatsu hana.'
SEASONAL WORDS AND OTHER NAMES FOR FEBRUARY KISARAG Put on another layer. A time when plants and grasses come alive. HATSU HANA ZUK First flower month. UME MI ZUKI A Plum viewing month. YUKI GE (SHI) ZUKI The month when the snow disappears. USU Spring rain. SHUN KAN Spring cold. SHUN SETSU Spring snow. AWA YUK Light snow. ZAN SETSU Remaining snow. MASSETSU Snowflakes blown by the wind. YUKIMA NO KUSA Early sprouts coming through the late snow. USURA Thin ice. YUKI GE Melting snow. YUKI NO MIZU Snow water. YUKI GENO KAZE Wind across the thawing snow. NOYAMA YAKU The hills and plains, where warabi and fiddlehead ferns grow, are burnt off in February to help the young sprouts grow. SUGURO Su (e) -tip or end, guro (kuro) - black. Burnt remains of grass. AGE MATSU BA Taking up the pine needles. In the winter the plants and moss are protected by pine needles and around this time they are removed. KIJIROBUCH In the winter depending on the size of the room and the time of day, a lacquered hearth edging is used, but in the spring this is changed to one of natural wood. This change is in accordance with Sadô Yôoku and Nampöroku. UGUISU Nightingale. (Other names for the nightingale) ÔCHÔ Yellow bird SHUN KOKU CHÔ or HARU TSUGE DORI Telling of spring bird. + BYAKKO White fox, the guardian of Inari Shrines. MIRU GAl Sea, pine and shell. It is a compound for the type of seaweed which at this time of the year collects in the mouths of shells because of the spring sea currents. HAKU BA White plum. MIKAIKO Unopened red plum buds. ME BARI YANAG Budding willow. TSURA TSURA TSUBAKI Clustered camellia. SHITA MOE New plants beginning to sprout under the ground. KUSA MOE Light green leaves. MOE (RU) The state in which the new leaves are shooting and are so bright it looks as though the whole countryside is alight. HANA NO AN The flower's older brother, Implying that hana is the cherry blossomsothe earlier blooming plum is its older brother. KÔABA Red plum. The plum, flowering in the cold of winter, symbolizes bravery and perseverance. Seasonal names suitable for chawan. YUKI GUN Snow country. JURO Eternal good fortune. SEIYU Pure friendship. YOSAMU Cold nights. ITAFUKU Good fortune. IYADONOUME Plum blossom in the country. TOKIWA Evergreen. SHINONOME Red sky at sunrise. Seasonal names suitable for chaire YAMA NO KAM Gods of the mountains. SEN NEN NO MIDOR Many years of good fortune. BOSETSU Snow in the twilight. Seasonal narnes suitable for Chashaku MAGAKI NO YUK Snow on the fence in the countryside YUKI SHIRO The purity of snow. KASUGA Spring day. HARU NO MIZU Water of spring. KOCHI Warm East wind. SEN SHIN Purification of the heart. RÔ SHÔ or OIMATSU Old pine. RAN YAÔ The leaf of a wild orchid. This is one of the four Chinese symbols of good fortune Shi Kun Shi. Orchid, Bamboo, Plum and Chrysanthemum. YAKU BARAI To discard evil. GO UN HIRAKU The five coloured clouds around Mount HÔrai.