We attempted to merge the practice of outdoor activities with the art of tea ceremony. Traditionally, the tea ceremony, known as "chaji," involves serving kaiseki cuisine as a prelude to the thick matcha tea (koicha), setting the stage for it to be fully appreciated. In our outdoor fusion chaji event, we first cooked rice in green bamboo over a charcoal fire, enjoyed a meal of one soup and three side dishes (ichiju sansai), and then relished sweets and thin matcha tea (usucha).

Following last year's "The Taketori Kaguya's Sakura Tea Gathering," this event was part of our green bamboo series held at the Information Exchange Center of the Kochi Forest Synthesis Center. We crafted our own bamboo containers for cooking rice, as well as bamboo bowls and chopsticks for serving the meal and sweets. The miso soup was made with fresh bamboo shoots harvested that morning. Almost all the ingredients, including the bamboo, were sourced from Kochi. With bamboo for both the utensils and the ingredients, the meal was exceptionally delicious.

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