Editing Japanese tea ceremony (section)

=== Tea room ===
{{See also|Chashitsu}}
[[File:Tearoom layout.svg|250px|thumb|A typical winter tea room layout in a 4.5 mat tea room, showing position of {{transliteration|ja|tatami, tokonoma, mizuya dōkō}}, hearth, guests and host]]
[[File:Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 017.jpg|thumb|left|An interior view of a large tea room with {{transliteration|ja|tatami}} and {{transliteration|ja|tokonoma}}. In the {{transliteration|ja|tokonoma}} is a hanging scroll, flower arrangement (not {{transliteration|ja|chabana}} style), and incense burner.]]The Japanese traditional floor mats, {{transliteration|ja|tatami}}, are used in various ways in tea offerings. Their placement, for example, determines how a person walks through the tea room {{transliteration|ja|chashitsu}}, and the different seating positions.

The use of {{transliteration|ja|tatami}} flooring has influenced the development of tea. For instance, when walking on {{transliteration|ja|tatami}} it is customary to shuffle, to avoid causing disturbance. Shuffling forces one to slow down, to maintain erect posture, and to walk quietly, and helps one to maintain [[balance (ability)|balance]] as the combination of {{transliteration|ja|tabi}} and {{transliteration|ja|tatami}} makes for a slippery surface; it is also a function of wearing kimono, which restricts stride length. One must avoid walking on the joins between mats, one practical reason being that that would tend to damage the {{transliteration|ja|tatami}}. Therefore, tea students are taught to step over such joins when walking in the tea room.

The placement of {{transliteration|ja|tatami}} in tea rooms differs slightly from the normal placement in regular [[washitsu|Japanese-style rooms]], and may also vary by season (where it is possible to rearrange the mats). In a 4.5 mat room, the mats are placed in a circular pattern around a centre mat. Purpose-built tea rooms have a sunken hearth in the floor which is used in winter. A special {{transliteration|ja|tatami}} is used which has a cut-out section providing access to the hearth. In summer, the hearth is covered either with a small square of extra {{transliteration|ja|tatami}}, or, more commonly, the hearth {{transliteration|ja|tatami}} is replaced with a full mat, totally hiding the hearth.

It is customary to avoid stepping on this centre mat whenever possible, as well as to avoid placing the hands palm-down on it, as it functions as a kind of table: tea utensils are placed on it for viewing, and prepared bowls of tea are placed on it for serving to the guests. To avoid stepping on it people may walk around it on the other mats, or shuffle on the hands and knees.

Except when walking, when moving about on the tatami one places one's closed fists on the mats and uses them to pull oneself forward or push backwards while maintaining a {{transliteration|ja|seiza}} position.

There are dozens of real and imaginary lines that crisscross any tearoom. These are used to determine the exact placement of utensils and myriad other details; when performed by skilled practitioners, the placement of utensils will vary minutely from gathering to gathering. The {{nihongo|lines in tatami mats|畳目|tatami-me}} are used as one guide for placement, and the joins serve as a demarcation indicating where people should sit.

{{transliteration|ja|Tatami}} provide a more comfortable surface for sitting {{transliteration|ja|seiza}}-style. At certain times of year (primarily during the [[Japanese new year|new year's festivities]]) the portions of the {{transliteration|ja|tatami}} where guests sit may be covered with a red felt cloth.