chashitsu  ·  the eight hearths

A tea room is classified by where the hearth is cut as well as by how many mats it holds. Four positions, each in a standard and a reversed layout, make eight. The position fixes where the host kneels, where the guests sit, and which side of the room is worked from. The hearth is cut into the floor and is permanent; it is used from November to April. For the rest of the year it is covered and a portable brazier, the furo, stands in its place.

tokonoma
nijiriguchi

  • 炉 ro, the hearth
  • 点前座 temae-za, the host's mat
  • 亭主 the host
  • 客 the guests
  • 中柱 naka-bashira, in the daime only
drag to turn the head

A. L. Sadler, Cha-No-Yu: The Japanese Tea Ceremony, on the varieties of tearoom.