Home > Encyclopedia of O-CHA(tea) > Marriage and Tea
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In
Kyushu, special engagement gifts
used for ceremonial exchange are
sold in Tea shops. The main gifts
used for a ceremonial exchange of
engagement gifts is the tea in in
Kyushu. Tea has a symbol meaning
chen used as an engagement gift.
A typical engagement gift will always
included large bags of tea, a gold
colored tea pot and an luxurious
crafts and a gold colored tea pot
as a gift.
So, why is tea included
with the engagement gifts in Kyushu?
It is because tea trees are difficult
to transplant, and in the same way
that tea trees do not transplant
well, people wish for the new couple
put down their roots and never leave
each other. However people don't
usually send good tea for this occasion.
It is because we say good tea extract
(deru) well. And this "deru" also
has a meaning of leave. So it was
a kind of taboo to use this word
for the wedding. I don't mean to
emphasize the role share between
women and men in the marriage. However
in traditional role sharing homemaking
was primarily cooking was a women's
job. Maybe that's why men send tea
to express their wish to the women
for keeping the house.
(Yoichiro Nakamura)
Tea used for the ceremony
(Saga
city, Saga prefecture)
Tea bag
A
kind of tea used as an engagement
gifts
(Kanagawa prefecture)
Engagement gifts tea (Kyusyu)
Ceremonial
exchange of engagement gifts
(Miyazaki city)
Ceremonial exchange of engagement gifts are sold at the tea shop (Miyazaki city)