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Tea notes

Tea Scoop Names (Mei) for August

Seasonal mei ideas for August tea gatherings, including Risshu, Shosho, Obon, welcoming fires, floating lanterns, and early autumn sounds.

Tea Scoop Names (Mei) for August

Table of Contents

What is a chashaku mei?

What does "mei" mean?

The mei of a chashaku is the name given to the tea scoop.

Types of mei

In tea ceremony, mei generally fall into two broad groups:

1. Seasonal poetic names

  • Names that express flowers, birds, wind, moon, and seasonal feeling
  • Names chosen to suit each month from January through December

2. Zen phrases or non-seasonal names

  • Names drawn from Zen sayings, Chinese poetry, or classical sources
  • These are often used for koicha

How is a mei chosen?

A mei may come from several elements:

  • Shape and appearance: a name suggested by the form of the chashaku
  • Background: when, where, and by whom it was made
  • Wordplay and refined association: wit, seasonal words, or literary references
  • Zen and classical literature: Buddhist teaching, poetry, or old texts

Why does a mei matter?

The purpose of a mei is to:

  • Express the character of the utensil
  • Reflect the feeling of the owner
  • Create shared feeling with guests
  • Add depth and meaning to a tea gathering

A mei is not just a label. It expresses the feeling, season, and sometimes the philosophical meaning held within the chashaku. In general, seasonal words are not used after their proper time has passed.

Mei inspired by the twenty-four solar terms

Risshu (立秋 / Beginning of Autumn)

  • Around August 7
  • The beginning of autumn in the traditional calendar
  • It connects with mei that find the first signs of autumn within lingering heat

Shosho (処暑 / Limit of Heat)

  • Around August 23
  • The time when summer heat gradually begins to settle
  • It suits quiet mei moving toward autumn, such as evening coolness, insect voices, and autumn fields

Seasonal themes for August

Obon (お盆 / Bon Festival)

  • A summer observance for welcoming and sending off ancestral spirits
  • It connects with Mukaebi and Toro Nagashi, both carrying prayer and quiet light

Zansho (残暑 / Lingering Heat)

  • Heat that remains after the beginning of autumn
  • A theme that joins summer's afterglow with the first signs of autumn

Mushi no Ne (虫の音 / Insect Voices)

  • The voices of insects that announce autumn
  • A cool, quiet theme for late August evenings

Mei for early August

Aogaki (青柿 / Green Persimmon)

  • A persimmon still green and unripe
  • A mei suggesting fruit not yet mature as the season moves toward autumn

Asatsuyu (朝つゆ / Morning Dew)

  • Dew resting on grasses in the morning
  • A mei for the first coolness felt around Risshu

Shiratsuyu (白露 / White Dew)

  • Dew shining white
  • A clear mei that brings a hint of autumn into summer heat

To Hanabi (遠花火 / Distant Fireworks)

  • Fireworks seen from far away
  • A mei with both summer afterglow and gentle distance

Mukaebi (迎火 / Welcoming Fire)

  • Fire lit during Obon to welcome ancestral spirits
  • A quiet, prayerful mei for August

Toro Nagashi (灯籠流 / Floating Lanterns)

  • Lanterns floated on water to send spirits onward
  • A mei with water, light, and the lingering mood of late summer

Mei for mid to late August

Utsusemi (空蝉 / Cicada Shell)

  • The empty shell left by a cicada
  • A mei with the afterimage of high summer and a sense of transience

Higurashi (蜩 / Evening Cicada)

  • A cicada heard toward evening
  • A mei suggesting the loneliness of late summer and the entrance to autumn

Fujibakama (藤袴 / Thoroughwort)

  • One of the seven autumn grasses
  • A soft field-flower mei as the season turns toward autumn

Shinobugusa (しのぶ草 / Fern of Remembrance)

  • A plant name suggesting memory and hidden feeling
  • A mei that suits the lingering mood of Obon and late summer

Banryo (晩涼 / Evening Coolness)

  • Coolness felt in the evening
  • A mei for a breath of relief within lingering heat

Akikaze (秋風 / Autumn Wind)

  • Wind carrying the feeling of autumn
  • A mei that marks the shift after Risshu

Aki no No (秋の野 / Autumn Field)

  • A field filled with autumn grasses
  • A calm mei that pairs well with Fujibakama and insect voices

Inazuma (稲妻 / Lightning)

  • Lightning once thought to help ripen rice
  • A mei with the force of the sky as summer turns toward autumn

Mushi no Ne (虫の音 / Insect Voices)

  • The voices of insects announcing autumn
  • A quiet, cooling mei for evening tea

Hatsu Arashi (初嵐 / First Autumn Gale)

  • The first strong wind of early autumn
  • A mei that suggests the season beginning to move sharply