Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 6.djvu/232

RV 204 province of Yamashiro, was the chief place of production. There were three classes of producers: the On-mono-chashi (honourable-utensil tea-men), who prepared leaf for the Shōgun and the great daimyō; the Ofukuro-chashi (honourable-bag tea-men), who bad to supply the principal monasteries; and the On-tori-chashi (honorable-take tea-men), who catered for the public at large. The On-mono-chashi numbered eleven families, of whom the two principal had the rank of Shōgun's "deputies;" possessed revenues of about £500 and £300, respectively; kept the state of nobles at Uji, and served in alternate years as director of the whole of their class. All the On-mono-chashi wore samurai costume, carried a sword, and with the exception of the two principals, shaved their heads. Every year the Shōgun's tea-jars were carried to Uji to be filled. This proceeding was attended with extraordinary ceremonial. There were nine choice jars in the Shōgun's palace, all genuine specimens of Luzon pottery, and three of these were sent each year in turn, two to be filled by the two "deputy families;" the third, by the remaining nine families of On-mono-chashi. The jars were carried in solemn procession, headed by a master of the tea-cult (cha-no-yu) and a "priest of tea," and accompanied by a large party of guards and attendants. In each fief through which the procession passed it received an ostentatious welcome and was sumptuously feasted. On arrival at Uji the jars, which