<P> Procedures vary from school to school, and with the time of year, time of day, venue, and other considerations . The noon tea gathering of one host and a maximum of five guests is considered the most formal chaji . The following is a general description of a noon chaji held in the cool weather season at a purpose - built tea house . </P> <P> The guests arrive a little before the appointed time and enter an interior waiting room, where they store unneeded items such as coats, and put on fresh tabi . Ideally, the waiting room has a tatami floor and an alcove (tokonoma), in which is displayed a hanging scroll which may allude to the season, the theme of the chaji, or some other appropriate theme . The guests are served a cup of the hot water, kombu tea, roasted barley tea, or sakurayu . When all the guests have arrived and finished their preparations, they proceed to the outdoor waiting bench in the roji, where they remain until summoned by the host . </P> <P> Following a silent bow between host and guests, the guests proceed in order to a tsukubai (stone basin) where they ritually purify themselves by washing their hands and rinsing their mouths with water, and then continue along the roji to the tea house . They remove their footwear and enter the tea room through a small "crawling - in" door (nijiri - guchi), and proceed to view the items placed in the tokonoma and any tea equipment placed ready in the room, and are then seated seiza - style on the tatami in order of prestige . When the last guest has taken their place, they close the door with an audible sound to alert the host, who enters the tea room and welcomes each guest, and then answers questions posed by the first guest about the scroll and other items . </P> <P> The chaji begins in the cool months with the laying of the charcoal fire which is used to heat the water . Following this, guests are served a meal in several courses accompanied by sake and followed by a small sweet (wagashi) eaten from special paper called kaishi (懐紙), which each guest carries, often in a decorative wallet or tucked into the breast of the kimono . After the meal, there is a break called a nakadachi (中 立ち) during which the guests return to the waiting shelter until summoned again by the host, who uses the break to sweep the tea room, take down the scroll and replace it with a flower arrangement, open the tea room's shutters, and make preparations for serving the tea . </P>

A special event for making and serving tea