Nova Daily - 16 September 2025: Yamanouchi's tea master

Hi!

An emotion that everyone feels from time to time is fear. It exists in many different forms and has many purposes, causes and effects. Not all of them productive.

However, if you're having fear of a great opponent, this story might give you an inspiration.

Yamanouchi's Tea Master

Lord Yamanouchi was a Japanese aristocrat who lived in the 18th century. He once went to Edo (a city that we now know as Tokyo), and brought his tea master with him. This tea master was very skilled in chanoyu (the Japanese tea ceremony), but didn't know much about anything else. He was a timid man who nevertheless dressed like a samurai.

When they were in Edo, a local swordsman boldly challenged the tea master to a duel. His was something that the TM could impossibly turn down, because it'd mean shame on Lord Yamanouchi as well as his own family. And thus he accepted the challenge that he knew would lead to his downfall, with the request that they fight the next day.

With the panic of certain death staring him in the face, the TM had only one question burning in his head: "How do I die honourably?" He quickly found himself a fencing school and wanted to talk to the fencing master. After hearing the whole story, fencing master agreed to teach the TM the art of dying, "but first I want to have a cup of tea."

Witnessing how carefully and completely in control the TM cared for the tea serving ritual, the fencing master told him a secret. "You don't need to learn the art of death," he said. "The state of mind that you have at this moment, that complete calm self-control, that's enough for you. Tomorrow, when you face your opponent, bring yourself to this state of mind. Imagine that you'll be serving tea to your enemy. With that state of mind, you can face any Samurai."

The following day, the TM did as he was told. Upon seeing the TM, his challenger was struck in awe by his complete self-possession. This man may be an incredibly skilled swordsman behind his exterior, the Samurai thought. He begged the pardon for his rude attitude of the day before and quickly vanished.

If you have before you a tedious and cumbersome task that you're not quite looking forward to, it can help to focus your mind on a simpler task or ritual that you are good at. That's the state of mind that you'll want to have manifest inside you when you're facing your task.