Zuizuizukkorobashi? The surprising true meaning and the journey of the teapot
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What is Ocha Tsubo Dochu?
The Ocha Tsubo Dochu was a major event held during the Edo period to present Uji tea to the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Once a year (from late April to early May) during the new tea season, people called "tea jar attendants" would leave Edo with a tea jar, fill it with tea in Uji, and then parade along the Tokaido all the way to Edo to bring it back.
A messenger named Uji Tea Collector was assigned to carry a teapot, and at its peak the procession consisted of more than a thousand people, with more than a hundred teapots being carried.
This event was not just about transporting tea, but also had an aspect that symbolized the society and culture of the time.
Why was the Ocha Tsubo Dochu held?
The Edo Shogunate highly prized Uji tea and made a rule that new tea leaves be presented to the Shogun's family every year.
Due to its high quality, Uji tea was widely enjoyed not only by the Shogunate, but also by the upper classes of society, including feudal lords and wealthy merchants.
The Ocha Tsubo Dochu was a symbol of the high status of Uji tea and at the same time demonstrated the authority of the shogunate.
Scenes from the teapot journey
The Ocha Tsubo Dochu procession was a very grand affair.
The teapots were carefully wrapped and treated with great care, and the people who carried them wore special costumes, attracting attention along the way.
Improvement and repair work was ordered to be carried out in advance along the roads along which the tea jar passed, and agricultural work and funerals were prohibited when the tea jar was passing.
They were ordered to clean the roads in advance, and even the raising of children from the doors, flying kites, and the rising of smoke from cooking were forbidden.
Anyone who encountered the tea jar on the way, even if they were a daimyo, would get off the palanquin and give way, while commoners were ordered to bow down.
The Ocha Tsubo Dochu began during the time of the third Shogun, Iemitsu, and continued throughout the Edo period. However, after the Meiji Restoration, the Ocha Tsubo Dochu system was abolished.
The meaning of the lyrics of the children's song "Zuizuizukkorobashi"
The children's song Zui Zui Zukkorobashi is also thought to be based on this "Ocha Tsubo Dochu" story.
The most likely theory is that the procession carrying large teapots attracted people's attention, and children then wrote a song about it.
One interpretation is that the "zui" in the lyrics of the song refers to the stick used to carry the teapot, and "zukkorobashi" represents the journey.
The phrase "Toppinchan is chased by the teapot, and when it escapes he is doindokosho" apparently means "When the teapot arrives he slams the door and stays inside, and when the line leaves he is sighing."
