Each Moment Only Once

一期一会 (ichigo ichie): one lifetime, one meeting. 一期 is a lifetime and 一会 a meeting; the word was made for two people in a small room. Rikyū's disciple Yamanoue Sōji wrote the thought in 1588, that a tea gathering is met once in a lifetime; the four characters themselves belong to Ii Naosuke, the lord who folded the sentence into his tea manual and described the host alone at the hearth after the guests leave. The twentieth century widened it to any meeting that happens once. Both senses are in the dictionaries; the tea room's is the sharper.

一期一会 is a popular calligraphy display for the Japanese Tea Ceremony and for display in the family tokonoma. The art makes an excellent gift as ichigoichie reminds us to value each and every moment.