The Heart of “Kunpū Minami yori Kitaru” — A Scroll and the Seasonal Wind

Hanging quietly in the tea room is a single scroll bearing the phrase Kunpū minami yori kitaru — “The fragrant breeze comes from the south.”

 

In the gentle light of early summer, this phrase settles into the heart like a breeze itself, soft and unobtrusive.

Kunpū means a “fragrant breeze” — a breeze that begins to blow gently from the south just after the first day of summer (Rikka), stirring the fresh green leaves.

It is not merely a meteorological phenomenon, but a wind carrying the scent of plants, the breath of life — a tender, life-affirming wind.

The Zen phrase “comes from the south” implies a mindset of openness: receiving nature’s blessings just as they are.

In tea, a hanging scroll is said to be “the word that binds host and guest.”

When a host selects and displays a scroll, it is not only for its seasonal beauty — it carries a silent gaze toward the guest, and a prayer for the atmosphere of the space.

The words Kunpū minami yori kitaru, through their sound and meaning, quietly shape the mood of the room and transform its air.

During this season, the alcove (tokonoma) may hold a single iris that recalls a streamside, or a bell-shaped hōchakusō or nirinsō, gently swaying in the breeze.

These flowers visualize the wind — their presence alone evokes a sense of flowing air.

Even without incense, the combination of scroll and flower fills the room with the “scent of the wind.”

To feel the wind in the tea room is to treat the unseen with care.

The sound of boiling water, the breath of wind brushing the kettle’s surface, the delicate movement of the hand reaching for the chashaku —

all of these are like the wind itself, gently resonating in the present moment.

Even when offering a bowl of tea, one strives to do so like the wind from the south — light, without imposition.

If, in the instant the guest lifts the bowl, a breeze seems to pass through their hand,

then perhaps, the tea gathering has already succeeded.

The kunpū is a symbol of the quiet gentleness that appears naturally in daily life.

It lives silently in the way tea is prepared, in the way tools are handled.

Inviting the early summer wind into the small universe of the tea room —

within a single bowl of tea, we share the spirit of Kunpū minami yori kitaru, and welcome our guests once again today.