Tea Ceremony and the Spirits of the Japanese People

Sen Soushu
Mushakouji Senke 14th Grand Tea Master (Iemoto)

Table of Contents
1. Introductory Remarks
2. Tea Ceremony Is the Offspring of Sakai
3. Chanoyu (tea ceremony) and Chado (the way of tea)
4. Yuso (the state of boiling water) and Sumi-temae (ritual performance of adding charcoal in front ofguests)5. Pleasure of Tea Ceremony
6. Etiquette and Manners at Tea Ceremony
7. Chado (the way of tea) and Confucianism
8. Town Called Sakai
9. The Beginning of Tea Ceremony and Zen
10. Functionality of Tea Ceremony and Origin of Tea Room
11. Tea Ceremony Linked Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyosi with Sakai
12. Last Tea Party Hosted by Rikyu
13. How “Wabi-Sabi” in Tea Ceremony Was Fermented?
14. The Pacific War and Tea Ceremony
15. Concluding Remarks
16. Discussion

11. Introductory Remarks
Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for coming to hear mytalk at this meeting. My name is Sen Soushu. I am studying aswell as teaching the Chanoyu (tea ceremony) in Kyoto. I would
also like to thank Prof. Hatada for his kind introduction. I pay
high respect to Prof. Hatada, the head of the Hatada Family. You
may know well that this Hatada House is registered as atangible cultural property of Japan. Prof. Hatada is working
hard to get the most out of the House and preserve it. There aremany buildings registered as tangible cultural properties ofJapan in Kyoto. My house is one of them, and has a history of
400 to 500 years. Kyoto has the Kyoto Owner's Association ofRegistered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan. I happen to be honored to serve as thechairman of that Association. As a matter of fact, Osaka is ahead of Kyoto in organizing a similar
association. In Osaka Prof. Hatada is the chairman of that association, and often comes to Kyoto
to attend the meetings of our Association in Kyoto, and communicates with us in a friendly
manner.
Today I noticed bad weather around noon, and was afraid that it would turn into rain after 3
o’clock. But for some reason or other, the weather began to turn gradually favorable with a rising
trend. Now we see a clear autumn weather with “No clouds across the sky” exactly as we say. I am
extremely glad, and would like to give credit to all of you here and Prof. Hatada for making that
happen. Given such a fine weather, I presume you would not hasten to leave as the sky will bebright till late. As I am allowed to speak for about one hour or so, I am hoping to tell you about aninteresting story that you may take back home as a nice souvenir from here which would not be soheavy to carry. I hope you will enjoy it.
2. Tea Ceremony Is the Offspring of Sakai
As I am practicing the tea ceremony every day, it would be natural for me to talk about the tea
ceremony. In fact, the area around here, south part of Osaka, has a close relation with the tea
ceremony. There is a town called Sakai next to this area. I am absolutely sure that if Sakai had
not existed, the tea ceremony would not have been practiced as it is today. In those days, Sakai
used to be a trading port, and rifles were imported there ahead of others. So Sakai became
successful in manufacturing and selling them, and turned into a town leading the arms industry
at that time. Sakai thus acquired more than enough wealth. It is told that over ninety percent ofJapan’s wealth was concentrated in Sakai at one time. Then the tea ceremony came into being
like an offspring born out of such a boom.
3. Chanoyu (tea ceremony) and Chado (the way of tea)
Today Chanoyu is also called Chado, but in the old days it was commonly called Chanoyu.
Historically “Cha-no-yu” covers a wider range of areas. So please allow me to use the words
2

Chanoyu in my talk today. Of course you can change it into Chado or Sado if you like. It doesn’t
matter. But Chado and Sado are the words rather focused on the etiquette and manner.
4. Yuso (the state of boiling water) and Sumi-temae (ritual performance of adding charcoal in front ofguests)We offered a bowl of tea to you this afternoon (November 14, 2009) in a tatami-room of thisHouse by making a temporary arrangement for atea ceremony. This type of tea is called Usucha (thintea) that is normally served at the end of the course
at a formal tea ceremony to conclude the course.
The tea ceremony, which was originated by Sen
Rikyu (1522-1591) and inherited by us, takes 4
hours to complete a full course. Today, a fire origin
called Furo (portable brazier) is placed on thetatami floor. However, about this time of the year (the colder months, traditionally from
November to April), a sunken hearth is usually installed in a formal tea room by cutting a part of
the tatami floor to put charcoal fire below the tatami level. So part of the tatami floor is cut in the
shape of a box to keep charcoal fire. We use charcoal about 1.5 centimeterslarger than the

charcoal we showed you today. We put an iron kettle there for a tea ceremony. It was quitedifficult to build a fire with charcoal properly. The above-mentioned Furo is traditionally used forthe ceremony in the warmer months (from May to October).

We can now just turn on a switch toboil water easily in daily life. In those days, there was a word, such as Hikagen, to express flame
control.
When you drink tea, you have to keep hot water in best condition to make good tea. Water usedin the Orient including Japan does not contain calcium unlike the water available in Europe. So
we can get tasty hot water by boiling the same water again and again. We use a word Royu
meaning “old hot water.” The word “old” used here does not mean “aged,” but means “good” or“skilled.” So the “old hot water” means “very good hot water for making tea.” In China, there is a
popular way of thinking like Yuso (the state of boiling water). Some people call it Yu-ai. But as we
use Ninso (physiognomy) to express facial features or Seso for the state of social affairs, we call it

Yuso. It has been told that there is like a facial features in hot water. I think you use tea bags or
the like to make black tea. Many years ago, on the back of the outer packing for the yellow Lipton
tea bag, we read a notice saying “Use fresh boiling water.” This means that newly-boiled water,
not hot water boiled again and again, should be used for making black tea.
water is 100

０

The boiling point of

C. But when water comes to a boil, the temperature reaches around 98 ０C. Thismeans that if you stop boiling water at that point and make black tea, you can enjoy drinking
most tasty black tea.
On the other hand, the hot water used for a tea ceremony must be the “old hot water” thatmeans the hot water boiled again and again as viewed from the Yuso. By boiling water over again
and again, you will have extra materials completely evaporated from the water and get truly pure3

hot water that is good for making tea. If you boil water containing calcium over and over again,
calcium carbonate will become deposited. When you stay at a hotel in Europe, you may notice a
white heap stuck to the faucet. That is calcium carbonate or limestone. So when you make tea in
Europe, you had better use newly boiled fresh hot water as far as possible. But when you use
water for making tea in the Orient, particularly in Japan, it would be preferable to use old hot
water that has been boiled over and over again.
When you use charcoal fire to boil water, you need to devise ways of adding charcoal withdelicate attention. A while ago, students of the Tea Ceremony Club of the Tezukayama Gakuin
University, where I used to teach as guest professor for ten years, helped me show you a tea
ceremony. The young people of the Tea Ceremony Club staged making tea to show you how a tea
ceremony is performed. This is called Usucha-temae (thin tea ceremony or tea ceremony formaking thin tea). Besides, there is also Sumi-temae which is the ritual performance of adding
charcoal in front of guests. Charcoal used to boil water includes various devices to make good hot
water. So there is a combination of coal of various shapes; thick charcoal, round charcoal, roundcharcoal cut in half, cylindrical charcoal, wheel-shaped charcoal and the like. We can make hotwater having appropriate Yuso by combining and putting together these pieces of charcoal
alternately. These methods are more scientific than you may think. These days you can find eventea masters who graduated from the faculty of science and published a paper on the combinationof charcoal in Sumi-temae. Charcoal is a very difficult material to handle.
5. Pleasure of Tea Ceremony
You might think that a formal tea ceremony starts first with Sumi-temae followed immediatelyby the serving of tea. That is not so. Just after the Sumi-temae you will be served with

Kaiseki-ryori (Japanese cuisine specially prepared for a tea ceremony which precedes the servingof tea at a formal tea ceremony) that will take about one hour and a half or two hours to finish afull course. In the old days, the cuisine served at a tea ceremony was very simple, made up of abowl of soup and three kinds of simple dishes. These days Kaiseki-ryori served at a tea ceremony
is considered a star cuisine. Almost all Japanese restaurants now ranked high in the well-known
Michelin guidebook started from the Kaiseki-ryori served at a tea ceremony and have reachedtheir present status. Since Kaiseki-ryori is such a very gorgeous cuisine that it would take onehour and a half or two hours to finish. About half the time of the tea ceremony is spent for eating
the dinner and drinking Sake (Japanese wine). You might ask why. Because, following

Sumi-temae, sufficient time is needed to boil water again and again. This also means that at thesame time it is intended to condition your tongue to taste Koicha (thick tea) in the best, possible
condition while you are eating Kaiseki-ryori so that after drinking Sake and tasting a delicious
cuisine, you will find the taste of Koicha most enjoyable. Taking a long time for the so-called
process is tea ceremony.
The amount of Koicha (thick tea) you normally drink at a tea ceremony is only about three sips
and a half. I think that is about equal to half a glassful. Not so many of you may have tasted

Koicha that is about 5 times or even 6 or 7 times as thick as Usucha you had today. It is very thick4

tea. So, if you drink only Koicha on your empty stomach, you will feel sick at the stomach. In case
you drink Koicha without taking a meal, you will be normally served with one big cake before
drinking thick tea. This cake is a Japanese cake designed to make Koicha taste better. I hope you
enjoyed a good taste of the cake we offered a while ago before serving Usucha. That was the cake I
had a certain confectionary shop in Osaka make especially for today’s ceremony. It was all rightwith Usucha, but it was far from enough to go with Koicha. Unless you eat something more heavy
in taste like Kinton (sweetened adzuki-bean paste) beforehand, you will perhaps feel the tea sit
heavy on your stomach. That is why Koicha would taste best after taking a big meal.
In the case of full-course western dinner, black tea or coffee is served at the very end of thecourse. To tell the truth, coffee tastes better in such a case, and besides, coffee is considered
formal. In all countries around the world, thick tea should taste better after a good heavy meal.
The same applies to Koicha served after kaiseki-ryori. If you drink that thick tea after exposing
your tongue to the daintiest condition, the part of your tongue that is sensitive to the sweet willsense really wonderful sweetness. It is not the simple sweetness as you may sense when you licksugar. When you taste a really delicious thing or offer compliments on something, you would say“Kanro (honeydew), Kanro” meaning “Wonderful!” in English. You would taste exactly honeydew.
It is hard to say, but that is the best sweetness. This is how you would feel after drinking Koicha
following a full-course Kaiseki-ryori. You would really feel satisfied. But as that is really thick tea,
the taste of that thick tea remains on your tongue regardless of whatever you do. Then to refresh
your taste, you can drink Usucha that you have experienced today. Then you will find that

Usucha tastes good. It’s hard to say, but refreshing. As for the tongue, the thick part of Koicha allmelts away and go into the stomach, freshening the mouth and concluding one full course of tea
ceremony. The whole process of tea ceremony is very rationally designed or, in other words, very
well thought to satisfy you not only in terms ofspirit but also in terms of science as well as taste.

This is the present-day tea ceremony.
6. Etiquette and Manners at Tea Ceremony
Well, let me tell you how tea ceremony was originated. This is the very subject of my talk fortoday. As I mentioned a while ago,tea ceremony never consists of
etiquetteandmanners.

For

instance, there was a precept to beobserved in the old days like “Do
not step on the hem of tatami(floor mat made of straw or rush
as used in Japan)” . Perhaps manyof you may have been told by yourmother about it. Even if we tellsuch a thing to contemporaries,
they would hardly listen to it.
5They don’t care to step on the hem. Well, do you know why you must not step on the hem oftatami? It is interesting to know there are various theories about it. For example, one of them isthat a sword would stick out of the hem between tatami and tatami and kill you. But a sword canbe stuck out from any part of tatami if anyone wishes to stick it. It is conceivable that stepping on
the hem would wear out the hem. A tea master might teach beginners in tea ceremony not to stepon the hem of tatami because it is a bad manner. Walking across one tatami mat in six steps is abasic rule at a tea room. Following such footsteps, you will not step on the hem.
Then you may ask why you are not allowed to step on the hem of tatami. Many years ago, thefloor of a room was not covered with tatami from end to end. In those days Age-tatami (tatami
laid on only part of the floor) was used for daily use by people, with the remaining parts of thefloor finished with wooden boards. Even now, if you go to a temple, especially a Zen temple in
Kyoto, you will find floors finished with wooden boards. In the old days, the floors of Japanesehouses were normally finished with wooden boards. Then as time went by, rush was used to maketatami. At first, one tatami mat big enough for use by one person was laid on the boarded floor. If
one room was used by five persons, five such tatami mats were laid on the floor of the room. Whatis more, they were provided only for people in high positions. Tatami in those days were like
Persian carpets, so to speak. They were twice as thick as the present-day tatami mat. In the
Heian Period, skirts of Japanese ladies’ dresses were overlapped with many layers liketwelve-layered ceremonial kimono, and were not as light as dresses worn these days. So, if ladies
fully dressed in those days stepped on the hem of tatami, they were very likely to tip over ontatami. As a matter of fact, I am afraid many ladies actually slipped and tipped over in those days.
Unlucky ladies may have died because of such accidents, hitting their heads on the floor. There
were many such accidents. That’s why the warning, “It’s dangerous to step on the hem of tatami,”
was born. Then it turned into the precept, “Do not step on the hem of tatami.” With the
improvement of technique in growing rush, rush came to be harvested in large quantities andbecame available for laying tatami across the floor. Yet, as the Age-tatami was used for such along time, only the precept “Do not step on the hem of tatami” survived.
But this precept did not become meaningless. When making various motions, one having thetypical physical constitution of a Japanese is able to move over safely in six steps across one
tatami mat without shaking one’s upper body. For example, as you may have noticed a while ago,
it is not good to wobble anything held in one’s hand during a tea ceremony. Anything held in one’s
hand must stay still during the tea ceremony. To make it possible, one should not walk with long
strides nor with too short strides. Six steps over one tatami mat is just about right. So, theprecept “Walk over a tatami mat in six steps” has become widespread. If you adhere to thisprecept, you will not step on the hem of tatami. It was thought convenient to tell one not to stepon the hem of tatami when teaching how to walk over tatami in six steps. If you walk over tatami
with care not to step on the hem of tatami, you can then walk across a tatami mat in six steps. So,
the precept “Do not step on the hem of tatami” has almost become a dead letter. These days
stepping on the hem of tatami makes no difference. It may be that the material covering the hemof tatami is so thin that it will wear out quickly when rubbed by stepping on the hem too often. Of
6course it is better not to step on it. There is no question about it. So, the precept “Do not step on
the hem of tatami” has not become a mere cliche completely, but is still surviving with a meaning
entirely different from the original one.
So many of what are called etiquette and manners in Japan have now become dead letters. Of
course, not all of them. For instance, when opening and closing a sliding door, it is often said that
it is not a good manner to open and close a sliding door in a standing position, and you may bescoldedfor the bad manner. This is not because of the bad manner. As a matter of fact, if you

open a sliding door in a standing position, you are pushing the door vertically as well as sideways
at the same time. Then the sill of the door will wear out quickly, or the part of the door touching
the sill will wear out unevenly. If you open a door in a sitting position, most of the pressure will
act sideways to prevent only a certain section of the door from touching and rubbing the sill sothat the door will not wear away unevenly due to rubbing but will wear away evenly. So, theprecept “You must open and close a door in a sitting position” was not a matter of etiquette, but
was originally based on a very reasonable way of thinking from the standpoint of natural science.
But as time has gone by, that precept has changed into a manner before anyone knows.
7. Chado (the way of tea) and Confucianism
During the late Edo Period, everything came to be connected with manners. People ostensibly
tended to pretend indifference to joy, sorrow, pleasure and pain, or they became stoic, so to speak,posing asceticism and coolness as if they were transcending joy and sorrow. Such tendencies are
deeply related to Bushido or the moral of the Japanese samurai (warrior) that were built up
backed by Confucianism in those days. Before then, the samurai spent their entire life fighting inwars. In those days, they did not care about such a difficult thing as Bushido. In addition, nobody
said it was unfair to slash someone from behind or kill someone in the dark. Nobody thought thatsuch a behavior should not have been taken on by the Samurai. Nobody regarded such a behavior
as a breach of rule or bad manner.
As we look back on what Oda Nobunaga did, all he did were only terrible things when
considered from the thinking of the late Edo Period. Most of military commanders in those days
did similar things. On the contrary, when peace came to prevail like the late Edo Period, thesamurai became very peaceful and bureaucratic at the same time. Everything became stoic, andcame to finish with the word “Do” (way) at the end. Then Chanoyu turned into Chado by adding
the suffix “Do” to the end of the word Cha, and likewise Kenjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship) into

Kendo, and Yawara into Judo. Rikka, now called Ikebana (Japanese art of flower arrangement),
turned into Kado (the way of flower arrangement). In any case, everything was turned into do(way) by adding the suffix do to the original word. Such tendencies were deeply influenced by theConfucianism that penetrated into the general public and became the basic philosophy ofeducation for the samurai in the mid-Edo Period and later. Everybody tended to give a very stoic
way of thinking to all things. Requiring people to pay respect to the elderly is one example.
Influence from the discipline of Confucianism still remains in Korea to a considerable extent.
The precept, “Those having the same family name should not marry each other,” is a typical7

example. Also in Korea, nuclear families are rather rare and in many cases a big family live in thesame house. That is why you have to say “Have a good night” to your parents when you go to bed.
Young people and young couples say “Good night” to their parents before going to bed. Youngpeople look after their parents so well. This is not my guesswork. One of today’s participants, who
happens to be a lady from Korea, verified my statement by admitting, “That is true.” My wife andI also used to live with my parents, but we did not exchange such greetings with them at all.
Regardless of what my parents did, we went to bed and got up at will. This is today’s Japan. I
think that those disciplines of daily life still in existence in Korea are the beautiful disciplinesthat are already lost in Japan.
By the way, during the Edo Period, disciplines of daily life that strictly govern people prevailed
throughout the society. That is because the Tokugawa Shogunate took firm steps at that time inintroducing the philosophy of Confucianism from Korea and disciplines based on it. Even though
Japan was closed at that time to the outside world, situations in Korea were learnt through the
Korea envoys who visited Japan. And the Confucian way of thinking was made to serve as thefundamentals of education for the samurai. In this regard, Korea was an advanced country fromJapan’s perspective. By adding the suffix “do” to things, one disciplined oneself with severity.
That was because the world became so peaceful that opportunities to learn the discipline of daily
life in a severe environment like a real war were gone. For example, in the case of Kendo(Japanese swordsmanship), if times were the Sengoku Period or Sengoku Jidai (the warring
states period in Japan from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century),
the samurai would go out the next day with a sword stained with blood. Then one was able tolearn the discipline through experience in a real war. However, during the time of peace without
any war, how can one learn the discipline? In such circumstances, there would be no other way
than organizing a rigorous curriculum and teaching the discipline according to such a curriculum.
Nobody would follow a curriculum unless it is such a rigorous one. So there came a tendency tocarp at paying respect to the elderly.
I am going to tell you later about the history of tea ceremony that started, stained with blood asa matter of fact. During the late Edo Period, such bloody tea ceremony was already difficult topractice. So under the name of tea ceremony, Chado they started with form at first. The shape ofform must be made secure. Please consider the manner of walking for example. It is easier for ateacher to teach manners and for pupils to learn them, like saying “Do not step on the hem oftatami.” This would apply to all cases. The words may not be appropriate, but manners were
taught like binding a person. This is today’s tea ceremony. Generally speaking, it is Geido (theway of art).
8. Town Called Sakai
Awhile ago, I used the word “bloody.” Such an expression may have sounded too strong. But thetea ceremony in the present form originated in Sakai with a really bloody history. And the town of
Sakai transformed it into the present-day tea ceremony. This town had know-how for
manufacturing and marketing in large quantities the gun brought in by Portuguese sailors. Sakai
8was a trading port and had knowledge and technology to produce farm equipment. So theseknowledge and technology served as a base for manufacturing guns, which nowadays may becalled steel industry.
These Habikino areas where we are now, were indeed considered very advanced. Since thebeginning of Japan or, in other words, since ancient times began, there were many capitals built,
centered around the Nara Basin. Things imported from China or Korea at that time weretransported to the Nara Basin through the present Takenouchi Kaido, the first national highway
constructed in Japan. That is why these regions and transportation were regarded as mostadvanced for that age like the present-day Tokaido Shinkansen (Tokaido Bullet Express) running
through Japan and Kansai International Airport located near here. There were not only steel
industry in operation but also dye works being operated to color Kimono (a long, wide-sleeved
Japanese dress). In those days saltpeter was used as one of raw materials for dyes, but was
imported from China as it was not available in Japan. Sakai had stockpiled it in large quantities
for dye works. Sakai was thus blessed with an ample stock of raw materials and adequate
technology to manufacture guns and lead bullets, and was able to produce a large quantity of
gunpowder with a stock of saltpeter that was used as a raw material for gunpowder. It was thenSakai that was able to make both software and hardware related to guns at the same time. That
was how Sakai became a big arms industry city.
During the Sengoku Period, every day was spent in battles. Everybody was desperate to getguns, the newest weapon, at any cost. So many fierce battles continued in and around Sakai.
Above all, Oda Nobunaga was the most well-known military commander at that time who wasabout to dominate the whole country of Japan at a later time. He had his eye on Sakai above allother places. That’s because there was no warlord other than Nobunaga who used guns
functionally in large quantities in fighting battles. Nobunaga was on top of the list of potential
winners who tried to dominate Japan ahead of others. He had his eye on the production capacityof arms in Sakai and the more than enough wealth accumulated there, and obtained loans from
Sakai. In actual practice, such loans may almost seem to have been taken over by Nobunaga.
When Nobunaga wished to take and own something of his interest, he normally made a detailed
plan and overwhelmed the enemy by force. But this method did not work out in Sakai. Sakai wasa special city with sufficient ability to fully defend itself.
In those days there were many warlords who were defeated. As a result, many samurai losttheir lords and became Ronin (lordless samurai) throughout the country. Sakai hired mighty
warriors from among those lordless samurai with its superabundant money, building up militaryforce together with ample weapons. It was the military force that made Nobunaga think it
disadvantageous for his side to attack Sakai at that point in time. At that time Nobunaga wassaid to have 50 or 60 thousand soldiers. But those soldiers were the people who worked as farmers
at normal times and as soldiers during wartime. In other words, they were instant soldiers who
were not strong enough to fight battles.
On the other hand, all soldiers hired by Sakai used to be military commanders or the like who
were mighty combatants, strong enough to fight a battle alone against 10 or 20 enemies at a time,9

reinforced by the latest weapons. Then 1,000 such soldiers became powerful enough to fightagainst an army of 20 to 30 thousands. On top of that, the latest weapons in their hands served toa considerable extent as a so-called deterrent in the present international community. Even
Nobunaga couldn’t attack Sakai with force. If he had won such a battle, it was very likely that hisside would have suffered irreversible damage. At present even a very large country wouldn’t
attack a country having a few nuclear weapons. Then it can be said that a deterrent is beautifully
in force. The same situation existed in Sakai. What to do next? Nobunaga wanted to win Sakai
over to his side somehow. He then came up with the idea of using tea ceremony.
9. The Beginning of Tea Ceremony and Zen
During the Sengoku Period, there was an original form of the present-day tea ceremony in the
town of Sakai. It was related to the Zen sect that was introduced to Japan during the Kamakura
Period. As a matter of fact, the original form of the modern tea ceremony came from Song (Sung)of China together with Zen. In the Zen sect, zazen (Zen sitting meditation) is practiced. Those of
you listening to my talk now may not have experienced zazen. It has developed from yoga. So you
have to sit in a cross-legged position like a lotus flower on the floor. It is called “kekkafu.” So, youwill feel a pain on your body at first. Some people with a little fat legs may feel acute pain, butwill get used to such pains in time. Experienced Zen sect priests would fast get a drop in pulse
and blood pressure after sitting for one minute or two. But it is not the case with beginners. They
would feel painful in their legs, ill at ease, and hot, all at the same time, but would gradually feellike Zen priests as they get used to such a practice.
What bothers you till the last is a struggle against sleepiness. It is very hard to overcome
temptation to sleep while performing zazen. The strongest desire among human lust is said to be
an urge to sleep. This is it. The most cruel torture is to prohibit sleep. It is a kind of torture to put
you in a room painted white all over from the floor and the wall to the ceiling and leave you there
alone with a searchlight lit all the time to prevent you from sleeping. The true and real training ofthe Zen sect requires you to undergo it without taking sleep nor rest only except going to a
restroom and drinking cooled boiled water. Otherwise you would have to endure religious
austerities that require you to take no sleep nor rest. Then you would really have to fight against
sleepiness.
If you happen to sleep by any chance, such a training becomes meaningless. In trying to think
how to avoid falling asleep, the idea of drinking Matcha (finely-milled Japanese green tea) wasborn from daily habits. Unlike ordinary tea that is extracted with boiling water, such as

Bancha/Sencha/oolong tea, Matcha is made from pounding down green tea and is taken as asuspension by mixing tea powder with hot water, which means that you are drinking all tea
leaves in powder form. In some areas, people find tea leaves tasty, and cook tea leaves after using
them for making tea. Tea leaves are such nutritious food. To drink Matcha means eating thewhole of tea leaves. This means that you are taking nutrition and a lot of caffeine at the sametime. Thick tea will prevent you from easily falling asleep, affected by caffeine.
When I gave a cup of thick tea to my son who was five or six years old at that time, he was10running around all night without sleep. I got very much yelled at by our family physician
afterwards. Caffeine has such a strong effect. That’s why those taking zazen without sleep andrest drink Matcha at regular intervals. Even when practicing zazen without sleep and rest, people
take occasional short rest, stretch legs, go to a restroom, and drink cooled hot water. During thattime, they get together and exchange opinions with senior priests by speaking up any little
questions they may have come across during zazen. Nobody is allowed to speak during zazen, but
this short time devoted to exchange opinions is called “Sarei .” During such a time, you can drink

Matcha and participate in a discussion. After refreshing themselves by doing so, zazen
practitioners sit down again to resume zazen. In such a way, zazen was transformed into a kind of
curriculum, and Matcha was used as a teaching material of the Zen sect.
The Zen sect was introduced to Japan as a new religion by Eisei, a priest who studied during
the Song (Sung) dynasty of China, at the beginning of the Kamakura Period.

Tea was broughtback by him at that time. The “Kissa Yojo-ki, (How to Stay Healthy by Drinking Tea)” written by
Eisei about the effectiveness and manufacturing method of tea is said to be the first full-fledged
book related to tea in Japan.

On the other hand the Zen sect is fundamentally different inthinking at all from the Buddhism introduced so far in that the former does not practice saying a
prayer or bending the knee to pray like the latter. Only by practicing zazen, the Zen sect tries tosolve worries by oneself. It is considered as self-reliance, not reliance on others for help.
Self-reliance perfectly matched the way of life by the samurai who relies on his own physicalstrength. This way of thinking has nothing to do with such as tradition, social status and family
lineage that were cherished by aristocrats. Because this fundamental principle of the Zen sectfitted well the philosophy of life as well as the lifestyle of the samurai who strived to get ahead ofothers only with his own physical strength. These two ways of thinking merged with each otherand became the idea generally accepted among the samurai who ruled the society from that time
onward untill the Meiji Era. The samurai thus became very enthusiastic about the Zen sect. That
is why the Zen sect developed its influential power to a considerable extent.
Following the popularization of the Zen sect, Matcha came to be taken often in the gathering of
the upper class samurai, in other words the ruling class of the samurai, and the Zen sect. Such atendency gradually spread out to people of other classes. In that sense, Matcha was used as ateaching aid and also as a kind of medicine at the beginning. At the same time there was no
substitute for Matcha for the Zen sect. That’s how tea was introduced to Japan. At first it wasneither food nor items of personal preference. It was a special thing. To exchange opinions or talkor negotiate over a cup of tea must have been a very rare sight to the Japanese people at that time.
So, I think the custom of drinking Matcha has spread beyond the scope of the Zen sect and theninto the general society. If Matcha was taken only inside Zen temples, it may not have become so
popular widely as it is today.
10. Functionality of Tea Ceremony and Origin of Tea RoomIn those times, the Japanese people exchanged sentences written in literary style as a means ofcommunication among them. They expressed their thoughts in the form of a Japanese poem
11

called Waka (composed of five letters, seven letters, five letters, seven letters, and seven letters).
Especially in the Imperial Court of Kyoto, the Emperor was sitting behind the Misu, bamboo
blind.

When administering affairs of state, the Emperor did not speak even a word to aristocrats

sitting in front in the order of their family status. He expressed his thoughts in his poems. Theintermediary who received the poems passed them on to the vassals. The vassals never exchanged
words with the Emperor. They wrote their opinions in poems instead, submitted the poems toexpress their memorials to the Emperor, and received his reply written in poems. It was the world
where everything was done in the literary style. I am now talking to you. If this place is auniversity, this talk would be a lecture. Here it is a talk. In English it is called a speech. There
was no such a custom as making a speech in Japan of those days. It was not considered graceful topersuade others in spoken words. Those in high ranking positions were considered to be able toimpress others with sentences. Even more, nobody thought of discussing business with verbal
promises.
But, in the world of Zen sect that was introduced from China, people conveyed their thoughts
by word of mouth and received replies also verbally, then going to the next step.

In other words,

this is a discussion. It is called “Mondo (question and answer)” in the world of the Zen sect, and isconsidered very important. Also in the Zen sect, there is a school called “Sodo (priests’ hall)”where Zen priests clean up the hall from the morning, and cook their meals, in other words doing
everything

considereddailychores.

In

between

those

daily

chores,

they

hold

a

question-and-answer session with their master priest. When young priests are given any question(“Meidai”), they think over such a question while cleaning the room, washing their clothes,cooking their meals, or even sitting in a toilet (called “Tohsu” as an important function). In the
Zen sect everything is a practice (called “Shugyo”). Even while sitting in a toilet, priests arethinking over the question posed. When signaled by the master priest to come, young priests go to
him with their answers, and discuss with the master priest, who wouldn’t give an OK so easily.
This question-and-answer session is repeated many times. Heated discussion took place. As amatter of fact, this is the most important part of the religious practice in the Zen sect. This kind ofthing had never been done in Japan before that time.
As a matter of fact, it was the merchants in Sakai that set their eyes on this way of thinking ofthe Zen sect. They could not afford to spend time leisurely for business over exchange of poems.
They had to see their chances, use foreign languages in dealing with foreigners, or negotiate
business deals. But there was no such a custom in Japan nor such a place to learn. On thecontrary, they found it in the Zen sect. As the Zen sect was the newest religion introduced from
China at that time, they had to keep contact with China all the time to learn things. So, they had
to invite all leaders from China who were said to be elderly priests with excellent qualifications.
They had to order from China newest Buddhist scriptures, too. It was fairly easy for Sakai
merchants to do these things because they had a hub in Sakai, a trading port. There was alreadya Zen sect temple in Sakai at that time. It was called the “Nansohji” temple, a subordinate templeof the “Daitokuji” temple in Kyoto that has much to do with our tea ceremony. As you know, theNansohji temple still exists in Sakai. Merchants in Sakai frequented this Nansohji temple to12learn things of their interest.
The first thing they had to learn was the Chinese language. Merchants engaged in foreign trademust know the language of their trading partner and become proficient at such a language. As
you may know, the Chinese language varies even in China, depending on the place where thelanguage is spoken. For example, there are Beijing dialect, Shanghai dialect and dialects spoken
in inland regions. All these dialects differ from each other. One same language is not good enoughfor communication anywhere throughout the country, unlike Japan. The Chinese language alsochanged with times. At that time, the language used in Ming (1368～1644) was most important.
It was Zen sect priest who were knowledgeable in the newest version of the Chinese language
used in Ming. There were priests who came from Ming. That’s how the Nansohji temple played
the role of a foreign language university as is called now. There were many priests qualified toteach like the professors of a foreign language university. Sakai merchants took lessons fromthem in the Chinese language.
But the Zen sect did not show favor with the merchants taking away only the best things fromit. In any case it is important for any religion to propagandize its own faith. Although the Zen sect
may not have been so insistent as the Christianity that came later, the Zen sect was also trying topropagandize its religion. So merchants in Sakai were given a chance to perform the Zen sectpractices. Then they were quick to set their eyes on the Sarei mentioned above as it offered themwith chances to negotiate and discuss things. Such a style of practice in Sarei that gives you achance to exchange opinions and discuss business negotiations over a cup of tea was well received
by merchants in Sakai. So, prominent Sakai merchants spared part of their mansions to make asmall room for the exclusive use of Sarei. This is the beginning of the tea room in Sakai. Being
trading merchants, they were in possession of many rare works of art and used them tactfully toinvite guests and discuss things over a cup of tea. Merchants in Sakai had their eye on thefunctionality inherent to the tea ceremony, such as the function to create an entirely different
world by gathering people for discussion, rather than the etiquette and manner or basics of thetea ceremony. Here I dare to use the word “functionality.” They set their eyes on the functionalityof the tea ceremony. In the town of Sakai, it already became a common sense (practice) to discuss
things in the tea room from the late 15th century toward the beginning of the 18th century.
11. Tea Ceremony Linked Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyosi with Sakai
Let’s go back to Oda Nobunaga. Possessing an exceptional intelligence, Nobunaga realizedthat attacks by force would not work to conquer Sakai, and set his eye on the tea ceremony thenpopular in Sakai. Nobunaga was born near the Kiso River east of the present Nagoya. This river
thriving with distribution business at that time flowed into Ise Bay that also flourished withheavy marine traffic. In a sense, those places resembled the town of Sakai. That’s why Nobunaga
had a sense very similar to that of merchants in Sakai. It is understandable from the fact that heopened the “Rakuichi Rakuza (free markets and open guilds) that allowed even new merchants to
do business. Nobunaga had a very mathematical way of thinking and was knowledgeable about
economy. He thought that there would never be economic prosperity without free trade. This was13the same way of thinking as that of Sakai. Nobunaga was quick to notice that merchants in Sakai
got together to enjoy tea and discuss various matters to make decisions. Then he thought oftaking part in tea ceremonies to deal with the merchants. He thought that if he also practice a tea
ceremony, they would turn to him. So he started a tea ceremony. As was expected, Nobunaga
made a success. It also helped him that he loved novelties.
The subordinates who followed Nobunaga till then were all the type of men who were so
confident in their physical strength as to think that they could get a raise in their salary bytaking the heads of the enemy. But since Nobunaga started practicing tea ceremony, he was able
to take on the descendants of Daimyo (feudal lords) from the beginning of the Kamakura
Shogunate (1186 ~ 1333), such as Akechi Mitsuhide and Hosokawa Yusai, who came fromhighbred families superior to Nobunaga’s. Among them, of course, Mitsuhide was reputed not
only as a superb military leader who excelled in strategic planning but also as a man of culture
who was capable of serving as a coordinator for holding tea ceremonies and making poems. Since
it was necessary to handle various matters when negotiating with the Imperial Court of Kyoto,
Nobunaga hired him to handle such matters. So Nobunaga often hosted tea parties (gatherings)
in Kyoto but he himself also went to Sakai to hold his own tea parties. He was then invited to tea
parties hosted by merchants in Sakai. That’s how Nobunaga came to deepen communication withthose merchants. For a mere short time of one or two years, Nobunaga often held tea parties in
Sakai and won the hearts and minds of merchants there. Of course being a military leader
himself, I think, he may have used threats on them, but consequently succeeded in getting Sakai
to think of letting him rule the whole of Japan. It may seem to some of you here that Sakaisounded arrogant and highhanded, but Sakai was such a town after all. They were always
thinking of who would be best qualified to rule Japan next, and they were actually capable ofturning their thought into reality. Because they had weapons of latest type and funds to supply
them in large quantities to such forces. They were very much like present-day megabanks, or they
may have been more through in that sense.
Merchants in Sakai were unanimous in holding the thought that they would let Nobunaga rule
the whole of Japan by giving him weapons. Nobunaga himself was already thinking of the samething. When he succeeded by more than 90% in reaching his goal, as you know, he unexpectedly
lost his life in the coup d'etat attempted by Akechi Mitsuhide. It was Toyotomi Hideyosi who took
over as his successor. Although this man, Hideyoshi, was commended in history as a hard worker,
when we look at him cool-headedly, he followed through on what Nobunaga had nearly completed
and thoroughly achieved it. Its foundation was all laid out by Nobunaga. Hideyoshi thoroughly
followed it and brought it to completion.
It was then natural for Hideyoshi to think of capitalizing on Sakai’s manufacturing capacity ofarms and financial power. Fortunately, Hideyoshi had been interacting with Sen Rikyu since
Hideyoshi was young. So he took him up and appointed him to serve as ambassador extraordinary
and plenipotentiary of Sakai so that he was able tonegotiate with Sakai through Rikyu. As aresult, he successfully built up that Toyotomi Administration by capitalizing on the arms
manufacturing capacity and financial power of Sakai. Toward the end of his administration, he
14

did not engage in wars. He adopted a tactic of bringing in the enemy to his side by using tea
ceremony without using armed force and shedding blood as Confucius said, “Get the enemy toyour side without using force”. This tactic applied as well to Date Masamune and Shimazu, both
powerful feudal lords at that time. In form, all the feudal lords came under Hideyoshi’s wing. In
that sense, not a drop of blood was shed. In other words, all of them were invited to tea parties
hosted by Hideyoshi beforehand for behind-the-scenes arrangements, and were brought under
Hideyoshi’s wing when they attended formal functions.
In the later years of Hideyoshi, tea parties hosted by Rikyu were all considered as tea parties
hosted by Hideyoshi himself. The people who attended those tea parties included feudal lords
whose names were recorded in history, wealthy merchants and politically-inclined priests
including Ankokuji Ekei, well-known Zen priest and feudal lord. These contacts helped Rikyu to
get hold of many secrets. In the later years of Hideyoshi, nobody was able to speak to him unlessgoing through Rikyu. All over his body, Rikyu was like a block of secrets. So, naturally he wasdoomed to be wiped out in any case.
All the records of tea parties hosted by Rikyu until one year before he lost his life are still left.
In fact, there were 90 plus parties, but these records are called “Rikyu Hyakkai-ki (A Record of

Rikyu’s 100 Tea Parties).“ In these records are described in detail who were invited to each tea
party and what kind of utensils were used there. Two or three guests at most or five guests at a
maximum were invited to each party. Those guests whose names were recorded were militaryleaders, rich merchants and political priests who adorned the history of that time. One and a halfmonths after the last tea party attended only by Tokugawa Ieyasu finished, Rikyu was forced tocommit a suicide by Seppuku (Ritual suicide by disembowelment formerly practiced by Japanesesamurai, also called hara-kiri). What was discussed at this last tea party? Probably it was a
consultation about the Korean Invasion that took place immediately afterward. As Hideyoshi
already put the entire country under his control, there was no place left for him to attack inside
Japan. Besides, he was somewhat becoming forgetful with age, and seemed to be developing
delusions of grandeur. So he happened even to mention that he would attack Ming and otherforeign countries beyond Ming in the near future.
As a matter of fact, these things would surely have been done by Nobunaga himself if he had
lived longer. Nobunaga’s military power was very strong and was considered to have far exceededthat of Europe at that time. I think that if Nobunaga had planned to expand his armed force atthat pace by further organizing gun operation, he was certain to have invaded Korea. Besides, heactually attacked his enemy by boat, and also had a capability of transporting his troops by sea.
He accumulated enough power to become the second Genghis Khan by transporting his troops byisland-hopping if he had wished. My guess is that Hideyoshi, always watching Nobunaga’s
behavior, thought that he would be able to do the same.
Although he wanted to attack China and as far as India, he sent his armies to Korea first to
start with. But beginning with Ieyasu, all feudal lords who had accompanied Hideyoshi from the
beginning became aged and were not willing to take part in Hideyoshi’s project. Ieyasu, inparticular, was thinking that he would be the one to rule Japan next. So he was not in favor of15

invading Korea. To tell the truth, the town of Sakai was already determined that the next tycoon
to rule Japan was Ieyasu. Because Hideyoshi’s heir, Hideyori, still a small child almost like his
grandson, was considered too young and too weak to succeed Hideyoshi. Besides, Yodogimi, hismother, was fearful and often meddled with politics. So thinking that the next best tycoon wouldbe Ieyasu who experienced various careers and had delicate consideration, Sakai decided to giveup on the Toyotomi Family.
12. Last Tea Party Hosted by Rikyu
Since Rikyu invited only Ieyasu to what was destined to be his last tea ceremony in the end, hemust have had a secret understanding with Ieyasu. Most probably, it is my guess that he may
have told Ieyasu on behalf of Sakai that all the arms and financial power of Sakai would be given
to Ieyasu. It was Ishida Mitsunari and Konishi Yukinaga, feudal lords favored by Hideyoshi fromtheir young days, who noticed the hidden message and thought it was somewhat risky. Theylooked up to Hideyoshi like their father, and were hoping to help Hideyoshi achieve his last
ambition by all means by invading Korea and then Ming sometime later in the future.
But beginning with Rikyu, Sakai was already determined to back up Tokugawa, and werereluctant to cooperate with Hideyoshi if circumstances permit. Ieyasu didn’t want to see
bloodshed by going to the Korean Peninsula at this point in his life. He may be even killed by any
chance. If he remained patient for two or three more years, his turn would come around to rule
Japan. He decided to pass time with his usual patience till then. He would never go to war. That’s
why Ieyasu and Rikyu were dead set against invading Korea. On the contrary, junior bureaucrat
feudal lords, such as Ishida Mitsunari and Kato Kiyomasa, were anxious to invade Korea to help
their boss achieve his ambition by doing so. There was such a fierce clash within the Toyotomi
Camp. Rikyu was trying to reconcile it, but he was doing so to change the situation as he wishedby siding with Ieyasu. Mitsunari did not like such an idea. So he was beginning to develop adesire to get rid of Rikyu who stood in his way. This is my assumption that when Ieyasu wasinvited to the last tea ceremony hosted by Rikyu, he was put pressure by Mitsunari to kill Ieyasu
with poison.
Twenty years ago from now, 400 years after the death of Rikyu, several movies were produced.
One of the movies directed by Mr. Hiroshi Teshigawara under the title of “Rikyu” featured such ascene as follows. I remember it particularly well as I thought it was a very daring scene.
Mitsunari’s messenger comes to the last tea ceremony hosted by Rikyu and passed to him a chaire(tea caddy) containing poison, suggesting implicitly thathe should prepare tea for Ieyasu by using the content. In those days, the tea prepared by Rikyu
was considered the same as the tea prepared by Hideyoshi. So nobody objected to drinking it. If
anybody objected to drinking such a tea, he could not help being considered rebellious. The
question is whether Rikyu would use the content or not. As may be expected, Rikyu seemed
hesitant, perhaps because he regretted to spare his life. But finally representing Sakai, Rikyu put
aside the tea caddy containing poison and made tea using the nonpoisonous powdered tea heprepared himself. So Ieyasu was able to leave harmless. Of course, all these things happened in16the movie, but I myself think this was a very probable story.
At any rate, about a month after the last tea ceremony, Rikyu was forced to commit a seppuku(i.e. hara-kiri) on various charges. What was Hideyoshi doing at that time? He was already instaggering condition with age. Various matters were handled by Mitsunari, and Rikyu wascompelled to commit a suicide. Immediately after that, Hideyoshi’s armies were sent to invade
Korea. That proves how strong Rikyu’s deterrent was. Once Rikyu was dead, there was norestraint. As might have been expected, Ieyasu then did not go to war, but dispatched his
subordinates to the expeditionary force. Although the invasion of Korea started with victories atfirst, Japanese armies gradually met increasingly strong resistance and finally returned to Japan
with disastrous consequences in the end. This triggered the downfall of the Toyotomi
Administration, leading to Ieyasu’s era.
13. How “Wabi-Sabi” in Tea Ceremony Was Fermented?
At that time Ieyasu owed his life to Rikyu. Everybody knew that Rikyu lost his life because ofthat. Then Ieyasu gave special consideration to Rikyu’s side. In those days, if someone was forced
to kill himself by seppuku, it was not only the accused but also all the members of his or her
family and subordinates that were charged. As a result, it was inevitable that all the members of
his or her family and subordinates were to be decapitated by guilt-by-association. But Rikyu was
not a samurai. So only Rikyu was forced to commit a seppuku, and all the other members of his
family had their houses, lots, properties and tea utensils confiscated, resulting in the breakup of
those family members.
. Although they got away with death penalty, Rikyu’s children were deported to far-away places.
Rikyu’s son and heir was spared his life thanks to Gamo Ujisato, a feudal lord who attachedhimself to Rikyu so much that he volunteered to serve as his son’s reference, and Rikyu’s son wasdeported to Aizu.
Aizu at that time was an awful place far away from Sakai. I can’t imagine how he could standliving in such a place. If he had not continued to live there, our Senke school would have ended
there. But Ieyasu, almost sure to rule the country, gave a certain consideration. He sent a letter to
Sen Shoan, Rikyu’s son deported to Aizu, condoning his offense and asking him to return to Kyoto.
Ieyasu wrote the letter now called “Shoan call-out letter.” It is amazing that he did such a thing
when Hideyoshi was still alive. In the normal sense, Rikyu was a mere merchant practicing tea
ceremony. So Ieyasu did not have to bother with Rikyu, and could have left him alone. But Ieyasu
thought, “Rikyu saved his life and gave me a chance to rule the country. I owe much to Rikyu. If I
kept silent and left him alone, I would probably be regarded as a cool-natured man by the world. I
may run into trouble in managing the Tokugawa Shognate in the future. Here I may have to playa trick, even though a little taxing, to save Rikyu’s children and restore their family status.” So hemade a move. Thanks to Ieyasu, Shoan returned to Kyoto from Aizu, and retrieved Rikyu’s houseand lot once lost, and was allowed to serve as a tea master under Ieyasu. The world saw it andthought, “Ieyasu did a big thing against Taiko Hideyoshi’s will when it may have meant a disasterfor him. Even then he gave such special consideration to the person who saved his life. So the17world was impressed by what Ieyasu did. This made the public think that they had better follow
Ieyasu. Thanks to Ieyasu’s consideration, I myself am still alive as a tea master like this now.
At any rate, thanks to Ieyasu’s consideration, Rikyu’s grandson, Sotan, was able to settle downin Kyoto to practice tea ceremony. It was already the era of Iemitsu, 3rd generation of theTokugawa Shogunate, by which time the society in general became stable. At that time, theTokugawa Shogunate designated the Yagyu school of kendo (Japanese martial art of fencing) as
the authentic Kendo for the Shogun to practice, and appointed Yagyu Munenori, the master of
Yagyu-ryu kendo, to an authoritative feudal lord endowed with a domain capable of yielding
10,000 goku (equal to 1,800,000 liters of rice) to make him serve as the instructor for teaching the
Shogun in kendo. Likewise, with an intention to endow tea ceremony with authority for the
exclusive instruction of the Shogun in tea ceremony, they planned to call over to Edo from Kyoto
Rikyu’s grandson whose life was saved thanks to Ieyasu. So they approached Genpaku Sotan who
was practicing tea ceremony in Kyoto.
At that time, becoming the instructor for the Shogun meant a feudal lord endowed with adomain capable of yielding 10,000 goku, with authority and no worries for daily life. So Sotan was
moved at first. He was not employed by anyone till then, and was always short of money at hand.
He then deicded to go to Edo and was almost going to cross the Seta River via the
Seta-no-Karahashi Bridge, a strategic point for entering Kyoto from the Kanto area, but on
second ought, he turned back and returned to Kyoto. He repeated the same thing a couple oftimes, but after all he decided to stay in Kyoto. Why? Because he was fully aware of his
grandfather, Rikyu, who failed by approaching the nucleus of the power. If Sotan had crossed theSeta-no-Karahashi Bridge and gone to Edo on his third trip, probably our Senke school tea
ceremony would have ended with the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Now that Sotan remainedin Kyoto and practiced tea ceremony as a tea master out of power, our tea ceremony has come along way to what it is today, penetrating into various classes of people.
Sometimes things may look easier to deal with at that time in point, but may turn out to be
unprofitable later in the long run. I have seen several such cases nearby, and have often drawn onthem for reference. As we look back on this judgment made by Sotan, grandson of Rikyu, he wasexactly right. He may have been blamed so much for his decision at that time, and may even been
told that he chose a very unwise way of life. Although some other school of tea ceremony that was
designated by the Shogunate as the instructor of tea ceremony in place of Senke, it no longer
exists in the same shape as it was in those days. They entirely perished with the downfall of the
Edo Shogunate. Such being the case, tea ceremony was very close to the nucleus of power at least
until the Meiji Restoration. Especially around the time of Rikyu, tea ceremony was politics itself,
or in other words, the scene of politics itself. In the school text of today, Sen Rikyu is treated as
the artist of the Azuchi-Momoyama Era, and is portrayed as the person who raised the status of
the tea ceremony, the unique art representative of Japan, to the level of “Wabi-cha”. Perhaps you
won’t get a good mark in the test unless you write such an answer. But this is far from the truth.
In fact, Rikyu was a politician, not an artist. Furthermore, he was a fixer-like politician who
acted behind the scenes to serve as an intermediary or negotiator. He may as well have been18

called the “dark power.” But for that, Rikyu added to tea ceremony itself various ideas, such as
the following. Military leaders of the Sengoku Period may have lacked in academic or cultural
background, but all of them had such a sharp mind that if they had been given a chance to acquire
education, they would probably have made tremendous achievements. When dealing with thosepeople, Rikyu had to find a place deep in their hearts and turn their attention to him. So he aimed
at perfection by paying utmost attention to such details of stage setting as the use of utensils andarrangement of flowers. It seems to me that the present-day tea ceremony, Chado or Chanoyu, isthe fruits of efforts in creating such a beauty of forms as contribute to etiquette and manner byextracting poisonous air from these emotionally-fueled forms as far as possible and beautifying
the remaining portion during the 300-year reign of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It may be said thatthe “Wabi-Sabi” as the core supporting the spirits of the tea ceremony has been fermented quietly
over time after Rikyu died.
14. The Pacific War and Tea Ceremony
People thought that what may be considered as the negative side of the tea ceremony had lostits substance and had all been wiped away during the 300-year reign of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
But the fact is that some of its debris remained and offered a sneak peek near me. My father, bornin 1913, passed away nearly ten years ago. He told me about his experience fairly long after theend of the Pacific War. My talk about his experience will give you some idea of the worldly natureof the tea ceremony that remained even after the 300-year reign of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
That incident that my father experienced took place around the 18th year of Showa (1943). At
that time, Japan was engaged in a war against the United States of America. Average citizens inJapan were almost dancing with joy over the false news of Japan’s successive victories that was
released by the Imperial Headquarters of that time under strict control. The truth was thatJapanese armed forces were defeated successively. Without knowing the truth, most Japanesepeople were praying for Japan to win the war. Our school of tea ceremony was originated by
Ichiou Soushu, the second son of Genpaku Sotan who was the grandson of Rikyu. Soushu lived in
Kyoto and frequented nobles of the Imperial Court, but he did not approach samurai so much. He
was in a very friendly relation with highly-educated people, court nobles and aristocrats. Amongthem, Soushu socialized very closely with the Konoe Family in particular. Our school also served
as the coordinator of their tea ceremony. Mr. Fumimaro Konoe, Japan’s prime minister at thattime until October 1941, was the pupil of my grandfather as a matter of formality.
In Kyoto, there was a library of the Konoe Family’s properties, called the “Yomei Bunko,”containing many of treasures owned by the Konoe Family. There was a tea room designed by mygrandfather. Prince Fumimaro (Duke Konoe) often visited there to spend time for relaxation. One
day, my father received from him a message saying “I would like to hold a tea ceremony. So I
would like you to come alone and help me as a young tea master.” When my father heard it, hethought he was put in an awkward position. As you saw my tea ceremony held earlier today, many
young tea practitioners from our school came here to help me. A tea ceremony cannot be held byoneself. We cannot hold it without many people behind us to support us. That’s why my father
19was embarrassed to hear that Mr. Konoe wanted him to come alone. But Duke Konoe insisted
that my father must come by himself by all means. I have heard that my father then worked
many times over to prepare for the tea ceremony, and went there, waiting for guests to come forthat day.
Of course, the couple of Duke Konoe acted as the teishu or host at the tea ceremony. Duchess
Konoe worked with my father in the mizuya, in other words preparation room, to coordinate
things between the mizuya and the tea room. My father was of course doing background work
behind the scene in the mizuya. But the tea room and the mizuya were separated only with asliding “fusuma” door and a sliding “syoji” door. So you could clearly hear the talk going on inside
the tea room. Besides, these doors were often opened and closed to bring in and out dishes. So you
could see faces of those sitting inside the tea room. The main guest of that day was their Imperial
Highness Prince Takamatsu, younger brother of the Emperor Showa. He was in the navy at thattime. The other guests were high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I hearthat nobody was there from the Japanese army. Then an unthinkable talk was overheard frominside the tea room. The content of the talk was as follows. “Through which country should we
propose a surrender?” Or “Should we send Mr. Konoe to Moscow as Japan’s special envoy to ask
Stalin to arrange the surrender?” Or “Through Vatican or through Switzerland or throughSweden?” Consequently, I assume, a surrender proposal was probably made through Sweden. In
any case, such a kind of talk was overheard. My father was really upset to hear that. He thought
Japan won victories in succession. But the talk overheard from inside the tea room was different.
It was about a very concrete proposal of surrender, such as through which country to propose asurrender or when to propose it. My father told me that he realized for the first time why he was
asked to come alone. If this kind of talk at the tea ceremony should have leaked to outside parties,
it would have caused a tremendous trouble. Even Duke Konoe would probably have been arrested
at that time on charges of treason. What is more, my father, too, may have been arrested and evenkilled by the special political police or military police. I think Duke Konoe called for my father,completely trusting him that he woluld never leak the content of such a secret conversation.
That’s why he was asked to come alone by all means.
My father studied history at a postgraduate school until he reached about 30 years of age, andcame into contact with various documents. He was fully aware of the minus side of the tea
ceremony, or in other words, the negative side of the tea ceremony. So he thought as follows. Iftime were the Sengoku Period, such a tea ceremony as that held today would have continued. The
tea room normally had an cozy atmosphere like today where it was easy to talk to each other. In
the case of Rikyu, he himself must have set up his tea party in his own way. With theunderstanding that he must have done all the more so, my father thought Rikyu must certainly
have been killed without a doubt. As expected, my father did not talk about his experience for awhile after the end of the War. I think it was after I had graduated from the university that hebegan to talk about it. It was already about 25 years passed since the War ended. Now that the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs began to release the documents of those days, my father also began totalk in a staccato fashion, not at public meetings but over drinks. On such occasions, my father
20referred to his experience as an example when he was asked about Rikyu’s days. He often
mentioned it at gatherings attended by me so that I would hear it. Perhaps he meant to make me
understand that the negative side of the tea ceremony practiced during Rikyu’s days, supposedly
gone gradually during the era of the Tokugawa Shogunate, appeared once again after 300 years
plus decades later at the really very last moment of Japan’s national crisis.
After the discussion at that secret tea ceremony over who should be dispatched as theintermediary for Japan’s surrender, I understand, they were discussing something like the moveof the Emperor Showa to the Nin-naji Temple or Koya-san to prepare for the Emperor to enter thepriesthood. Fortunately, General MacArthur did not ask the Emperor to retire and instead
retained the Emperor’s status so as to contribute to the reconstruction of the postwar Japan. At
that time Japan was really driven to such a stage as to even think of even such actions as theabdication of the Emperor for entering the priesthood and the ascension of the then Crown Prince,
who is the present Emperor Heisei, to the new Emperor. Such a practice was often carried out
during the Sengoku Period. As a matter of fact, Prince Takamatsu seems to have really gone up to
Koya-san after that. In fact, a diary called the “Prince Takamatsu’s Diary” exists, and it was
broadcast over television by NHK. Now that the “Prince Takamatsu’s Diary” was made public
after the passing of the Prince Takamatsu, I hope you will find my story true. My story bears outthat the negative side of the tea ceremony from the Rikyu’s days reappeared hundreds years laterat the tea ceremony held in the 18th year of Showa (1943).
15．Concluding Remarks
I would like to conclude my talk with the following remarks. What are now considered to be thespirits of the tea ceremony, such as “Wabi,” “Sabi,” or “Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku,（和敬清寂）” had nothing
to do with the origin of the tea ceremony in the beginning,but they have been fermented overtime quietly in the peaceful years following the days of Rikyu. (Note: “Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku”,
composed of four Japanese kanji characters, means that at the heart of Japanese tea ceremony lie
harmony and peace, awe and reverence, cleansing and purifying, loneliness tempered withtranquility and enlightenment.)
16. Discussion
Abbreviation:

Iemoto: Mr. Sen Soushu, 14th Grand Tea Master of Mushakouji Senke
Hatada: Prof. Emeritus of Osaka University

Hatada: Thank you, Iemoto. I would like to thank Iemoto for giving us a most interesting talk on thevery nature of tea ceremony as viewed from its relation with our daily life. At this point, let me mention alittle about some story related to the surrender of Japan that was discussed at the tea ceremony hosted byDuke Konoe before the end of the Pacific War as briefed by Iemoto a while ago. It took place exactly inthe year when all the members of the Japanese army on the Island of Attu died a hero’s death afterfighting against the American armed forces. At that time I was an elementary school pupil, and one of myuncles who was a professor of of Department of Precision Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Osaka
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University often visited my house and used to tell us that the war was doomed to suffer a defeat. He
found that a close examination of the U.S. plane downed on Japanese soil had proven the America’s
technical strength which was far superior to that of Japan. In that sense, Japan posed no threat toAmerica. As the uncle was talking in a loud voice, my mother felt scared. For this uncle, my house might
have been one of a few places where he was able to mention such a thing in a loud voice.
Another person I’d like to relate was my great uncle, who was a younger brother of my grandfather.
He used to work for a newspaper company as a member of its New York Bureau. During the war he wasteaching at a middle school in Osaka, and he died shortly after the war. At that time courageous enough,he used to tell us from his experience in New York that there was no chance for Japan to win the war
against such a big country. I heard that he also mentioned the same thing in his classrooms. It sohappened that I became a student of his middle school and heard from the teacher of mathematics there
such an episode. “Hatada” is a fairly rare family name in Japan. So that teacher must have thought that I
could be a relative of the teacher in question. That must be why he told me such a story.
It seems that my grand uncle was advised by his colleagues not to mention such a thing in public, but
he did not stop talking, insisting that he was telling students the right thing. So other teachers aroundhim, although worried for fear, remained silent to protect him. I still remember that this teacher ofmathematics said to me, “With a thought for Mr. Hatada, I am using the desk he used to use.” At myschool the principal told us that we were certain to win if we hang on. But it seemed to me still studyingin the elementary school that what were told by my uncle and my great uncle were right.
Toward the end of the war, all over Japan was bombarded by B-29 bombers of America. From time totime at night, I watched air raids over the city of Osaka from here, Habikino, and saw anti-aircraft guns
shots at bombers flying in the light of searchlights, but none of the shots reached the bombers flying at avery high altitude. According to my father once engaged in the anti-aircraft artillery, shots fromanti-aircraft guns were very dangerous if fallen on the ground without hitting the enemy aircraft, like
dropping a bomb on our side. So each shot was designed to blow up when reaching near the enemy plane.
But toward the end of the war, metal stock required to send up a crump to such a height became scarce.
Those of us watching such a scene behind the lines were beginning to realize that the end of the war was
near.
Having heard from Iemoto the story of the tea party hosted by Duke Konoe, I wonder why thegoverning class of Japan could not bring the war to the end sooner when they were making such a
judgement in favor of ending the war. I now strongly feel that if they ever did, we could have avoided
such a catastrophe as the explosion of the atomic bombs without causing great misfortune not only to
Japan but also to the world. Triggered by Iemoto’s story, I talked about what I experienced during the
war because I wanted you to know these facts. Besides, I feel responsible as a Japanese among thegeneration who experienced the war to tell you that however loudly the governing class of the Japanesemilitary told the Japanese public that Japan was certain to win the war, the Japanese people behind thefront lines were beginning to understand such a losing situation more or less accurately but could do
nothing.
I would now like to open the floor for questions or opinions from our guests about the talk given by
Grand Tea Master Sen Soshu. Please feel free to ask any questions or express your opinions in your mind.
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Lady A: I would like to ask about the “Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku” that Iemoto briefly mentioned at the end of
his remarks. I thought that Iemoto did not mean to refer to it as the origin of tea ceremony. I myself feel I
have heard the word most frequently in relation to tea ceremony. I wonder who first began using theword.
Iemoto: This may apply to almost all things. In Buddhism, for example, the Lotus Sutra is considered
the oldest scriptures, and is said to contain all the teachings of Buddha. It originated after the passing of
Buddha. In any field, what was said by its founder or originator was not passed on to the society
immediately as it was. For some time later, with the passing of time, the very unique nature of theoriginator’s thought or the abstract of its concrete content or its essence came to be handed down to the
public in general. In other words, it may be the unique character that makes it what it is or thefundamental principle of the phenomenon surrounding it.
The word “Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku” came into use after the Edo Period began. With the introduction of theteachings of Confucianism into Japan around that time, I think that people thought of using tea
ceremony to teach morals for educational purposes and began using the word “Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku.” Of
course, I do not mean “Wa-Ke-Sei-Jaku” has nothing to do with the tea ceremony originated by Rikyu.
Even if most of Rikyu’s tea ceremonies were performed for purposes which have little or no relevance tothe present-day “Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku,” there is no doubt that “tranquility” served as one of most importantelements in performing Rikyu’s tea ceremonies. This word, “Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku,” is easy to understandwhen you read it backward. Some people said that it would be easier to appreciate the meaning of thisword if you interpret it like first calmly, then pure-minded, followed by a mind to respect each other andfinally leading to peace. Most things are likely to become abstract when they depart from practicality.
Theory takes precedence.
Tea ceremony did not require such a slogan as “Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku” while it was performed based on acertain kind of social demand, but it would sound reasonable to say that the essence of tea ceremony is“Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku” when it comes to teaching tea ceremony from the standpoint of the way of tea. It ismuch easier to say so than for me to talk like today for nearly one hour why and how Rikyu held tea
ceremonies at whose request and for what purposes. Since Japanese people feel so familiar to each other,
they think as if they understand with their sensitivity what is meant by “Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku” when they
hear the word even though they do not fully appreciate its meaning. In other words, merely byremembering such a Japanese word, Japanese people tend to take tea ceremony for having such ameaning among themselves. I think that “Wa-Ke-Sei-Jaku” then came to become the slogan of tea
ceremony.
Then about “Wabi” and “Sabi,” These words are often used not only in tea ceremony, but also in manyvarious fields in Japan. Haiku is one of them. Matuo Basho, well-known grand master of Haiku, also
used to mention “Wabi-Sabi.” I think these words came from “Wabishii” (meaning bleak) and “Sabishii”(meaning lonely). This expression may be based on the heart or the sense of beauty which is unique to theJapanese people. I often mention, when lecturing to university students, that the character of theJapanese people was originally very upbeat and Latin. But during the middle of the Muromachi Period,
when Samurai took over the reins of central government from court nobles and Zen Sect began to23increase its impact as a religion, the Japanese people tended to be melancholic and became aware ofdeath all the time.
Until then, there was nothing like a war, for example in the Heian Period. So court nobles held thereins of government and Samurai was used like their watch dogs. As you may have noticed from the
Buddhist memorial service currently held in Nara, Sange (petal-shaped pieces of paper) were thrown in
the air and colorfully dressed priests performed dance. It was far from the image of Buddhist memorialservice held in later years, and looked like a show. The Japanese people originally must have been very
Latin in such a way. That’s why ladies of those days appeared in front to a certain extent. But with thepassing of time, only men came out to the front and ladies became oppressed. In other words, as theworld came to be dominated by power, people began to express things in black and white. It is more like
“Wabi” or “Sabi” . It seems to me that the present-day Japanese people still dwell on such a character.
Based on the same idea, I think we might as well say that tea ceremony was born from theoppressed society centered around Samurai. In other words, it may be said to be the historical offspringof that time. Holding tea ceremony in one closed room to create a world separated from the society is acertain kind of escape. It is a means of escaping from reality. It seems that tea ceremony attendees
deceive each other. In the real society, each person carries his own status like Smurai, but once seated in atea room without carrying sword, everyone was deceived, fully understanding the situation. That is why
everybody became outspoken. But once leaving the tea room, everybody returns to normal. That was how
tea ceremony was used for such a purpose in those days. In a sense, it was the Japanese wisdom of living I
know of many countries that have been dwelling on the complete status system till now. For example,
England is one of such typical countries. On the surface, it may seem to be a democratic country, but thestatus system still exists there definitely. When I visited England recently, some of ladies were classified
and marked as the dame, status equal to the knight applied to men, separated from other ladies. The
seating arrangement at the table followed the same order. The ladies classified as the dame were seatedfrom the top of the table. Other ladies were seated below the dame in order. I consider that is clearly astatus society or unequal society. That is why half of the members of the English Parliament arehereditary. Although the hereditary system is said to be a bad system in Japan, it is a more typical system
in England. But Japan is a country which can scrap its traditional system at a time without going
through a revolution. The change of government as a result of the recent general election is exactly suchan example. The Japanese people has such a very versatile spirit in a way. That is why a country like
Japan, located in the Far East in the eye of Europe, can manage to live, and that is why distinguishedscientists are born. Don’t you think so, Prof. Hatada?
Hatada: Having just heard what Iemoto has said, I agree to most of it as is. I only think that
distinguished scientists are born not only in Japan but also elsewhere in the world. The question is who
has done what kind of research and where. So the important point toremember is what type of scientist was born in what way, that is whether he or she is ascientist doing his or her work in the international society with the Japanese culture as hisor her background.

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Iemoto: I entirely agree with Prof. Hatada.
Lady A: Thank you very much for answering my question. I have one final question if I may ask.
Could you tell us if there is any source of the word “Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku” ?
Iemoto: I think the word was composed by selecting individual words from the glossary of Zen Sect
and putting them together. Besides, the essence of tea ceremony is the heart of Yamato (Japan) as
expressed in Waka, which is the Japanese poetry consisting of five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7 and 7 syllables.
Through the world of Waka, Japanese people cherish changes of four seasons. Such a playful mind is theessence of tea ceremony. I would like to add the mind to keep a promise to the world of Waka where
people cherish seasons. Then it will become a world close to “Wa-Kei-Seij-Jaku.” Zen Sect takes no noticeof changes of seasons. It is a world of black and white where such colorful matters are all ignored. But I
think tea ceremony has survived until now only because the Japanese people have a unique mind of
Yamato, a playful mind to enjoy changes of seasons and colorful changes by seasons. That is the world of
Waka to cherish them. In other words, tea ceremony has survived till now because it has fully conveyed
the mind of Waka to the present. This is a story very close to the essence of tea ceremony. Some people saythat when you talk about tea ceremony, you have to practice Zen meditation or go to a Zen temple forpractice of Zen. But I think that is a very superficial view of tea ceremony.
Hatada: I take it that the argumentative nature of tea has been discussed for a while and that thisfunction has led to the magical atmosphere of tea. I wonder if the mind expressed by the word
“Wa-Kei-Seij-Jaku” exists in such a background to create atmosphere for bringing out this argumentative
nature. Today’s talk by Iemoto has made me think that tea ceremony is a kind of democracy or
democratic in many senses. In some cases, it might be more democratic than England or America.
Iemoto: We see big differences even in America.
Hatada:That’s right. I saw from your today’s talk the transition from a so-called absolutely gorgeous

world colored in polychromatic to a world in monochrome or painted rather in ink brush painting. I
wonder if the idea to fully appreciate the incomprehensible or vague thing to the very root of its meaning
was born there.
Iemoto: Yes. That is to pursue the meaning to the end. Contrary to the general idea, the Japanesepeople like to pursue things in their favorite field of interest.
Hatada: I myself am tempted to think of things just because they are so hard to understand and so
amusing in that sense. This may be the second nature of scientists. The more difficult they are written,
the more I am tempted to think of those things rather than to read them. In that sense, I feel that tea
offers a world of imagination that constitutes the fundamentals of thinking. Since the accumulation of theresults of imagination leads to creation, it is very important to science.
Iemoto: The world of tea consists of multilayers where there are more than one starting point for aclimb. That means there are many methods to approach this world. You may look into it or you may
enjoy it as you like. I hope you will take the present world of tea is such a world.
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Hatada: I understand. I wonder if it is a wisdom of daily life or everyday-life art.
Iemoto: Yes, it is. The way of tea is not a performing art like dancing nor so-called appreciative art. It
is an art of everyday life.
Hatada: When we think of tea ceremony from the viewpoint of an art of everyday life, I wonder if it
may be one of your social missions to impregnate tea ceremony more and moreamong young people. I

also think you are making efforts in various ways to achieve that end. I wonder if tea ceremony served ina standing position may be one of such efforts. I think that impregnation and dissemination of tea
ceremony is a very important thing for further development and deepening of tea ceremony. I would
appreciate your giving us some remarks on this point.
Iemoto: You mentioned that tea ceremony is an art of everyday life. When performing tea ceremony,
you drink tea and sit in this kind of tatami-matted room, doing things much like everyday life. Before thewar, we had a tokonoma (an elevated alcove in a traditional Japanese room) as well as tatami mats in our
house. It was our normal practice for us to sit square on the tatami. So we were able to join in a tea
ceremony without feeling strange. But nowadays there are a few Japanese houses with tatami-matted
rooms and even with a tokonoma. Beyond that, it is hard to find customs to sit square on tatami. I wasborn in 1945, the year when the war ended. Soon after the war, everything Japanese was denounced. In
any event, everything American was hailed. People used to say that all the Japanese people should live
like Americans, owning cars. Even meals that are now said to cause hyperlipidemia were regarded as thebest treat in those days.

Japanese-style meals with cooked rice and miso soup, now said to be better

than meals with a lot of fat, were once considered as the symbol of the poor.
Those of us around our age, even if born after the war, have a fairly good idea of what the Japanese life inthose days was like. But today’s young people in the generation of my son or younger than mid-30s find it
exotic even to enter a Japanese tatami room or sit square there, just like going abroad. They think it’s afun, and say “Let’s do it.” Of course, such a thing will not stay long. Although it will not last long, theywouldn’t dislike it like we do. Some children find it a change of pace from everyday life to sit square oncein a while. And unexpectedly, there are sometimes cases where men perform tea ceremony. The trend oftimes is a frightening thing, but we do not have to compromise ourselves to such a trend. A more polite
explanation may scare them away.
Hatada: To sum it up, the question is how to provide such an opportunity to our children and young
people.
Iemoto: That’s right. The problem is there. That is opportunity. There are many children who are notprovided with such an opportunity. Or rather, perhaps there are absolute many. Only a few children havea chance to access such an opportunity. In Kyoto and Osaka, we see comparatively many compared withother areas. Like today, many young people come to learn tea ceremony, and I can also teach tea
ceremony at universities
Gentleman A: By the way, speaking of Sakai City, they have introduced tea ceremony into
lessons given at their elementary schools perhaps because the City has a close relationship26

with Rikyu.
Iemoto: I know that, too, and I have heard that tea ceremony masters are teaching tea ceremony
practices by delivery lesson. It seems that such tea ceremony lessons have been practiced for a fairly long
period of time. When those children given such lessons at school grow up and join the society in due time,
the circumstances surrounding tea ceremony will change a little bit, I think. For example, I have asked
students of the tea ceremony group at Tezukayama Gakuin University in Sayama City, Osaka, to help me
arrange tea ceremony for today. They are really young people of the present day, but yet they don’t care
to sit square on the tatami as you can see.
Gentleman B: Tea ceremony helps create an atmosphere where people feel easy to speak their minds.
To make it possible, there seem to be various ideas to create a different world. You told us that people use
really amazing methods for such a purpose like enabling them to deceive each other with mutual
understanding. If that is the case, I think it would be difficult to create such an atmosphere unlessconfidentiality is strictly maintained among participants. What do you think?
Iemoto: I agree with you.
Hatada: Don’t you use tea ceremony for such a purpose now?
Iemomot: Almost none.
Hatada: Does that mean that tea ceremony has evolved further or in other words, has
deepened its role with the times?
Iemoto: It may be better to say that tea ceremony has begun to remove its veil.
Hatada: Removing its veil means, in other words, that tea ceremony has begun to show its

inner deeppart, hasn’t it? While culture is said to change with the times, tea ceremony has certainly changed for far
better and its beauty has begun to come out in the open. Is that true?
Iemoto: Yes. Yes, you are right. Tea ceremony has been treated like an accessory so far, and only the
result of tea ceremony has been considered important. But we might say that its true nature has now
become visible.
Hatada: Considering from the spirit of tea ceremony, may I take it that its process is more important
than its result?
Iemoto: Originally so. Any culture is likely to be influenced strongly by the background of the times,
although this is not limited only to tea ceremony. Now that Japan no longer fights wars with foreigncountries, it is not necessary to hold tea parties for consultations on such disturbing matters. But culture
is likely to degenerate if there is no demand of the times at all.
Hatada: That means what is that the Japanese people living in the present peaceful society are looking
for in tea ceremony, isn’t it? I’m sure there is no mistake in assuming that the democratic society of
post-war Japan has grown little by little despite many problems involved therein. I think that the true
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nature of democracy is for the entire nation to live while cherishing and making wise use of what havebeen handed down from their ancestors and to live thinking really hard what they should do not only forthemselves but also for all the people including future generations to enable them to enjoy happier life. I
might as well say it’s then the turn of tea ceremony to make a place for enjoying conversation with otherpeople in a friendly atmosphere with a mind of “Wa-Kei-Sei-Jaku”. After I heard your talk today, I’m
beginning to think this is a very good opportunity for tea ceremony to make its true nature and function
work as an art of daily life. I wonder if ordinary citizens should try to learn more and more about tea
ceremony even little by little, the society in general would

get better and tea ceremony would get betteras well.
Iemoto: Let’s work hard, Professor, with that belief in mind!
Hatada: Well, Mr. Kanzaki. may I have your comment from a businessman’s viewpoint about the spiritof tea ceremony?
Mr. Kanzaki: Today you (Iemoto) told us about the historical background of tea ceremony that iscompletely different from the world of tea ceremony as we understand now. Since you are the descendantof the Great Masters of tea ceremony, your story was very convincing and interesting to us. Since
October of 2008, we have found the world trapped in a very difficult situation economically, and weJapanese are at a loss to decide which direction we should take. I think the entire world is facing thesame situation business-wise. Yet the wealthy Japanese people are very rich, and the media is talking
about the disparity that exists in the society. But I am now beginning to think that we should make betteruse of things that are truly Japanese. After the War, there has been a tendency all over the world to yearn
for American life and follow it. Japan is one of such countries, I think. But it seems to me that it is abouttime we should strongly stress things Japanese.
I don’t think we have to compete with China nor with the rest of the world for that matter, but I think
we should make good use of things Japanese. The world of tea ceremony about which you have told us fornearly one hour today is one of those things really Japanese, I think. You told us that tea ceremony has
been used as a social arena politically since the old days. But I feel that apart from such a standpoint of
one’s own, the world where we can cultivate close friendship among ourselves or the world where we canspeak our minds freely will become really important from now on. In my view, it may be more important
than the means of counting money or making money. I wish you every success in your activity to give thegeneral public more and better understanding about tea ceremony.
Iemoto: Thank you for your kind words.
Hatada: Finally before we close today’s meeting, I would like to ask one of today’s guests, Prof. Miura,
former vice-president of Tezukayama Gakuin University, to give us a few words.
Prof. Miura: Grand Tea Master Sen Soushu has been kind enough to give lectures at our university
about the history of tea ceremony and its place in the Japanese culture. As I listened to your talk every
time there, I thought I have acquired good understanding of your talk. But having heard the story ofsecrete tea parties and the argumentative nature of tea ceremony from you today, I have come to feel that,28

as was expected, tea ceremony is profound in nature and has a long history. I greatly appreciate having
the precious opportunity to hear your talk today. Thank you very much.
Hatada: Well, then, I would like to close this meeting by expressing our sincere gratitude to our guest
speaker on behalf of all the participants for giving us a precious opportunity to spend a wonderfulafternoon today. Mr. Sen Soushu, Grand Tea Master of Mushakouji Senke, thank you very much, foryour very interesting and inspiring talk about tea ceremony. I would also like to thank everybody here
for attending this meeting. Thank you again.
Iemoto: Thank you very much. (Applause)
Note: This text in Japanese has been prepared based on the recording of the lecture

given by Mr. Sen Soushu, the 14th Grand Tea Master of Mushakouji Senke, and thediscussion session following his lecture from the culture forum entitled “Tea and theSpirit of the Japanese People” which was held at the Hatada House, a Registered
Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan, located at Kozu, Habikino City, Osaka
Prefecture, hosted by the Conservation Association of Hatada House and co-sponsoredby the City of Habikino, Habikino City Board of Education and the Museum of Osaka
University. http://culture-h.jp/hatadake-katsuyo/Cha-to-Kokoro-bun50.pdf It has
been edited for publication by Koichi HATADA, administrative manager of theConservation Association of Hatada House and Prof. Emeritus of Osaka University, and
Ms. Fumiko YANO, a senior member of the same associaton. The English translation has
been prepared from the Japanese text by Susumu KUWABARA under the supervision of Koichi

HATADA. Copyright 2012 by Koichi HATADA. All rights reserved. This material may
not be duplicated or reproduced in any form without the prior permission of Koichi
HATADA.

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