11.11.09
Sen no Rikyu’s tea rooms
posted by Ifang Hsieh | 4 comments
Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591) is undoubtedly the most renowned tea master in Japanese history. Born in Sakai near the end of Japan’s warring era, he performed tea ceremonies for powerful feudal lords Nobunaga Oda and Hideyoshi Toyotomi, and was the latter’s confidant.
Sen no Rikyu collaborated with Hideyoshi in the construction of the Golden Tea Room inside Osaka Castle and hosted formal tea gatherings for Hideyoshi during dignitaries’ visits. Consisting of gold ceilings, walls, and pillars, the tea room - the size of three tatami mats - was quite portable; in 1586, it was dismantled, transported, and re-assembled at the Imperial Palace when Hideyoshi served tea to the emperor. The current display of this splendid tea room at the castle is a replica; the original was destroyed, along with the entire castle, during the Summer War in 1615.
Famous for their rustic quality and simplicity, the tea rooms Sen no Rikyu designed and used in his later years were even smaller, consisting of only two tatami mats. In Japanese historical dramas, Sen no Rikyu’s character would invite samurai to tea, insisting, however, that they leave their swords outside before entering the tea room through a tiny entrance; the dramas always depicted not only tea sipping, but also political discussions and deal-making. Perhaps it was at these tea gatherings where Sen no Rikyu’s conflicts with Hideyoshi first occurred; he should have stayed a tea purist. At the age of seventy, Sen no Rikyu was ordered to commit seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) by Hideyoshi, although the reason remains a mystery.
I enjoyed seeing the figure above at UCLA’s Fowler Museum’s Steeped in History: The Art of Tea exhibit. It is a most exquisite illustration of chanoyu and Sen no Rikyu.
Photo of the figure from the Fowler Museum’s Steeped in History: The Art of Tea exhibit is from the exhibit catalog.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I love the idea of having a tea room. I see periodically that people build private yoga studios - current Architectural Digest in fact of Donna Karen - perhaps small tea rooms could evolve in this country. Oprah has one - I hope to be next in line. Thanks for the wonderful history lesson. Hard to imagine a gold tea room though - a bit too glitzy for me.
November 12th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Michelle, I noticed that in Asia tea rooms in private homes, especially newly renovated ones, are common. Small tea rooms inside hotel rooms are also popular.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Hi Ifang:
Nice article. I’ll be leading the Tea Tour of Japan in April and we will visit Osaka Castle to see the model of the golden tea room. Can’t wait. Is there any record of Hideyoshi taking his golden tea room to Korea during his campaigns?
November 20th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Dan,
My first TChing post records my visit to Sakai (http://www.tching.com/2008/12/sakai/). Is Sakai one of the destinations in your trip? I visited your website to read about your tour; you are going to have much fun in Japan! Majority of the tourists took the elevator directly to Osaka Castle’s top level/observation deck to enjoy the city panorama; crowd could be an issue. Your group could have a lengthy tea discussion on the third level with the Golden Tea Room.
How could you make sure you’ll see cherry trees in full blossom? I missed it in the Kansai region and was so glad to experience “Sakura Mankai” in Tokyo.