Schools of Japanese tea explained

"Schools of Japanese tea" refers to the various lines or "streams" of Japanese tea ceremony. The word "schools" here is an English rendering of the Japanese term .

There are three historical households (Japanese: 家) dedicated to developing and teaching the style of tea ceremony developed by Sen no Rikyū, the 16th century tea master from whom they are directly descended. They are known collectively as the, and consist of the Omotesenke, Urasenke, and Mushakōjisenke schools of tea.

Another line, which was located in Sakai and therefore called the, was also descended from the original (Sen house). Rikyū's natural son, Sen no Dōan, took over as head of the Sakaisenke after his father's death, but the Sakaisenke soon disappeared as Dōan had no offspring or successor. The school named is not descended by blood from the Sen family; its founder, Kawakami Fuhaku (1716–1807), became a tea master under the 7th generation head of the Omotesenke line, and eventually set up a tea house in Edo (Tokyo), where he devoted himself to developing the Omotesenke style of tea ceremony in Edo.

The arose from the fact that three of the four sons of Genpaku Sōtan (Sen no Rikyū's grandson) inherited or built a tea house, and assumed the duty of passing forward the tea ideals and tea methodology of their great-grandfather, Sen no Rikyū. Kōshin Sōsa inherited and became the head of the Omotesenke line; Sensō Sōshitsu inherited and became of the Urasenke line; and Ichiō Sōshu built and became of the Mushakōjisenke line. The names of these three family lines came about from the locations of their estates, as symbolized by their tea houses: the family in the front, the family in the rear, and the family on Mushakōji Street.

The style of tea ceremony considered to have been perfected by Sen no Rikyū and furthered by Sen Sōtan is known as . The have historically championed this manner of tea.

Schools that developed as branches or sub-schools of the, or separately from them, are typically entitled with the suffix (from), which may be translated as "school" or "style."

As opposed to the manner of tea ceremony, another style of tea ceremony, called (also referred to as) exists, the name referring to the manner of tea ceremony practiced by members of the warrior class mainly during the Edo period. In many cases, the of a domain would decide upon a certain official style of tea ceremony, which would be the style practiced in his domain. Generally, tea ceremony teachers were given the responsibility for teaching this style, but there were some who themselves possessed deep knowledge of tea ceremony.

Some of the main styles are the Uraku, Sansai, Oribe, Enshū, Ueda Sōko, Sekishū, Chinshin, Fumai, Ogasawara (Ogasawara family), and Oie (Ando family). Among these, the Sekishū, whose founder served as tea ceremony instructor to the, developed a notably large number of branches, and spread widely into warrior society.

Current schools

(founder: Anrakuan Sakuden, 1554–1642)
(founder: Matsura Chinshin, 1622–1703, who was magistrate of Hizen Hirado, present-day Hirado in Nagasaki Prefecture).The school takes after the "warrior-house style of tea" that was promoted by the Katagiri Sekishū. The school is also known as the Sekishū-ryū Chinshin-ha (Chinshin branch of the Sekishū school).
(founder: Kawakami Fuhaku, 1716–1807)
(founder: Kobori Masakazu, also known as Kobori Enshū, 1579–1647). One of the foremost disciples of Furuta Oribe, Kobori Enshū was tasked as the official tea instructor for the second and third of the Tokugawa, Hidetada and Iemitsu.
(also known as Sekishū-ryū Sōgen-ha; see Sekishū-ryū below)
(founder: Kawakami Fuhaku). This school, also called the Omotesenke Fuhaku-ryū, evolved after the death of Kawakami Fuhaku, when this faction split from the Edosenke school that he had founded.^[1]
(founder: Hayami Sōtatsu, 1727–1809, who learned tea under the 8th Urasenke, Yūgensai, and was allowed by him to found a school of his own in Okayama)^[2]
(The word "Higo" refers to present-day Kumamoto Prefecture; means "old school").One of the schools of tea traditionally followed by members of the old Higo domain, it is considered to be faithful to Sen no Rikyū's tea style, and is somewhat-literally called tea of the "old school". The school has been led by three families, and therefore is divided into the following three branches:
- , known also as the (see below).
  - - - (founder: Kobori Masakazu (Kobori Enshū), 1579–1647, and passed down through Enshū's brother Kobori Masayuki, 1583–1615) Grand Master XVI, Kobori Soen currently runs the school.^[3]
- (founder: Matsuo Sōji, 1677–1752, great grandson of a close disciple of Sen no Sōtan who had the same name, Matsuo Sōji). The founder of the Matsuo school hailed from Kyoto and learned tea under the 6th Omotesenke, Kakukakusai. He later settled in Nagoya, where the Matsuo school is centered. A number of the successive Matsuo-ryū in history have apprenticed under the "reigning" Omotesenke .^[4]
  - - (founder: Furuichi Tanehide/In'ei, 1439–1505, a warrior and devout Buddhist of Nara). Together with his brother, Furuichi Tanehide became a tea ceremony disciple of Murata Shukō, who is considered the "father" of the style.The Furuichis served as experts for the Ogasawara family, lords of the Kokura fief. They lost their position with the Ogasawaras when the feudal system was abolished, but the Ogasawara's continued to support their . The present head of the Ogasawara is Ogasawara Nagamasa,the 33rd generation in his family, once lords of the Kokura fief. Followers of the Ogasawara are centered in Kokura, and their organization is called the .
(founder: the feudal lord Andō Nobutomo, 1671–1732). The school traces its roots to Sen no Rikyū, and from Rikyū as follows: Hosokawa Sansai, Ichio Iori, Yonekitsu Michikata (1646–1729), and then Andō Nobutomo. In the Edo period, the Tokugawa allowed the Andō family the right to conduct official celebratory ceremonies, and the family was known as etiquette authorities.^[5]
(founder: Furuta Shigenari, also known as Furuta Oribe). According to the Japanese tea historian Tsutsui Hiroichi, after the death of Sen no Rikyū, his follower Furuta Oribe succeeded him as the most influential tea master in the land.Oribe was officer for the second Tokugawa, Tokugawa Hidetada, and had a number of notable disciples, foremost of whom was Kobori Enshū. For political reasons, Oribe was ordered to commit (ritual suicide), and consequently his family did not become an official tea-teaching family.Through the succeeding generations, the family head held the position of (intendant) to the headquartered at Oka Castle in present-day Ōita Prefecture, Kyūshū. With the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century, and the family's consequent loss of its hereditary position, the 14th-generation family head, Furuta Sōkan, went to the new capital, Tokyo, to attempt to reestablish the Oribe school of tea. Today, Kyūshū and especially Ōita have the highest concentration of followers of this school.^[6]
- - (founded in the Shōwa era by Takaya Sōhan (1851–1933)).
. The school developed by the Katagiri Sadamasa (also known as Katagiri Sekishū) (1605–1673), nephew of Katagiri Katsumoto and second-generation lord of the Koizumi Domain. Sekishū was chanoyu teacher to the fourth Tokugawa, Tokugawa Ietsuna, and his style therefore became popular among the feudal ruling class of Japan at the time. The Sekishū-ryū school of was passed forward by his direct descendants, and also through his talented followers who became known as the founders of of the Sekishū school.^[7]
- (see Chinshin-ryū above)
- (founder: the Matsudaira Harusato, also known as Matsudaira Fumai, 1751–1818).^[8]
- (founder: the Rinzai Zen sect priest Ikei Sōetsu, 1644–1714, founder of the Kōgen'in sub-temple at Tōkaiji temple in Tokyo). He studied under Katagiri Sekishū. His pupil, Isa Kōtaku (1684–1745), whose family was in charge of the Tokugawa government's tea houses, founded the . Furthermore, the Ikei-ha style that spread among people in Tokyo was referred to as 'Edo Ikei', and that which spread among people in the Echigo (present-day Niigata Prefecture) region was referred to as 'Echigo Ikei'.^[9]
  - - - (founder: Fujibayashi Sōgen, 1606–1695, chief retainer of the Katagiri Sekishū).^[10]
  - (founder: Yamada Sōhen, 1627–1708, one of the four close disciples of Sen no Sōtan)
(founder: Kanamori Sōwa, also known as Kanamori Shigechika, 1584–1656)
- (founder: Niinuma Chinkei, who was a follower of Yamaoka Tesshū, 1836–1888)
(founder: Oda Nagamasu [Urakusai])
(founder: Yabunouchi Kenchū Jōchi, 1536–1627, who, like Sen no Rikyū, learned from Takeno Jōō). A mix of wabi-cha style and the buke-cha style of Furuta Oribe. Since the school's head family, the Yabunouchi family, is based at Nishinotoin-dori Street, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto City, it is commonly called the Lower (shimo) School, as opposed to the Sansenke schools (Omotesenke, Urasenke, and Mushakojisenke) located in Kamigyo Ward and known as the Upper (kami) Schools.
(founder: Fujimura Yōken, 1613–1699, one of the four close disciples of Sen no Sōtan)

Notes and References

Genshoku Chadō Daijiten, entry for Edosenke.
Genshoku Chadō Daijiten Japanese chadō encyclopedia, entries for Hayami-ryū and Hayami Sōtatsu.
http://koborienshu-ryu.com/english/sadou.html "What is Kobori Enshu School of Tea?"
Genshoku Chadō Daijiten, entries for 'Matsuo-ryū and Matsuo Sōji.
http://www.zd.em-net.ne.jp/~oieryu/html/oieryu.html Andō-ke (Andō Family) Oie-ryū official website
http://100.yahoo.co.jp/detail/%E7%B9%94%E9%83%A8%E6%B5%81/ Yahoo Japan Encyclopedia entry for Oribe-ryū (Japanese)
Genshoku Chadō Daijiten, entry Sekishū-ryū.
Kojien Japanese dictionary, entry for "Matsudaira Harusato."
Genshoku Chadō Daijiten, entry Sekishū-ryū, Ikei Sōetsu, and Isa Kōtaku.
Genshoku Chadō Daijiten Japanese chadō encyclopedia, entry for Fujibayashi-ryū.

Schools of Japanese tea explained

Current schools

External links

Notes and References