The Urasenke Tradition: Introduction
Sen Rikyu

Rikyu, whose childhood name was Yoshiro, was born in Sakai. His father was a warehouse owner named Tanaka Yohei, but Rikyu used the family name Sen, which he adopted from his grandfather's name, Sen'ami. In his youth, he practiced Zen under the priest Dairin of Nanshuji temple in Sakai, and took the names Hosensai Soeki. In 1585, he served as chado master for a special tea held by Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the imperial palace in Kyoto, for which he was given the title Rikyu Koji by imperial decree. The same year, he also played an important role at the Grand Kitano Tea Gathering sponsored by Hideyoshi at Kitano Tenmangu shrine in Kyoto. Four years later, however, on the 28th day of the second month of the year (according to the old Japanese calendar), he was to end his own life by the so-called Daitokuji Gate affair.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

After Rikyu's death, his older son, Doan, went into hiding at Hida, and his younger son, Shoan, took refuge with Gamo Ujisato of Aizu Wakamatsu. Several years thereafter, however, Hideyoshi allow the reinstatement of the family, and Shoan inherited the estate in Kyoto, called the Fushin'an. It was his son, Sotan (1578-1658) - the third generation head of the Sen family - who established the basis for the wabi tea tradition that has been carried on by the family to this day, which is distinguished by its theory, as emphasized by Sotan, that Tea and Zen are essentially the same. This theory is expressed in the phrase, "Cha Zen ichimi".

Sen Sotan

Sotan also used the names Gempaku and Totsutotsusai. In his childhood, he was placed under the care of the priest Shun'oku Soen of Sangen'in temple within the Daitokuji compound, and underwent training as an acolyte. When the family was reinstated, however, he left the temple and returned home. Although he received offers from provincial lords to work for them, he preferred to live a frugal existence not in government service, and to pursue the spiritual path of Tea.

When his youngest son, Soshitsu (1622-1697), was about twenty years old, Sotan gave the Fushin'an house over to his third son, Sosa, and with Soshitsu moved to a house he built on adjacent land north of the Fushin'an. It contained the tearoom Konnichian, the four-and-a-half tatami Yuin that was designed as a faithful representation of Rikyu's four-and-a-half tatami tearoom, and the unique room named Kan'untei. All these tearooms in the new quarters were passed to Soshitsu when Sotan died.

Konnichian Yuin

Later, Sotan's second son, Soshu, established a branch family, building for himself a residence on nearby Mushanokoji street, which had a tearoom called the Kankyuan. Subsequently, from these residences of the three brothers, the three Sen houses came to be referred to as the Omotesenke, Urasenke, and Mushanokojisenke. Their estates are known by the name of their original or representative tearoom: Fushin'an, Konninchian, and Kankyuan. Through the four hundred year that have passed since the emergence of the three Sen houses, they have sent many "Tea people" out into the world. Ever since the time of Sotan's son Soshitsu, the succeeding heads of the Urasenke family have traditionally inherited the name Soshitsu.

During the Togugawa era, the succeeding heads of Urasenke, while being permitted to reside in Kyoto, served as chado magistrate for the hereditary lords of two of Japan's important feudal domains: the lord of the immensely wealthy Kaga domain, headed by the Maeda family; and the lord of the Iyo domain, headed by the Hisamatsu family. Sotan's son Soshitsu was the first to acquire this position with the Maeda family, and owing much to him, chado became a flourishing tradition in the Hokuriku region of the nation. Of particular note is that he took the Raku ware potter Ohi Chozaemon, who had worked under Raku Ichinyu, to Kaga, marking the birth of the Ohi ware line of Raku pottery, and he nurtured the kettle smith Miyazaki Kanchi, whose line is well known to this day.

The next three generations in the Urasenke family - Fukyusai Joso (1673-1704), Rikkansai Taiso (1694-1726, and Saisaisai Chikuso (1709-1733), who was the second son of the then head of Omotesenke - all died at the young age of only thirty or so. Nonetheless, they left behind many Tea implements that they had made or designed, and managed to respond to the times in which they lived. The eighth generation successor was Yugensai Itto (1719-1771), who was Chikuso's younger brother. Yugensai succeeded in re invigorating the family, and was responsible for the formulation of the shichijishiki chanoyu training exercises. Yugensai's next two successors, Fukensai Sekio (1746-1801) and Nintokusai Hakusao (1770-1826), faithfully carried on Yugensai's teachings, and also continued the family's official positions with the Maeda and Hisamatsu families.

Nintokusai, who unfortunately had no natural heir, adopted the son of an official of the Mikawa Okudono to be his successor. This was Gengensai Seichu (1810-1877), the eleventh generation in the Urasenke line. For the 250th memorial of Sen Rikyu, he built the Totsutotsusai and other rooms, largely expanding the house, and created the basic configuration of the Konninchian estate as seen today. Also, he innovated the manner of tea preparation that employs tables and stools. Among his other great accomplishments was the fact that he represented the Tea world in submitting a paper to the Meiji Governmnent, to convince the government of the validity of Tea as a serious discipline. Hence, he worked to assure a place for Tea in the new age.

Totsutotsusai
Gengensai's son Ichinyosai died young, and so Gengensai's daughter married the son of the owner of a mercantile establishment that had a long history in Kyoto, to be the next family head. His name was Yumyosai Jikiso (1852-1917). Whith the changes brought about by the Meiji Restoration (1868), however, Yumyosai suffered great hardship, and decided to retire at the age of thirty-four and leave the future to his son, who at that point became the thirteenth generation head of the family.

His name was Ennosai Tetchu (1872-1924). Ennosai determined that he would get chado back on its feet, and initiated various programs for this. Firstly, he worked to have chado incorporated into the curriculum at the newly established schools for women. He also published textbooks, and inaugurated a monthly magazine, the "Konnichian Monthly News". Through his efforts, the population of Tea followers increased considerably.

His heir, Tantansai (1893-1964), poured energy into developing the practice of Tea within schools and at companies and other such work places. He formed a national organization for Urasenke followers, called the Tankokai, and also strove, together with his successor-apparent, to introduce chado to non-Japanese and spread the Way of Tea abroad. Tantansai passed away at the age of seventy-one. He was given the Buddhist names Mugensai Sekiso, by which he is officially known. During his life, he was awarded with several medals and decorations from the emperor and Japanese government, in recognition of his work in advancing the culture of chado, and of his accomplishments in the field of international cultural exchange.

Thus, Urasenke reached the mid-twentieth century taking great leaps and strides, and it was the fifteenth generation successor of Sen Rikyu in this line, Hounsai Soshitsu (b. 1923), who shouldered this tradition after Tantansai. Hounsai was given the name Masaoki at birth, and received the Buddhist names and title Hounsai Genshu Soko Koji from Abbot Goto Zuigan of Daitokuji temple. By espousing the universality of Tea, and striving to promote alll people's practice of its peaceful ideals and precepts, as expressed in his motto, "Peacefulness through a bowl of tea", and also by working to spread understanding of this long and deep tradition by promoting its study from the three angles of spiritual training, scholarship, and practical training, he proposed means for many people to learn to appreciate chado. His leadership in building a new chado age has been great, and he has been active in various spheres, including not only those directly related o Tea. In short, he has been a dynamic figure whose activities have been very wide. Among his positions, he has served as honorary consul-general in kyoto for several countries, and as a professor at various universities.

Zabosai Soshitsu Sen XVI Hounsai Genshitsu Sen

The present head of Urasenke, Zabosai Soshitsu Sen XVI, received his Buddhist ordination under Abbot Nakamura Sojun of Daitokuji temple in 1982, when he was given the names and title Zabosai Genmoku Soshi Koji. For the next twenty years, he supported the activities of housai Soshitsu, his father. Now, as the sixteenth generation head of Urasenke, he ispouring energy into nurturing the up-coming young generation or Tea practitioners, and is also striving diligenly to clearly define this cultural tradition, the Way of Tea.

(from "The Urasenke Chado Tradition" catalogue. Urasenke Foundation 2003.)

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