"Schools of Japanese tea" refers to the various lines or "streams" of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

tea ceremony An East Asian tea ceremony, or ''Chádào'' (), or ''Dado'' ( ko, 다도 (茶道)), is a ceremonially ritualized form of making tea (茶 ''cha'') practiced in East Asia by the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The tea ceremony (), literally transla ...

. The word "schools" here is an English rendering of the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

term .

There are three historical households () dedicated to developing and teaching the style of
tea ceremony An East Asian tea ceremony, or ''Chádào'' (), or ''Dado'' ( ko, 다도 (茶道)), is a ceremonially ritualized form of making tea (茶 ''cha'') practiced in East Asia by the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The tea ceremony (), literally transla ...
developed by
Sen no Rikyū , also known simply as Rikyū, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on ''chanoyu,'' the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of '' wabi-cha''. He was also the first to emphasize several key aspects ...
, the 16th century tea master whom they are directly descended. They are known collectively as the , and consist of the
Omotesenke Omotesenke (表千家) is one of the schools of Japanese tea ceremony. Along with Urasenke and Mushakōjisenke, it is one of the three lines of the Sen family descending from Sen no Rikyū, which together are known as the san-Senke or "three Sen ...
,
Urasenke is one of the main schools of Japanese tea ceremony. Along with and , it is one of the three lines of the family descending from , which together are known as the - or the "three houses/families" (). The name , literally meaning "rear hous ...
, and
Mushakōjisenke , sometimes referred to as ''Mushanokōjisenke'', is one of the schools of Japanese tea ceremony. Along with Urasenke and Omotesenke, the Mushakōjisenke is one of the three lines of the Sen family descending from Sen no Rikyū, which together ar ...
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 A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...
, 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 , also known as , is the 4th in the hereditary series of Japanese tea masters who have been head of the Urasenke family. Although he was the first person in the Sen family to use the name "Sōshitsu" which has been the exclusive hereditary profes ...
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 The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
. 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 was an Edo period Japanese priest of the Jōdo-shū sect of Buddhism; devotee of the tea ceremony; connoisseur of camellias; and dilettante poet. The name Anrakuan takes from the name of the tea house A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also ...

, 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 Kobori (written: 小堀) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese artist and aristocrat *, Japanese tennis player *, Japanese ice hockey player *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese voice actress *, ...

, also known as

Kobori Enshū was a notable Japanese artist and aristocrat in the reign of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Biography His personal name was Masakazu (政一). In 1604, he received as inheritance a 12,000-''koku'' fief in Ōmi Province at Komuro, present Nagahama, Shiga. ...

, 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. * (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) * (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. * * (founder: Matsuo Sōji, 1677–1752, great grandson of a close disciple of

Sen no Sōtan (1578–1658), also known as Genpaku Sōtan 元伯宗旦, was the grandson of the famed figure in Japanese cultural history, Sen no Rikyū. He is remembered as Rikyū's third-generation successor in Kyoto through whose efforts and by whose very be ...

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 . * * * * (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 was a Japanese samurai warrior of the late Sengoku period and early Edo period. He was the son of Hosokawa Fujitaka with Numata Jakō, and he was the husband of a famous Christian convert (Kirishitan), Hosokawa Gracia. For most of his life, he ...

, Ichio Iori, Yonekitsu Michikata (1646–1729), and then Andō Nobutomo. In the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, the Tokugawa allowed the Andō family the right to conduct official celebratory ceremonies, and the family was known as etiquette authorities. * (founder:

Furuta Shigenari , whose birth name was , was a daimyō and celebrated master of the Japanese tea ceremony. He was originally a retainer of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Biography His teacher in the tea ceremony was Sen no Rikyū. He became the foremost ...

, 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 was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...

, and had a number of notable disciples, foremost of whom was

. 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 is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,136,245 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, Kumam ...

, Kyūshū. With the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

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. * * * (founded in the

Shōwa era The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa ( Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the Taishō era. The pre-1945 and post-war Shōwa periods are almos ...

by Takaya Sōhan (1851-1933)). *. The school developed by the Katagiri Sadamasa (also known as Katagiri Sekishū) (1605–73), nephew of

Katagiri Katsumoto was a Japanese warlord (''daimyō'') of Ibaraki, in the Azuchi–Momoyama period through early Edo period. In his youth was famed as one of the Seven Spears of Shizugatake, during the Battle of Shizugatake in May 1583. Biography Katsumoto hai ...

and second-generation lord of the Koizumi Domain. Sekishū was chanoyu teacher to the fourth Tokugawa ,

Tokugawa Ietsuna was the fourth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan who was in office from 1651 to 1680. He is considered the eldest son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, which makes him the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. E ...

, 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. ** (see Chinshin-ryū above) ** (founder: the Matsudaira Harusato, also known as Matsudaira Fumai, 1751–1818). ** (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'. ** ** ** (founder: Fujibayashi Sōgen, 1606–95, chief retainer of the Katagiri Sekishū).''Genshoku Chadō Daijiten'' Japanese chadō encyclopedia, entry for Fujibayashi-ryū. ** * (founder: Yamada Sōhen, 1627–1708, one of the four close disciples of

) * (founder: Kanamori Sōwa, also known as Kanamori Shigechika, 1584–1656) * * (founder: Niinuma Chinkei, who was a follower of

Yamaoka Tesshū , also known as Ono Tetsutarō or Yamaoka Tetsutarō, was a famous samurai of the Bakumatsu period, who played an important role in the Meiji Restoration. He is also noted as the founder of the '' Itto Shoden Muto-ryu'' school of swordsmanship. ...

, 1836–88) * (founder:

Oda Nagamasu was a Japanese daimyō and a brother of Oda Nobunaga who lived from the late Sengoku period through the early Edo period. Also known as or , the Tokyo neighborhood Yūrakuchō is named for him. Nagamasu converted to Christianity in 1588 ...

rakusai * (founder: Yabunouchi Kenchū Jōchi, 1536–1627, who, like Sen no Rikyū, learned from

Takeno Jōō was a master of the tea ceremony and a well-known merchant during the Sengoku period of the 16th century in Japan. His name has come down in Japanese cultural history because he followed Murata Jukō as an early proponent of wabi-cha, and was ...

) * (founder: Fujimura Yōken, 1613–99, one of the four close disciples of

)

Current schools

References

External links