interview #003
2020.07.06 UP
表千家 家元
千 宗左
In 2018, Sen Sosa, who inherited the tea ceremony of Sen no Rikyu, was named Omotesenke 15th Iemoto. A dialogue unique to two people who share a background, such as memories of childhood and Japan as seen from the world, has been realized.
(profile)
Born in Kyoto in 1970. Childhood name Yoshinori. Omotesenke Iemoto. Chairman of the General Incorporated Foundation Suspicious Akira. General Incorporated Association Omotesenke Domonkai. Suspicious Bunko Honorary Bunko Director. Graduated from Doshisha University Faculty of Letters in 1993 and completed the master's program at the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom in 1996. In February 1998, he received the name of Gakusai from the old master Fukutomi Yukiso of Daitokuji Temple, and inherited the name of a sect member and obtained the prestige of a young sect. In 2012, he received a doctorate in arts from Doshisha University. On February 28, 2018, he was named the 15th Soza. His books include "Study of Tea Ceremony in the Early Modern Period-Focusing on Omotesenke" (Kawahara Bookstore), and his edited books include "Koshin Sosa Shosho" (SHUFUNOTOMO) and "New Edition Motohaku Sotan Document" (Suspicious Bunko).
Looking back on the state of emergency
Chika: Thank you for this time. It's a strange feeling because it's my first time to interview my cousins. As expected, I am confused to call him Yoshinori, so I will call him Iemoto this time. Immediately, it was difficult for Kyoto to respond to the new coronavirus.
Thousand: Yeah. The number of tourists in Kyoto has dropped sharply. Events at the Iemoto, including regular lessons, tea ceremonies and tea ceremony ceremonies have been canceled, postponed, or reduced in scale.
Recent: I hope there will be no impact next year.
Thousand: There is also a first kettle on New Year's Day, so I'm worried about how long this effect will last.
Chika: Again, the work of the event was canceled one after another. It was difficult at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake, but there was almost no influence from overseas. This time it's happening all over the world ...
Thousand: This year, there was an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Omotesenke's North Ka branch (San Francisco) and South Ka branch (Los Angeles), and I was planning to go to the United States in June, but I couldn't even go to the United States. hand….
Chika: It can't be helped.
Chi: I couldn't go to school with my sons, and I couldn't go to play, so I lived an unhealthy life both mentally and physically ... (laughs).
Chika: It's the same at home (bitter smile). By the way, has your eldest son started practicing?
Thousand: I sometimes participate in private events at Iemoto such as New Year's Daifukucha, but I haven't been involved in earnest yet. As was the case with myself, I gave priority to studying at school first and then experiencing various things to learn while I was a student.
Iemoto and his friends meet in front of the floor of the tea room "Shofuro" for the first time in a while.
Near: How is this room usually used in Omotesenke Fushinan?
Thousand: This is a tea room called "Shofuro" , which is a tea room that is used on a daily basis, such as the usual practice of the Iemoto and the gathering of craftsmen (ten Senke) on the first day of every month. It was created in 1921 by Seisai Twelve, as a favorite of Joshinsai Seventh. There are pods * 1 on three sides so that you can observe the lessons.
Near: I see! How many uchi-deshi are there now?
Thousand: I think there are about 30 people in total, from elderly people to young people who have recently joined. Five to six young people come every day to clean and prepare the rehearsal hall and help the Iemoto. At each rehearsal day or event, the uchi-deshi in charge will come out, and at the time of big events such as the first pot and Rikyu, everyone will gather.
Near: Are there any people living in the area?
Thousand: Five young people take turns doing night shifts.
Near: Please tell us about the alcove hung between the alcove.
Thousand: It's a line called "Clear stream without interruption".
Near: What is uninterrupted?
Thousand: It is a word that expresses that a pure mountain stream is flowing continuously every moment. It is similar to the fact that the tea ceremony tradition since Sen no Rikyu has continued without interruption, and I used this word on various occasions when I was named two years ago.
* 1 Sheath room: The veranda of a long and narrow tatami mat that is provided like a corridor on the side of the space.
Chika: This Kao is your father, isn't it?
Thousand: That's right. This was written by my father, Jimyosai, during the Iemoto era.
Chika: That folding screen is also wonderful.
Thousand: That is called Furosaki byobu, and it is used for the tea room in the hall. The shelves are Miki-cho shelves.
The Omotesenke served the Kishu Tokugawa family as a leader of the tea ceremony throughout the Edo period, and it was in Miki-cho that the mansion was given to the castle in Wakayama. This type of shelf is called the Mikimachi shelf because it was made from Wakayama wood by Koshin Sosa, the fourth generation.
Chika: Your brother's surname "Miki-cho" also comes from there.
Thousand: That's right. For generations, Senke had the practice of changing his surname except for his eldest son, and his younger brother changed his surname from "thousand" to "Miki-cho" when he got married. I wonder if the name is often taken from a place name that is traditionally related. For example, my father's younger brother called himself "Sakai" after Sakai, the birthplace of Rikyu.
Chika: When I'm talking about relatives, it's endless (laughs).
Thousand: Our relatives are interesting because they can be traced back to old times in history.
Senke and Konoe family
表千家歴代関係図(江戸時代前期)
Thousand: In the Omotesenke family, there are many letters and tea ceremony records left by successive Iemotos, and among them, various names of the Konoe family are mentioned. It's a strange feeling that we, the descendants of both families who have interacted with each other, are now talking as relatives.
In front of the main entrance of Omotesenke. After Sen no Rikyu's death, Gotsugu's second generation Shoan was chased from Kyoto and spent several years under Gamo Ujisato in Aizuwakamatsu. After that, Ieyasu Tokugawa and Gamo Ujisato intervened, and around 1594, Shoan, who was forgiven by Hideyoshi Toyotomi and returned to Tokyo, revived Senke in this area (Kyoto Ogawa Teranouchi) with his son, Sotan III. did.
Chika: I understand (laughs). By the way, how about the point of contact between Sen no Rikyu and the Konoe family?
Thousand: Konoe Sakihisa * 2 (Sakihisa) seems to have had contact with Rikyu through Oda Nobunaga. Konoe Nobutada * 3 (Nobutada) had a direct connection with Rikyu, but it seems that he was rather close to Rikyu's disciple, Furuta Oribe. Nobuhiro, the fourth prince of Emperor Goyosei and adopted by Nobutada * 4 , learned tea from Oribe and was the grandson of Rikyu, Genpaku Sotan * 5. It seems that he was interacting with.
Among the documentary materials left at the Iemoto, Nobuhiro was invited to the tiny tea room of one and a half tatami mats built by Sotan, and Ejima invited him to Nobuhiro's tea ceremony. The records that were written are left.
In addition, the tea book "Cha no Yukichiri" written by Hisatsugu * 6 based on the teachings of Sotan is currently in the Yomei Bunko.
Then, in 1726, Kakukakusai made an appearance at Daitokuji Temple in Konoe Iehiro * 7 and offered light tea. There is also a tea ceremony that says that Kakusai was invited.
Chika: At the time of Sotan, you weren't divided into three thousand families yet.
Sen: Of the sons of Sotan, Koshin succeeded the family from Sotan, and the other brothers became independent as tea houses, and three thousand families, Omotesenke, Urasenke, and Mushakojisenke, were established.
Sotan was 80 years old and had a very long life at that time. Sotan himself did not serve as a daimyo and lived an awkward life in a difficult financial situation, but on the other hand, he had a wide range of friendships and had various connections through the tea ceremony. One of them was Konoe Nobuhiro.
* 2 Konoe Sakihisa (1536-1612): A public house in the early Edo period of the Warring States period. He is at the top of the public family called Kampaku and interacts with samurai families such as Kenshin Uesugi, Nobunaga Oda, and Ieyasu Tokugawa.
* 3 Konoe Nobutada (1599-1649): A child of Sakihisa. He excels in calligraphy and waka poems, and was called "Kanaga's Sanpitsu" along with Hon'ami Koetsu and Shokado Shojo.
* 4 Konoe Nobuhiro (1599-1649): My father is Emperor Goyosei. He was adopted by Nobutada and succeeded the Konoe family, the leader of the Gosetsu family, whose ancestor was Fujiwara no Kamatari. He learned tea from Furuta Oribe, enjoyed calligraphy, renga, and painting, and developed his employment with his brother, Emperor Gomizuo.
* 5 Sen no Sōtan (1578-1658): Sen no Sōtan. A child of the second generation Shoan. He was nicknamed "Wabi Sotan" because he lived in poverty without being a lifelong officer. On the other hand, he also went in and out of the court salon centered on Tofukumonin, and was one of the central players in the Kanei culture. The eldest son, Sosetsu, left the house early, but the other three sons (Koshin Sosa, Sen Sōsetsu, and Ichio Somori) became independent as tea houses, and the San-Senke was established.
* 6 Konoe Hisatsugu (1622-1653): Nobuhiro's child. Grandson of Emperor Goyosei. He excels in waka poems and books. I made □ effective.
* 7 Konoe Iehiro (1667-1736): He is well-versed in his career, enjoys waka poems, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and kodo, and is a master of calligraphy and painting. Many works are left behind in the dressing. Multi-creator in the middle of the Edo period.
Cousin relationship deepened in Karuizawa
Relationship diagram of Senke, Konoe family, Hosokawa family (modern)
Konoe: I have been a Konoe since I was born, but my father * 8 was originally born in the Hosokawa family, and after becoming a member of society, I succeeded to the Konoe family. The Iemoto is from the Hosokawa family, isn't it? That's why we are cousins, but when did the Senke and Hosokawa families have a relationship?
Thousand: After all, it's from the Rikyu era. Sansai Hosokawa is named as one of the disciples of Rikyu's excellent military commander, "Rikyu Shichitetsu." It is well known that when Rikyu was banished from Kyoto to Sakai by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1591, Sansai and Oribe Furuta came to see him off to the riverside of Yodo.
It's really strange that the friendships of those ancestors are still in place.
Near: Certainly.
Even though we were separated from Kyoto and Tokyo, we had a common grandfather, Morisada Hosokawa's villa in Karuizawa, so we had many opportunities to spend time together, and we were cousins of the same age, and we were relatively close to each other from an early age. At that time, my parents also took a month off ... I can't think of it now.
Chi: There aren't many tea events in the summer, so it was quite slow. My family often spent the summer in Shinshu, so that's how I joined my cousins at my grandfather's villa in Karuizawa.
Chika: It was Karuizawa that I rode my bicycle for the first time. I also remember catching bats in the attic. Also, every year there is a new snake shell, and it seems that it still lives.
Thousand: Is that mansion still there?
Chika: No, it's gone. During my grandfather's life.
Thousand: How old were you when you went to Switzerland?
Near: 2 to 5 years old, and then 11 to 15 years old. That's why I was in Japan in the upper grades of elementary school.
Thousand: I remember having a farewell party for the Konoe family with relatives. I think we were around 11 years old.
Chika: Yes, when I was in the 4th grade of elementary school. At a Chinese restaurant in Roppongi. It's a farewell party to go to Switzerland, but for some reason it's Chinese. When I got together with my relatives at that time, it was always Chinese (laughs).
Thousand: Really ... (laughs) Even in Karuizawa, going to China is the most impressive ...
Chika: Why Chinese food ... is it just a hobby?
Thousand: Every year until the Konoe family went to Switzerland, Karuizawa was a standard way of spending summer.
Childhood Sosa Sen (left) and Konoe Tadahiro (right)
Chika: When I was 15, I went to Karuizawa immediately after returning to Japan. At that time, it was the villa of Mikasamiya * 9 on my mother's side, but when the Japan Airlines plane crashed on Mt. Osutaka, my grandmother said, "Did you make any strange noise now?" I remember. At that time, there was no villa in Hosokawa, and when I went to see it by bicycle, it was a vacant lot.
Thousand: The row of Katsura trees in Karuizawa has a taste and still leaves an impression on me.
Chika: The mansion seems to appear in a Disney movie.
Thousand: When I was in junior high school and high school, I wonder if there were less people gathering in the summer because of the club activities of each other.
Near: New Year is busy.
Thousand: The year-end and New Year holidays are particularly busy with events at the Iemoto.
Konoe: Iemoto stayed abroad for a long time after college, didn't he?
Thousand: After graduating from university, I studied abroad at the University of Buckingham in England and majored in art history. The University of Buckingham is a university that accepts international students from various countries, and at one point there was an event to introduce their own culture. There were about 10 Japanese people, so I introduced traditional Japanese games such as origami and kendama, and made Japanese side dishes and acted. Among them, I made tea and had everyone drink it. Use the portable tea box you brought with you to get Japanese sweets at a department store in London. It's a very impressive memory.
Chika: How many years have you been?
Thousand: About two and a half years.
* 8 Tadateru Konoe (1939-): Honorary President of the Japanese Red Cross Society. The second son of Morisada Hosokawa, the 17th head of the Hosokawa family. My mother is Fumimaro Konoe's second daughter, Atsuko. My brother is Morihiro Hosokawa, a former Prime Minister. He was adopted by the Konoe family in 1965 because he had no successor to the Konoe family on his mother's side.
* 9 Prince Mikasa: The palace of Emperor Taisho's fourth prince, Prince Takahito (1915-2016). Konoe Tadahiro's mother, Jinko, is the eldest daughter of Prince Takahito Mikasamiya.
A compilation of research conducted by Iemoto through undergraduate and graduate schools, "Study of Tea Ceremony in the Early Modern Period-Focusing on Omotesenke" (Kawahara Bookstore)
Chika: Do you mean that local students and international students are from the tea ceremony family?
Thousand: Even if I explained it, it didn't get through very well (laughs).
Chika: Is it an image of a tea house, a grower?
Thousand: Since Britain is a tea culture, you may feel that tea is familiar to you, but I was wondering if there was a way to drink that tea and how it would become a family business for generations. However, the country of England is a country that values history and tradition, so I think that you can understand to some extent that it is a house with such history.
Chika: Nowadays, the awareness of the tea ceremony has increased, but at that time, I didn't know much about it.
Thousand: The word Tea Ceremony itself was recognized to some extent from that time, but I thought about how to convey the tea ceremony from what perspective, and that perspective was cultivated by studying abroad. Kana. And I think that such a perspective is necessary to educate not only foreigners but also young people in Japan today.
Chika: How do you explain it to the British? From the explanation of the tea ceremony?
Thousand: First of all, even if the same "tea" is used, there is a "powdered tea" that has a different manufacturing method from black tea ... (laughs)
About 400 years ago, an ancestor, Sen no Rikyu, established the tea ceremony by deciding the points and actions. That is being passed down to the present day. Also, you showed interest in the fact that special tools used in the tea ceremony were made and passed down from generation to generation.
Chika: The word method is difficult. It's not a ceremony in the first place, it feels like a ritual, but it's not a ritual.
Thousand: Certainly, the word Tea Ceremony itself is not a simple translation of the tea ceremony, so I felt that it was necessary to add words to explain it.
Chika: It was difficult for me to explain Japan in Switzerland. At that time, I can only explain that it was the country that made that car and that bike. Some people aren't interested and think it's part of China ... And I didn't bother to appeal that I was Japanese because I was rather discriminated against.
Geneva's international school "Pleny School" era. Children from 14 countries were in the same class. This is the 4th person from the top left.
Thousand: Oh. After all it is 2 to 5 years old and 11 to 15 years old.
Near: When I went to the countryside of Europe, I was glared from the other side of the road. However, the image of Japan has improved since Japan won the motor race. On the other hand, because I don't know about Japan and traditional culture, I sometimes felt embarrassed because I couldn't explain it. International schools often introduce me to my country, but I don't know. This is not a problem of not being able to speak ...
Thousand: In the first place, I don't know what I can talk about.
Chika: That's right (bitter smile).
Thousand: When I was studying abroad, I had the opportunity to talk with people from various countries. People in European countries, in particular, speak very proudly about their country. In that situation, I talk about the tea ceremony, and I found it wonderful that each country has a culture that I can be proud of. Through such experiences, I feel that I have reaffirmed the significance of conveying the traditional Japanese culture of tea ceremony.
Of course, even if I wasn't studying abroad, I think I was involved in the tea ceremony as an Iemoto as I am now, but after all I saw and felt various things from studying abroad, and that is a big part of me now. Occupies.
Recent: Is there anything you are usually aware of when communicating with overseas customers?
In August 2017, British Prime Minister Theresa May visited Omotesenke under the guidance of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Thousand: Overseas, in addition to the North Ka and South Ka branches I mentioned earlier, there are branches in Hawaii and the eastern United States. In addition to that, there are also people living overseas who are practicing, and I also participate in Iemoto's seminars. These people have some background in tea ceremony, so there are no barriers that I experienced while studying in England.
Three years ago, British Prime Minister Theresa May (then) came to Omotesenke under the guidance of Prime Minister Abe. At that time, I prepared a chair and a table at this Shofuro and served tea. When I was my grandfather, Sokuchusai, I had a water finger that looked like Wedgwood, so I think I was pleased with the tools related to England.
At another time, I was asked to let young researchers belonging to European research institutes experience the tea ceremony. First of all, I wanted you to sit down at the tea ceremony and have a drink, so I told you to take a drink first because it doesn't matter how you do it. Then lift the bowl with one hand ...
Chika: That's right, in Europe you don't hold a teacup with both hands.
Thousand: Regardless of whether the tool is expensive or not, it is an important tool prepared by the host, so I think it is natural for Japanese people to handle it carefully with both hands. I think that such thoughts appear naturally as an action, but I wondered if such a difference in backbone would also appear in the action.
Culture and tradition are nurtured based on the climate of the country and the values of the people who live there, but it is necessary to make up for those differences while communicating to people overseas. I feel that.
Chika: The gestures of treating carefully and valuing it are different. Even if you think you're dealing with it carefully, it looks different. You have to understand the difference and tell it. Similarly, it is difficult to explain to foreigners even with the Noh plays I am involved in * 9. People say, "Why is it so long and why the scene doesn't move at all?" (Laughs).
Thousand: Compared to Western performing arts.
Chika: There is no stage production in Noh. That's why I'm asked "what's happening right now?" (Laughs). In the sense of the other side, playing something means approaching or imitating something. However, the world of Noh does not seek reality. In the first place, only a man plays, and the age of the characters does not matter. Grandpa also plays the role of a young woman. Therefore, Westerners cannot embrace emotions. Please understand that what you are expressing is more spiritual and conceptual.
Thousand: It's difficult to convey in words ...
Chika: Did you explain to young people in Europe how to drink tea?
Thousand: Of course. When I explained it, everyone was convinced that they started to handle the bowl with both hands instead of one.
Chika: That was good.
* 10: Konoe Tadahiro is also the chairman of the Noh and Kita style public interest incorporated foundation, the 14th Rokuheita Memorial Foundation.
About traditional culture
Thousand: Not limited to the tea ceremony, traditional Japanese culture is not the same as it is today. Of course, the important part that is the basis is still inherited, but while the tea ceremony has been handed down, successive Iemotos have been searching for the state of the tea ceremony of that era at the request of each era. As a result, I think there is the current Senke Tea Ceremony.
With that as a major premise, I think that "change" is not the only requirement of the present era. Especially in the present age when values change rapidly, I think it is important to convey important things that do not change.
In fact, with the diversification of lifestyles and hobbies, traditional culture may have a high threshold. However, if the essence is changed by easily lowering the threshold, I think that there is neither a former nor a child. Even if the threshold remains high, I think it is necessary to take measures and ideas to make it easier to overcome it.
I hope that you will feel that Japanese traditional culture should be more appealing to the world through overseas experience.
Chika: I think this is partly because education changed after the war. At the stage of compulsory education, I can't teach the importance of Japanese culture and how to introduce my country ... It's a problem that there is no place to realize that it is important. In other countries, it's too much to say nationalism, but we instill in our children who we are. That kind of atmosphere still remains in Kyoto, but in general, the importance of traditional culture has probably disappeared.
Thousand: With so many contacts with foreign countries, I think some people will sympathize with what I felt when I was in England and what Tadahiro felt in Switzerland.
Close: There are some managers I know who are interested in traditional culture and want to start practicing. All of them have unusual backgrounds, and when they live abroad for a long time, they want to become adults and come into contact with Japanese culture. Such people are more active than those who have worked for general companies and have lived in Japan for a long time, and it is clear what they want to know.
Thousand : There was a time when the tea ceremony was seen as part of the training of women's brides. Of course, there are still such aspects, but as globalization progresses, I feel that more and more people are conscious of wanting to learn Japanese culture as Japanese people.
Chika: That's what it should be.
Thousand: Iemoto holds short-term seminars for young people twice a year. While sleeping at a temple called Myokenji Temple on the main mountain of the Nichiren sect, which is adjacent to the Iemoto, we practice at the Iemoto's rehearsal hall all day from the morning. Before taking the course, I ask the trainees to write an essay about what they are thinking about the tea ceremony and what motivated them to start practicing. I often see the content that the desire to learn the tea ceremony, which is the traditional culture of Japan, has sprung up.
Perhaps it is related to that, I used to think that most of the students were women and it was rare to have one or two men, but in recent years the proportion of men has increased significantly compared to before. I've been.
It's a good change! Certainly, I feel that the number of business owners of the same generation who practice tea ceremony and calligraphy is gradually increasing.
Thousand: In many ways, some people can afford it.
Near: That's right. You have to ask people who can afford it.
Chi-san and his friends talk about business owners and scholars
Thousand: It seems that the managers around me also feel that they need tea ceremony as a taste. I think it is also necessary to give some opportunity to open the entrance.
Chika: Originally, the former Kazoku had to take charge of it, such as Noblesse oblige, but in Japan today it is structurally difficult. Those who have inherited traditional culture, or those who were born in an old family, should have such feelings. There is a limit to what you can do. Surprisingly, matching services may be good. It's like connecting the bearers of traditional culture with young business owners.
Thousand: I hope I can be given a chance by various relationships.
Near: Many people are looking for it. A young IT person who has made a fortune wants to start something, but he doesn't know what to do. Wouldn't it be interesting or useful for such a person? I want to approach you.
Thousand: With the Meiji Restoration, traditional Japanese culture such as the tea ceremony has entered an era of decline because the patronage of the daimyo family has disappeared and the lifestyles of foreign countries have been passed down. One of the reasons for the revival of such tea ceremony was that people in the political and business world, such as Masuda Donno and Matsunaga Jian, who are said to be "modern scholars", I was interested in Japanese art and incorporated tea into it. Their energy was one of the triggers for the revival of traditional culture. I think that such external energy can be used at any time.