Overview of Japanese History Focusing on Chanoyu Developments
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1333 Kamakura shogunate – Japan’s first military government, established ca 1192 by Minamoto Yoritomo and based in Kamakura – overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo. ENDS KAMAKURA (A.K.A. MINAMOTO) PERIOD. BEGINS KEMMU RESTORATION (-1336), the attempt by the emperor to restore direct imperial rule. Fifteen years previously, Rinzai Zen priest Soho Myocho (Daito Kokushi) builds small temple in Kyoto, which eventually develops into the complex Daitokuji.
1336 Ashikaga Takauji overthrows Emperor Go-Daigo’s restoration government and establishes Muromachi shogunate, based in Kyoto. Beginning of struggle between Northern and Southern courts (Namboku-cho, lasting until 1392), during which aristocracy in Kyoto looses political and economic power to the provincial military class. Takauji promulgates Kemmu Code for guidance of the ruling class. It orders curbing of the extravagant and disorderly verse-linking (renga) and tea gambling (cocha) parties popular among warriors and monks. Monk Muso Soseki begins building garden at Saihoji (Kokedera; the Moss Temple); completed 1340. 1338-42, he builds garden at Tenryuji temple.
1401 3rd Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), establishes trade relations with Ming. 1397-1407, builds elegant Kitayama-dono (Kitayama Palace; later Rokuonji, popularly called Kinkakuji [Temple of the Golden Pavilion]) at foot of Kitayama Mountains, Kyoto, where art and culture flourish. KITAYAMA CULTURE.
1426 Korea opens ports to Japanese trade and residence.
1429 Ashikaga Yoshinori (1394-1441) becomes 6th Muromachi shogun. At his palace, first secular use of daisu (type of portable shelf) for displaying tea utensils and making tea. Ashikaga Gakko (in present Tochigi Pref.) educational facility formally established; the students are mainly monks; curriculum focuses on Confucian learning and military science.
1449 Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436-90) at age 13 becomes 8th Muromachi shogun. Devotes his time mostly to the arts. Natural calamities throughout Japan around this period cause constant famine and disease.
1462 Earliest record of “a master of rikka (standing flowers),” Ikenobo Senkei of Kyoto, indicating that flowers were no longer only altar offerings but had become an art form.
1467 Outbreak of Onin War (1467-77), which devastates the capital (Kyoto) and ushers in the century-long Warring States (Sengoku) period that finally ends when, in 1568, Oda Nobunaga enters Kyoto to assert national hegemony. Through this period, artistic talents move away from Kyoto and the Zen monasteries.
1471 d. painter Noami (1397-1471), among the Ashikaga shogun’s doboshu (cultural attendants), who served as curator of karamono (Chinese) art objects in the shogun’s collection. Noami’s son Geiami (1431-85) and then grandson Soami (ca 1455-1525) succeed to his duties. They write the Kundaikan Sauchoki record of art objects and rules for decorating shoin reception rooms, which thereafter provides the essential guidelines for format room decorating. 1483 Ashikaga Yoshimasa (abdicated 1474) retires to his new villa (later Jishoji, popularly called Ginkakuji [Temple of the Silver Pavilion]) at foot of Higashiyama Mountains, Kyoto, which becomes center for arts. the Togudo structure here contains the 4.5 mat shoin style room named Dojinsai Ip7TJ A~, considered the earliest extant tearoom. HIGASHIYAMA CULTURE.
1581 d, townsman Murata Shukou aka Jukou (1432-1502) of Nara, the early developer of wabi-style chanoyu. ‘Til his era, artistic living is monopolized by Chinese art objects, but now relatively unsophisticated Japanese crafts gain appreciation. Commercial centers Kyoto, Nara, Sakai develop; affluent townsmen enjoy cultural hobbies such as noh and chanoyu. Sakai especially flourishes as trade port.
1522 b. Sen Rikyu (original name, Tanaka Yoshiro), in Sakai. 1532 Wealthy Sakai merchant and chanoyu practitioner Takeno Shingoro (1502-55) takes tonsure, setting precedent for Zen (particularly Rinzai sect) training by chanoyu practitioners and consequent connection to Daitokuji temple, Kyoto. Adopts name Joo, to be known as Takeno Joo, and becomes leading figure in “mountain hermitage in the city” 4.5-mat soon (thatched hut) chanoyu practice.
1533 3.20 First entry in Matsuya Kaiki tea-gathering record kept by the Matsuya family of lacquer artisans of Nara, marking start of the important historical chakaiki (tea-gathering records). Around this era, castle towns of provincial lords develop as “little Kyotos.”
1540 Rikyu (age 19) begins learning chanoyu from Takeno Joo.
1541 12.06 First entry in Tennojiya Kaiki chakai record of Tsuda family, proprietors of the wealthy Tennojiya mercantile house of Sakai.
1543 Portuguese ship stranded on Tanegashima island, southern Kyushu. At this time, first musket introduced to Japan.
1546 b. Rikyia’s son Man and stepson Shoan. Shoan marries Rikyu’s daughter Okame around 1576, and his mother, Soon, becomes Rikyu’s second wife around 1577.
1549 Jesuit missionary Francisco Xavier (1506-52) comes to Kagoshima, Kyushu, and introduces Christianity (stays in Japan until 1551). (By 1598, Japanese Christian population estimated at about 300,000.) The next approx. 100 years known as Japan’s “Christian Century.”
1554 Earliest reference work on tea utensils, the Chagu Bitoshu ~~, AR rNI afA, consisting of a categorized tea utensil list, completed (identity of author unclear). Before long, many handwritten copies circulated.
1555 Rikyu (34) invites teacher Takeno Joo, Sakai merchant and chanoyu figure Imai Sokyu (husband of Joo’s daughter), and others for morning tea. Uses a Korai (Korean) teabowl. d. Joo about 7 mos. later (age 54).
1557 Ogimachi succeeds as 106th sovereign (r -1586.11.7), but empire so poor he waits several years for enthronement ceremony. It is funded by the powerful military leader, Mori Motonari.
1558 d. Nishimura Sozen, who made clay braziers in Nara and was the first in the (Eiraku) Zengoro line of potters that became one of the Senke Jusshoku craft families.
1564 Bunrui Sojinboku ~`VMA* 3-vol. work about chanoyu history, tea plantations, utensils, and manners completed (ed. Shunshosai Shinkei).
1566 First known instance of Rikyu using a Natsume (c.f. Tennojiya Kaiki). Tsuda Sogyu’s record of 1569.11.23 reports of Rikyu using one in a pouch. Jukoin (the family temple of the descendants of Rikyu) built in Daitokuji compound as memorial temple for warrior Miyoshi Chokei (d. 1564).
1568 Oda Nobunaga (1534-82) enters Kyoto and installs Ashikaga Yoshiaki as puppet shogun. Demands “arrow money” (yasen; military funding) from the great merchant city and firearms manufacturing center Sakai. 1569, he gains control over Sakai. Utilizes chanoyu for political leverage, conducts “meibutsu hunting” (meibutsu-gari) in Sakai and Kyoto, and has influential Sakai merchants head certain tea functions of his.
1571 Oda Nobunaga burns down the powerful Enryakuji temple on Mt. Hiei and massacres all the bonzes, who for generations had kept an army and terrorized Kyoto and surrounds.
1573 The 15th and last Ashikaga shogun, Yoshiaki, deposed by Nobunaga, marking final fall of Muromachi shogunate. ENDS THE MUROMACHI PERIOD. BEGINS THE AZUCHIMOMOYAMA.
1582 About this year, Rikyu becomes Nobunaga’s chief of chanoyu affairs (sado/chato). Tennojiya Kaiki and such records reveal that Rikyu starts using Japanese temmoku tea bowls, as opposed to karamono temmoku, from around this year. The painter Kano Eitoku paints his famous Rakuchu-Rakugai folding screens depicting “inner Kyoto” and “outer Kyoto.”
1576 Nobunaga builds his grand Azuchi Castle (in present Shiga Prefecture). Jesuit missionary Organtino builds cathedral there. (Castle destroyed shortly after Nobunaga’s death.)
1578 b. Sen Sotan, son of Shoan and Rikyu’s daughter Okame.
1579 b. daimyo-chajin Kobori Enshu, who serves as construction minister under the first three Tokugawa shoguns and promotes elegant tea aesthetic referred to as “kirei-sabi” (pretty rusticity).
1581 Toyotomi Hideyoshi has chakai at Himeji Castle, using arare-gama (kettle with hailstone texture) presented from Rikyu.
1582 6.2 d. Oda Nobunaga (49) at Honnoji attack by Akechi Mitsuhide. Many of Nobunaga’s meibutsu art works and tea utensils lost in the blaze. Within days, Hideyoshi slays Mitsuhide (Battle of Yamazaki). He builds Soken’in temple dedicated to Nobunaga in Daitokuji compound, and sponsors grand funeral there. (Vassals under Hideyoshi subsequently erect temples in Daitokuji compound, too.) Taian tea house of Rikyu’s design built around this year at Myokian temple in Yamazaki, southern Kyoto prefecture.
1583 Hideyoshi builds Osaka Castle as his residence on site of fortress-like Ishiyama Honganji temple that Nobunaga conquered in 1580. (Osaka consequently develops as a major metropolis and business center). Chanoyu experts such as Rikyu and Tsuda Sogyu have boarding place at this most impressive castle. 7.2 Rikyu and Sogyu are in charge of first afternoon chakai by Hideyoshi at the castle. 7.7 Rikyu participates in 7 rounds of mawaribana (“flowers arranged by turn”) at Hideyoshi’s Tanabata Chakai at the castle. 1584.1.3 Hideyoshi has tea gathering to open Yamazato (“mountain hamlet”) area featuring rustic tea house at the castle.
1585 Hideyoshi is appointed chief adviser to the throne (Kampaku). Rikyu becomes reputed as Hideyoshi’s closest confidant. 10.7, Hideyoshi makes tea for Emperor Ogimachi etc. at Imperial Palace, Kyoto; aide Rikyu makes tea using daisu for other imperial members. For this role, Rikyu was imperially bestowed the priestly name and title Rikyu Koji some weeks earlier. Portuguese Jesuit Joao Rodriguez (1559-1663), who eventually is chosen by Hideyoshi and Ieyasu as interpreter for all business transacted with Portuguese, arrives in Japan.
1586 1.16 Rikyu heads Hideyoshi’s “golden chakai” for Emperor Ogimachi etc. at Imperial Palace, Kyoto, where Hideyoshi’s portable gold tearoom from Osaka Castle is used. 10th month, record of a “Soeki-form tea bowl” (Soeki-goto chawan) and “contemporary tea bowl” (ima-yaki chawan), indicating that Rikyu is having tea bowls ordermade to his taste.
1587 Hideyoshi’s Jurakudai (“palace of assembled pleasures”) mansion in Kyoto completed. (Hideyoshi tears it down in 1595.) Rikyu has quarters there, and builds a 1.5-mat tearoom in it. 10.1 Hideyoshi holds Grand Tea Gathering at Kitano (Kyoto), where over 1,500 make-shift tea houses are erected by chanoyu aficionados. Around this year, Sen Sotan (10) enters Daitokuji (spends about 7 years there).
1589 Rikyu arranges for his and wife Soon’s cemetery at Jukoin temple in Daitokuji compound. Sponsors repairs and additions to Daitokuji main gate. Statue of him placed in gate stirs criticism. d. potter Raku Chojiro, founder of the Raku family of potters and pottery technique.
1590 Hideyoshi achieves control over Japan; turns attention to Korea. T. okugawa Ieyasu enters Edo Castle. d. chajin Yamanoue Soji (47), author of Yamanoue Soji ki tU-_;uWE 8.17, first entry in Rikyu Hyakkai-ki (Record of One Hundred Chakai by Rikyu). 9.10 Rikyu has two guests for tea at his Jurakudai residence. Tells them “the lord dislikes tea made in black tea bowls,” but nonetheless uses a black tea bowl.
1591 2.4 Rikyu takes his treasured Hashidate leaf-tea jar (Chatsubo) to Jukoin for safe-keeping. 2.13 Hideyoshi orders Rikyu under house arrest in Sakai. 2.26 Rikyu is called back to his Jurakudai residence. 2.28 d. Sen Rikyu (70) by ritual suicide as commanded by Hideyoshi. Some weeks later, d. chajin Tsuda Sogyu, another central figure in the tea world. Sen family members go into hiding. Nishi Honganji temple established at its present site in Kyoto, thanks to land grant from Hideyoshi.
1592 Hideyoshi, who had grandiose plan to conquer East Asia, launches first of two invasions of Korea (1592, 1597), both of which fail. The vast numbers of Korean artisans taken captive make a lasting contribution to Japanese arts, especially ceramics and, to a lesser degree, printing.
1593 d. merchant and chajin Imai Sokyu of Sakai (74), who, with Tsuda Sogyu and Sen Rikyu, was one of the top three tea experts of his time. b. 2nd son of Sen Sotan, who eventually founds Mushakojisenke.
1594 Construction of Fushimi Castle at Momoyama in southern Kyoto for Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi pardons Sen Man and Sen Shoan around this year, and Shoan establishes Sen house at present site of Omotesenke Fushin’an, Kyoto.
1595 d. prominent daimyo Gamo Ujisato of illness (49; wife was Nobunaga’s daughter; became Christian in 1585), who protected Sen Shoan after Rikyu’s death and is counted among Rikyu’s top seven disciples (Rikyu Shichitetsu).
1598 d. hegemon Toyotomi Hideyoshi (63). The following spring, 33 chanoyu devotees have flower-viewing tea in Nara in secret memory of Rikyu.
1599 Record appears of Furuta Oribe using a “warped” Seto teabowl.
1600 9.15 Battle of Sekigahara, the decisive battle in rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) to shogun. d. Rikyu’s second wife, Soon, mother of Shoan. Shoan retires, placing son Sotan (23) in charge of house. BEGINNING OF EDO/ TOKUGAWA PERIOD
1602 Higashi Honganji temple founded, as result of succession dispute which split Honganji religious organization into two rival branches. (Burned down in 1788, 1823, 1858, and 1864.) Completion of Nijo Castle in Kyoto by Tokugawa leyasu. Furuta Oribe, counted as the 7th of Rikyu’s top seven disciples, rises as top chanoyu expert among warriors.
1556 Ieyasu establishes Tokugawa shogunate. Beginning of kabuki (on dry Kamogawa river bed, Kyoto). d. Tsuji Yojiro (48), kettlesmith who made works for Rikyu.
1605 b. daimyo-chajin Katagiri Sekishu (1605-73. Mother is granddaughter of Imai Sogyu), who revives wabi aesthetic in tea practice of warriors.
1606 Daitokuji Ryukoin temple founded by priest Kogetsu Sogan (2nd son of Tsuda Sogyu and brother of Tsuda Sobon), as family temple for warrior Kuroda Nagamasa. d. Uji tea producer Kanbayashi Rokuro, Uji tea plantation overseer for Toyotomi administration. (His younger brothers founded the various branches of the Kanbayashi tea empire of Uji.)
1607 First of twelve Korean missions to Japan until 1811. This one had 467 attendants and was to congratulate Tokugawa Hidetada on his having become shogun. Owari Tokugawa house assumes control of Seto, Japan’s great ceramic production center; in 1610, appoints three potters to hereditary positions of “official” (goyo) potters for making ceramics required by that house. d. Sen Doan, ending the Sen family of Sakai.
1608 By this year, Sen Sotan (30) has built a 2-mat chashitsu having toko.
1609 Dutch (East India Company) given permission to trade; establish trading house in Hirado (southern Kyushu).
1610 Furuta Oribe goes to Edo and instructs Tokugawa Hidetada in chanoyu.
1612 Prohibition of Christianity. Permission for Chinese from Ming to trade at Nagasaki.
1613 b. 3rd son of Sen Sotan, Koshin Sosa (Omotesenke IV).
1614 Expulsion of chajin-daimyo Takayama Ukon (1553-1615) – counted as one of Rikyu’s seven disciples – and other Christians to Manila and Macao. 9.7 d. Sen Shoan (69).
1615 Tokugawa Ieyasu conquers Osaka Castle; most of it is burned down, and many meibutsu are lost forever. The last Toyotomi is destroyed. d. by ritual suicide chajin-daimyo Furuta Oribe (73), who led the chanoyu world after Rikyu, for betraying Tokugawa at siege of Osaka Castle. Hon’ami Koetsu (1558-1637) receives land from Tokugawa Ieyasu at Takagamine, northern Kyoto, where he establishes a Hokke faith religious/art community. The shogun appoints a special messenger to get the tea from Uji for the shogunal family. Around this period, growing discontent among masses of demobilized soldiers being returned to unpromising careers often as peasants.
1618 Nagasaki and Hirado in Kyushu opened to trade with England.
1620 Annual New Year’s teppo hajime (gun ceremony) and ochaji hajime (tea ceremony) initiated at Edo Castle.
1621 d. Oda Uraku (75), younger brother of Oda Nobunaga, who had built tea house Joan at Kenninji temple, Kyoto, and retired there. He is counted as one of Rikyu’s seven disciples and the founder of the Uraku chado line.
1622 b. 4th and youngest son of Sotan, Senso (Urasenke IV).
1624 2nd Tokugawa shogun, Hidetada (1579- 1632), breaks relations with Spanish. Daughter Kazuko (a.k.a. Tofukumon’in; 1607-78) becomes consort of Emperor Gomizuno’o, and with large income from shogunate she becomes generous patroness of the arts and a patroness of Sen Sotan. Other of Sotan’s patrons are Prince Hachijo Tomohito (whose villa became the Katsura Imperial Detached Villa);
the nobleman Konoe Nobuhiro (Ozan; 1599-1649), a leader in retired Emperor Gomizuno’o’s art salon; the nobleman Karasumaru Mitsuhiro (15791638), especially noted as a paintercalligrapher and incense connoisseur•; and the artist Hon’ami Koetsu. d. chajin Hisada Soei (66; mother was RikyO’s younger sister), founder of the Hisada tea family.
1625 Production of Hagi pottery begins, founded by immigrant Korean potter Koraizaemon (family name Ri, who later changes this to Saka; 1569-1643).
1627 d. chajin Yabunouchi Kenchu Jochi (92), first gen. in the Yabunouchi chado line that most closely preserves the classical shoin temae tradition and has been patronized by Nishi Honganji temple. KenchO’s tea mentors were Takeno Joo and, after Joo’s death, Rikyu; his wife was Furuta Oribe’s younger sister.
1629 Emperor Gomizuno’o, unhappy with forced marriage and other shogunal interence in court affairs, abdicates in favor of 5-year-old daughter, Empress Meisho (r 1629-43), the first reigning empress since 8th c. Starts building Shugakuin Detached Palace, Kyoto. Teahouse, roji, etc. at Yamazato “mountain hamlet” in western wing at Edo Castle fixed up for having chaji. Tokugawa shogunate bans women’s kabuki and joruri.
1632 d. wealthy merchant and man of culture, Suminokura Soan (62), who had created the elegant Saga-bon books with Hon’ami Koetsu. Sen S6tan builds 1.5 mat chashitsu, the original Fushin’an, which years later Koshin (Omotesenke IV) rebuilds into a 3-3/4 mat room.
1633 Annual chatsubo dochu procession to deliver tea from Uji to shogunal family in Edo initiated, to impress upon the public the power of that family.
1634 Dejima island built at Nagasaki and all foreigners forced to live there. Kobori Enshu finishes building teahouse at Nijo Castle, the shogun’s residence in the capital (Kyoto).
1635 All overseas Japanese shipping and travel prohibited. Tokugawa shogunate institutionalizes sankin kotai (alternate attendance) system. d. Raku II, Jokei (75).
1636 Famine throughout Japan.
1637 d. Hon’ami Koetsu (80).
1639 Final isolation edict. Expulsion of Europeans. d. man of letters, artist, priest and sukisha Shokado Shojo (56), one of the three famous calligraphers of his time (Kan’ei Sanpitsu).
1640 d. wabi chajin Kubo Gondayia of Nara, whose memoirs, the Choando-ki RM WE, contain much information on past and contemporary tea masters.
1641 The Hosokawa Chanoyu-no-sho (Book on Hosokawa’s Chanoyu) chanoyu temae and procedure manual is written. (published 1668)
1642 Famine throughout Japan. Sotan’s 3rd son, Koshin Sosa (39), takes position with Kishu Tokugawa family.
1645 Kobayashi Kinkozan founds Kinkozanware pottery kiln at Awataguchi in Kyoto. d. priest Takuan Soho (73). d. chajin-daimyo Hosokawa Sansai (82). d. samurai Miyamoto Musashi (62).
1647 d. chajin-daimyo Kobori Enshu (69), who served as chado teacher to Tokugawa lemitsu and founded Enshu chado tradition, characterized by its “kirei sabi” or “pretty rusticity” aesthetic. Son Masayuki (1602-74) succeeds as 2nd head of Enshu chado line.
1648 Sen Sotan retires (71); has opening tea at his new tearoom (the Konnichian) built at rear of the estate.
1649 Shogun issues frugality ordinance directed toward farmers (Keian no Ofuregaki; Instructions of the Keian Era).
1651 Sotan’s youngest son, Senso Soshitsu (29), takes position with immensely wealthy Kaga domain lord, Maeda Toshitsuna; thereafter, has residence in Kanazawa but periodically returns to Kyoto. d. 3rd Tokugawa shogun, lemitsu (48).
1652 Tokugawa shogunate prohibits youths’ kabuki performances.
1655 One of Sen Sotan’s chief followers, Yamada Sohen (1627-1708), through Sotan’s recommendation becomes head of tea affairs for Lord Ogasawara of Mikawa Yoshida Castle.
1656 Emperor Gomizuno’o’s 7th son, younger brother of Emperor Gokomyo (1633-64), is enthroned as 111th sovereign. His chanoyu teacher, Kanamori Sowa (1584-1656), who promoted genteel chado, dies this same year. d. Raku Nonko (58).
1657 Great fire in Edo. d. lacquer artisan Hirai Ikkan (80), immigrant from Ming China and originator of Ikkan-bari technique that Sen Sotan highly favored.
1658 Okumura Kichiemon (1618-1700) moves from Omi to Kyoto and succeeds to mother’s family’s profession of scroll mounting, becoming Kichibe’e I. From his son’s gen., the family becomes one of the Senke Jusshoku. d. Sen Sotan (81).
1659 Shugakuin Imperial Detached Palace is bui lt.
1660 Rise of Mito school of historians led by Tokugawa Mitsukuni to promote National Learning and Shinto studies. 1661 Ordinance prohibiting night time tea shops and restaurants. Daimyo-chajin Katagiri Sekishu (1695-73; chado disciple of daimyo Kuwayama Sosen who learned Rikyu’s style of tea from Sen Man), who promotes wabi-cha chanoyu style and spirit and founds the Sekishu iemoto system,’ writes his paper on the spirit of wabi-cha (wabi no fumi).
1663 d. founder of Onishi kettlesmith line, Jorin (74). d. lacquer artisan Koma Kyui.
1665 Katagiri Sekishu called by Shogun Tokugawa letsuna to become his chado instructor. He offers up his “Sekishu 300 kajo” (Sekishu’s 300 Pointers), which are adopted at shogunal quarters, and has duty of appraising the shogunal collection of meibutsu and tea utensils.
1672 10.27 d. Koshin Sosa (Omotesenke IV) (54). His adopted son Zuiryusai (son of Hisada Sori) succeeds as head of Omotesenke in 1673, at age 24, by order of Kishu Tokugawa family.
1673 d. Katagiri Sekishu (69). Rinzai priest Ikei Soetsu (1644-1714. Daitokuji 253rd abbot; founder of Edo Shinagawa Tokaiji subtemple Kogen’in), with Fujimura Sogen, transmits Sekishu’s teachings. Ikei establishes Ikei school of chado. b. Senso Soshitsu’s first and only son, Yosaburo (Fukyusai J6so; Urasenke V), in Kanazawa.
1674 d. painter Kano Tan’yu (73) (his paintings decorate the fusuma of Konnichian Kan’untei).
1675 12.19 d. Ichio Soshu (Mushakojisenke I). His son Bunshuku succeeds as Soshu II at age 18.
1678 b. Kakukakusai Genso (Omotesenke VI).
1680 Around this period, corrupt administration; great freedom in social mores. d. Kyoto potter Nonomura Ninsei.
1682 Inflation; restriction of various goods. d. potter and man of many artistic talents Hon’ami Kuchu (82), grandson of Koetsu.
1686 Potter Ohi Chozaemon (Ohi I; 1630-1712) establishes Raku kiln at Ohi-cho, Kanazawa, thus founding Ohi ware, and innovates the “candy glaze” (ame-yu) characteristic of Ohi ware. Around this year, Matsuo Basho (1644-94) pens his celebrated haiku about the frog and the old pond.
1687 Shogun Tsunayoshi’s laws prohibiting killing of animals.
1688 Prohibition of fine kimono.
1689 d. warrior-chajin Ichio lori (91), who learned chado from Hosokawa Sansai and founded the Ichio chado line in Edo.
1690 Nampo Roku record of Rikyu’s teachings, originally written by Rikyu’s close disciple Nanbo Sokei, is revised and expanded by Tachibana Jitsuzan (1655-1708; official with the Chikuzen feudal lord Kuroda family). Senso Soshitsu (Urasenke IV) gets temporary leave from Kanazawa to hold 100th Rikyu Memorial (2.28) in Kyoto. He erects Rikyu altar hall in garden at Konnichian on this occasion. Around this period, many books published about chado; Rikyu becomes immortalized.
1691 d. Zuiryusai Ryokyu (Omotesenke V).
1693 Around this year, Senso Soshitsu (72) ends service with Kaga Maeda family and returns to Kyoto; his son, Fukyusai (21), takes his place in Kanazawa. b. Seiseisai Shinpaku (Mushakojisenke III).
1694 b. son of Fukyusai (22), Seikichiro (Rikkansai Taiso; Urasenke VI). Matsuo Basho completes his poetic diary Oku no hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North); dies this same year at age 51.
1695 d. lacquer craftsman Nakamura Sotetsu (79), founder of the Sotetsu line belonging to the Senke Jusshoku.
1696 d. Raku Ichinyu (57).
1697 d. Senso Soshitsu (Urasenke IV) (76). His son Fukyusai succeeds as Urasenke V and adopts his father’s name “Soshitsu” (setting the precedent for the Urasenke family head to carry this name) at age 24. Besides continuing his father’s well-paying position with the Kaga Maeda family, in 1703 he (through intro. of Kyoto doctor who is disciple of Omotesenke VI Kakukakusai) also becomes chado minister for Lord Hisamatsu Sadanao (1660-1720) of the lyo Matsuyama domain, who gives him good stipend and 30 servants. (The Urasenke family continues positions with Kaga Maeda and Iyo Matsuyama Hisamatsu houses until the Meiji Restoration.)
1699 Potter and painter Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743) gets license to sell pottery, and builds kiln at Narutaki in Kyoto. A book written this year describes the great spread and demoralized atmosphere of sarei (tea etiquette; chado). d. chajin Fujimura Yoken (87).
1700 d. warrior-chajin Kuwayama Kasai (85), disciple of Katagiri Sekishu and grandson of Sekishu’s chado mentor, Kuwayama Sosen. Kasai, with Ikei Soetsu, annotated the SekishO Sanbyaku-jo (300 points of Sekishu tea).
1702 3.20 Tachibana Jitsuzan visits Fukyusai at Konnichian; offers tea to Rikyu image in Rikyu-do.
1704 d. hugely popular Edo kabuki actor and playwright Ichikawa Danjuro I (1660-1704). 5.14 d. Fukyusai Joso (Urasenke V) (32); his eldest son, Rikkansai, succeeds as Urasenke VI at age 11. Kakukakusai and Joshinsai (Omotesenke VI & VII) care for Rikkansai and provide him with fine education.
1707 Mt. Fuji erupts. d. chajin Hisada Sozen (61).
1708 1.22 d. Kyoyusai Bunshuku (Mushakojisenke II). His son Shinpaku succeeds as Soshu III. d. chajin Yamada Sohen (82), founder of Sohen chado line (based in Edo), whose tea mentor was Sen Sotan.
1709 b. Saisaisai Chikuso (Urasenke VII).
1716 Relaxation of edicts against Western Learning. d. painter Ogata Korin (59), older brother of Ogata Kenzan and founder of Rinpa painting tradition. d. Raku Sonyu (53).
1717 d. warrior-chajin Onishi Kansai (73), who headed tea matters for Settsu Amagasaki clan lord and founded Sekishu Onishi chado line.
1719 b. Yugensai Itto (Urasenke VIII).
1724 d. Chikamatsu Monzaemon, often considered Japan’s greatest dramatist, who was playwright for bunraku and also kabuki.
1722 d. Ichigen (1662-1722) (61), illegitimate child of Raku Ichinyu, who initiated Tamamizu ware (Raku side line) in southern Yamashiro.
1725 b. Jikisai Kenso (Mushakojisenke IV).
1726 d. Rikkansai Taiso (Urasenke VI) (33) at Edo residence of Matsuyama feudal lord, Matsudaira Hisamatsu; 2nd son of Omotesenke VI succeeds as Urasenke VII, Chikuso (17).
1728 d. Kusumi Soan (93), who was disciple of Sen Sotan, husband of Fujimura Yoken’s daughter, and author of Chawa Shigetsu shu (Tea Stories Pointing to the Moon).
1730 d. Kakukakusai Genso (Omotesenke VI). Joshinsai Tennen succeeds as Omotesenke VII at age 26, becoming pillar of the Sen families.
1731 d. bamboo craftsman Kuroda Shogen IV, from whose generation the family became one of the Senke Jusshoku craft families.
1733 d. Saisaisai Chikuso (Urasenke VII) (25). 3rd son of Omotesenke VI becomes Urasenke VIII, Itto, at age 15. d. Edo merchant-chajin Okamura Sohaku (62), founder of Sohen Jishuken chado line.
1736 Around this year Kawakami Fuhaku (1716-1801) becomes disciple of Joshinsai (Omotesenke VIII); becomes involved in his effort to straighten up Senke chado, as by creating shichijishiki group exercises and establishing an iemoto system. d. nobleman-calligrapher Konoe lehiro (Yorakuin) (70).
1738 Nagatani Soen (1681-1778) of Uji invents the method for processing the tea leaves used for green steeped tea. About this period, Baisao (1675-1763), regarded as the founder of senchado (Japanese Way of Steeped Tea), begins popularizing this practice calling for revival of the old poetic spirit of Tang.
1739 d. Raku Sanyu (57).
1743 d. potter & painter Ogata Kenzan (81). 1745 3.18 d. Seiseisai Shinpaku (Mushakojisenke III). His adopted son succeeds as Soshu IV, Jikisai (1725-82). d. Isa Kotaku (1684-1745), chief of the sukiya for Tokugawa sh6gunal family and founder of Sekishu Isa chado line.
1746 Brothers Itto and Joshinsai (Urasenke VIII £t Omotesenke VII) complete the formulation of the basic shichijishiki exercise, Kagetsu (originally called Kacho, “Flower Et Bird”). They create shichijishiki to cope with popularization of chanoyu and curb its growing tendency as an amusement. Conventionalists criticize the shichijishiki as new-fangled. Hitherto, wabi-cha of the Sen families was founded on small room (koma), but the shichijishiki, requiring a large room (hiroma), opened different horizons for the Sen families’ chado. In this period, also, Itto publishes temae guidebooks, so as to keep temae uniformity among the bursting population of Senke chado followers. b. Fukensai Sekio (Urasenke IX). Ceramist Kiyomizu Rokubei I (1738-99) begins work as potter at Gojo-zaka, Kyoto, founding the Kiyomizu Rokubei line of Kyoto-ware ceramics. d. joinery expert Komazawa Risai IV (1673-1746) (71), the first in the family to be attached to the Sen families.
1748 d. chajin and haiku master Horinouchi Senkaku (74), 1st gen. in the Horinouchi tea family connected with Omotesenke. From his successor Soshin’s era, the Hisada and Horinouchi families become the liaisons for everyone wishing to do nyumon with Omotesenke.
1750 Joshinsai’s disciple Kawakami Fuhaku moves to Edo, spreads hiroma-style Senke chado among merchants and daimyo there, and founds Edosenke.
1751 d. Joshinsai Ennen (Omotesenke VII). Sottakusai Ken’o (8) doesn’t succeed as Omotesenke VIII ’til 1578, when he turns 14. Uncle Itto Soshitsu and Kawakami Fuhaku train him.
1752 d. chajin Matsuo Soji (76), 1 st gen. in the Matsuo chado lineage affiliated with Omotesenke. (Note: depending on the manner of reckoning, he is the 6th gen. and Tsuji Gentaku, who learned chanoyu under Takeno Joo, is the 1st.)
1758 Yugensai (Urasenke VIII), as eldest of the three Sen family heads, leads 100th Memorial for S6tan, holding approx, one hundred services and chaji.
1763 b. Ittotsusai Kyuo (Mushakojisenke V). 1765 Ukiyo-e artist Suzuki Harunobu (1725?-1770) succeeds in producing full-color woodcuts (nishiki-e). 1768 Kawakami Fuhaku has shichijishiki presentation at Rikyu-ki in Edo, setting precedent for the custom of shichijishiki at Rikyu-ki and Sotan-ki. 1770 b. Nintokusai Hakuso (Urasenke X). d. Raku Chonyu (57).
1771 2.2 d. Yugensai Itto (Urasenke VIII); eldest son, Fukensai Sekio, succeeds as Soshitsu IX at age 25.
1774 d. Raku Tokunyu (30).
1775 b. Ryoryosai Koshuku (Omotesenke IX). 1776 d. Nanga painter Ikeno Taiga (1723-76) (54).
1782 Beginning of great famine of Tenmei era (-87), during which several hundred thousand people die. Growing antagonism towards shogunate. 2.6 d. Jikisai Kenso (Mushakojisenke IV) (58). His adopted son succeeds as Soshu V, Ky66 (1763-1838).
1784 d. haiku poet Yosa Buson (1716-84).
1788 1.1 great fire in Kyoto; burns 1424 neighborhood blocks. Nijo Castle burns; 37,000 homes destroyed. Konnichian suffers damage. Okuda Eisen (1753-1811), considered father of Kyoto porcelain production, leaves family pawn shop to son and, at age 35, devotes himself to ceramic-making. b. Kyukosai Shoo (Omotesenke X).
1790 Prohibition of foreign studies.
1795 d. Painter Maruyama Okyo (63). b. Kokosai Nin’o (Mushakojisenke VI), as 3rd son of Urasenke IX Fukensai.
1801 9.26 d. Fukensai Sekio (Urasenke IX), who devoted great energy to restoring the Konnichian estate after the 1788 great fire. His oldest son, Nintokusai Hakuso (32), succeeds as Urasenke X.
1806 d. ukiyo-e woodblock print artist Kitagawa Utamaro (54), famous for his eloquent works expressing Japanese feminine beauty.
1807 d. Joshinsai Sosa’s disciple Kawakami Fuhaku (89), founder of the Edosenke.
1808 d. Sottakusai Ken’o (Omotesenke VIII). Ryoryosai Koshuku succeeds as Omotesenke IX at age 34.
1811 Ceramist Kiyomizu Rokube’e II (1790-1860), only 9 when his father died (1799), re-starts the family pottery profession. d. ceramist Okuda Eisen (59).
1818 d. daimyo-chajin Matsudaira Fumai (68).
1821 Completion of first Coastal Map of All Japan by Ino Tadataka.
1823 Ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai produces the first of his “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji,” virtually the first landscape prints.
1825 d. Ryoryosai Koshuku (Omotesenke IX). Kyukosai succeeds as Omotesenke X at age 8. d. ukiyo-e woodbtock print artist Utagawa Toyokuni (57), famed for his power portraiture of kabuki actors.
1826 d. Nintokusai Hakuso (Urasenke X). His adopted son, Gengensai, succeeds as Urasenke XI at age 16.
1827 Eiraku Hozen (name then, Nishimura Zen’ichiro), Kyukosai Sosa (Omotesenke IX), and Raku Tannyu do private ceramic production for Kishu Tokugawa lord. d. haiku poet Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827) (65).
1830 b. Ishinsai Zendo (Mushakojisenke VII). d. potter Takugen Yasuke (1747-1830), who was patronized by Sottakusai and Ryoryosai of Omotesenke and founded Kyuraku ware ceramics.
1831 d. haiku poet Ryokan (74). 1833 d. ceramist and painter Aoki Mokubei (1767-1833) (67).
1834 d. Raku Ryonyu (79).
1835 1.22 d. Kokosai Nin’o (Mushakojisenke VI) (41). Younger brother of Omotesenke X (Kyukosai Sosa), who was also a son of the 7th gen. in the Hisada family, succeeds as Soshu VII, Ishinsai (1830-91).
1837 b. Rokurokusai Zuio (Omotesenke XI).
1838 Ceramist Kiyomizu Rokube’e II retires; his 2nd son succeeds as Rokube’e III (1820-83). 4.16 d. Ittotsusai Kyuo (Mushakojisenke V) (76).
1839 Gengensai (Urasenke XI) (30) expands house (Konnichian complex) and repairs Rikyu altar hall for Rikyu 250th memorial. As the oldest of the Sen family heads, leads the memorial events. From 9.8.1840 to 2.28.1841, holds 79 chakai, having approx. 400 guests, including nobles and daimyo family members.
1841 6.13-12.19 Gengensai (31) goes to Edo to teach tea to Owari Tokugawa family lord, Naritaka (1810-45). d. clay brazier maker Nishimura Zengoro (Eiraku Ryozen; 71), who learned pottery techniques from Raku Ryonyu and was first in the family to produce ceramics. d. painter Watanabe Kazan (49).
1849 d. ukiyo-e woodblock print artist Katsushika Hokusai (90).
1852 b. Yumyosai Jikiso (Urasenke XII).
1853 Commodore Matthew Perry arrives with Black Ships off Uraga. Russian Admiral Putyatin arrives in Nagasaki.
1854 Treaties of Amity and Commerce concluded with America, England, and Russia. Mushakojisenke estate destroyed by fire. d. Raku X, Tannyu (60). d. ceramist Eiraku Hozen (60).
1855 Treaties of Amity and Commerce with France and Holland. Rokurokusai Zuio (1837-1910) succeeds as Omotesenke XI. d. ceramist Nin’ami Dohachi (73).
1856 Townsend Harris comes to Shimoda as consul-general of United States. d. Ohi Chozaemon V (76) and VI (42). d. painter Yamamoto Baiitsu (74).
1858 Suppression of “revere the emperor, expel the barbarian” movement. d. ukiyo-e woodblock print artist Ando Hiroshige (62).
1859 Kanagawa, Nagasaki, and Hakodate opened to foreign trade with Russia, France, Britain, Holland, and America. Reintroduction of Christianity.
1860 12.20, Gengensai revives practice of giving koicha and chashaku to imperial family twice a year (year beginning and hassaku time) (kencha). Ii Naosuke (46) assassinated. d. Kyukosai Shoo (Omotesenke X).
1861 d. ukiyo-e woodblock print artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (65).
1864 8th month of this year, Hamaguri Gomon Incident. The battle ignites fire that destroys nearly 30,000 buildings in Kyoto. Fukuzawa Yukichi founds Keio Gijuku (modern Keio University).
1865 b. Seisai Keio (Omotesenke XII).
1866 1.19 Gengensai revives Wakin-date temae to commemorate his revival of kencha (tea offering) practice to imperial family. Ceramist and clay brazier maker Nishimura Zengoro (who changes family name to Eiraku in Meiji 1, 1868, to become Eiraku Wazen) goes to Kaga by invite of feudal lord, and improves Kutani-yaki techniques there.
1867 Imperial rule replaces shogunate. Armed conflict between shogunate troops and loyalists. Feudalism abolished. Financier and chajin Konoike Rosui (Konoike X) is first to use “company” (koisho) structure in Japan; in 1878, founds Konoike Bank.
1868 Meiji Restoration. ENDS TOKUGAWA/EDO PERIOD; BEGINS MEIJI ERA OF MODERN PERIOD. Capital moves from Kyoto to Edo, renamed Tokyo (Eastern Capital). Tea families lose their income from the old daimyo families.
1869 Opening of telegraph service between Tokyo and Yokohama. d. Senke Jusshoku kettlesmith Onishi XII (Joten; 29), whose wife was daughter of Raku Keinyu. Wife and son Onishi XIII (Jocho), still 3 years old, go live with Raku family.
1870 Commoners allowed to take surnames.
1871 Abolition of clans and establishment of prefectures. Unified currency, based on yen, established. Proclamation of law of census registration. Woodblock printing gives way to mechanical printing from about this year. 1875, Western paper manufacturing company established, to meet increasing demand for printing paper. Gengensai (62) declares resignation, however continues as before to travel the country to teach chado; Yumyosai (20) succeeds as Urasenke XII.
1872 Establishment of new educational system. Lunar calendar replaced by solar calendar. Tokyo National Museum opened. Gengensai (Urasenke XI), representing the chado world, submits petition to Meiji government to recognize chado as not a recreational amusement but a serious spiritual pursuit. Kyoto sponsors 1st domestic Expo; first public debut of ryurei chanoyu, designed by Gengensai, occurs at this event. Opening of railway between Shinbashi (Tokyo) and Yokohama. b. Ennosai TetchO (Urasenke XIII).
1873 Abolition of prohibition of Christianity.
1874 Protestant Aoyama Gakuin and St. Paul’s School (now Rikkyo University) founded in Tokyo; the next year, Protestant Doshisha English School (now Doshshisha University) founded in Kyoto.
1877 Establishment of Tokyo University. d. Gengensai Seichu (Urasenke XI).
1878 American educator Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (1853-1908) comes to Japan to teach philosophy at Tokyo University (1878-86). 1886-90, works on contract for Ministry of Education and imperial household, and is instrumental in founding Tokyo School of Fine Arts (1889).
1880 Kitano Shrine Kencha Festival Preservation Association jointly organized by seven chado head families (Omotesenke, Urasenke, Mushakojisenke, Yabunouchi, Hisada, Horinouchi, Hayami).
1885 Yumyosai (34) has his son, Ennosai (14), become family head (Urasenke XIII), and he himself goes into retirement, changing residence here and there. Severe agrarian distress; relief sought in signing of treaty between Hawaiian gov. for officially supervised emigration to Hawaii.
1886 d. Iki San’ensai (1818-86), elder of the Bizen Province clan and follower of Gengensai. He had built a Rikyu hall, Kan’untei copy, dairo-no-ma copy, and such at his villa, and established Mushiake-yaki ceramics there.
1887 Grand chakai at Kitano Shrine commemorating 300th anniv. of Hideyoshi’s Grand Kitano Tea. Electric power introduced to Japan.
1889 Promulgation of Meiji Constitution. Ennosai (18) succeeds as Soshitsu XIII. 10.8 b. Yukosai Chosho (Mushakojisenke IX), as 3rd son of Omotesenke X Kyukosai.
1890 Exhibition of ukiyo-e held in Paris.
1891 300th memorial for Sen Rikyu. d. Ishinsai Zendo (Mushakojisenke VII).
1893 Seisai Keio (1863-1937) succeeds as Omotesenke XII. b. Mugerisai Sekiso (Urasenke XIV, Tantansai).
1894 Outbreak of Sino-Japanese War. d. painter Takahashi Yuichi (67).
1895 Nara National Museum opens. Businessman-sukisha Masuda Don’o holds his first Daishikai tea and art gathering at his estate in Shinagawa, Tokyo.
1896 d. Kyoto ceramist Eiraku Wazen (74). d. Ohi Chozaemon VII (61).
1897 Government promulgates Preservation of Ancient Shrines and Temples Law. Kyoto National Museum opens.
1898 12.12 d. Issshisai Isso (Mushakojisenke VIII) (51). Adopted son and heir (3rd son of Omotesenke X), still 9 years old, is raised by Omotesenke.
1900 Nihon Women’s University of Arts founded.
1901 b. Sokuchusai Mujin (Omotesenke XIII).
1902 d. Raku Keinyu (86).
1903 Yumyosai and Ennosai co-author the Chado Hama no Masago thirty-three item manual on the handling of tea utensils. Chanoyu artworks of business- man-sukisha Hirase Roko (1839-1908) put up for bidding in Sakai, consequently establishing the market value of tea implements.
1904 Russo-Japanese War begins (-1905, Japanese victory). –
1905 Convention making Korea a Japanese protectorate.
1906 Art critic Okakura Tenshin (1862-1913) publishes The Book of Tea in English. Omotesenke burns down.
1907 Ennosai (35) holds grand 250th memorial chakai for Sotan; initiates the first-ever magazine about chado, the monthly “Konnichian Geppo” (present “Tanko” magazine), and the summer lecture course, as commemorative projects.
1908 Imperial rescript on frugality and social harmony (Boshin shosho). Yumyosai publishes Konarai-goto 16kajo denki (Transmission of the 16 Konarai). d. American educator Earnest Francisco Fenollosa (1853-1908).
1910 Ennosai (Urasenke XIII) creates San’yu-no-shiki, to be added to the shichijishiki group chanoyu exercises. d. Rokurokusai Zuio (Omotesenke XI).
1912 Ennosai invents bonryaku temae, for use in tea education in schools. Through his career, he invents/revives various temae (furo nagashidate; individual koicha, arai-jakin, ro and furo uguisu-date, uguisu musubi, Ochabako, and, in 1923, daien bon). d. Emperor Meiji (61). ENDS MEJI ERA AND BEGINS TAISHO ERA OF MODERN PERIOD.
1913 b. Urinsai Tokuo (Mushakojisenke X). Founding of Catholic Sophia University in Tokyo.
1914 Entry into World War I(-1918). Around this period, chanoyu incorporated into the etiquette classes at girls’ high schools.
1915 Mugensai (then Tenkusai) officially recognized as wakasosho (“the young master”; i.e., the next iemoto apparent) of Urasenke at Sei-Chu Memorial held 6.13.
1916 Mugensai builds Baishian on north of the Konnichian complex and moves there. The Urasenke Koyukai association is formed.
1917 d. Yumyosai Jikiso (Urasenke XII).
1920 Potter Kawai Kanjiro (1890-1966) opens kiln at Gojo-zaka, Kyoto; 1921, holds his first pottery exhibition.
1921 Sukisha Takahashi Soan (1861-1937) begins publishing his illustrated Taisho Meikikan multi-volume catalog of famous utensils.
1923 4.23 b. Hounsai Genshitsu (Urasenke XV). 9.01 Great Kanto Earthquake (more than 100,000 deaths).
1924 8.5 d. Ennosai Tetchu (Urasenke XIII) on opening day of 13th Summer Intensive Seminar (kaki koshukai). d. painter Tomioka Tessai (89).
1926 Yanagi Soetsu (Muneyoshi; 1889-1961) et al coin term “mingei” and begin Japanese folk craft movement. d. joinery maker Iwaki Yuken I(18751926) (52), who made Yoshino-dana, Enpi-dana, etc. designed by Ennosai, and other utensil shelves etc. designed by Tantansai. ENDS TAISHO ERA AND BEGINS SHOWA ERA OF MODERN PERIOD.
1927 d. Ohi VIII (Chozaemon; 77).
1929 Government promulgates Preservation of National Treasures Law. Beginning of financial panic.
1931 Japanese conquest of Manchuria; Manchuria becomes satellite state of Japan, lasting ’til end of WWII.
1932 d. Raku Konyu (76). d. Eiraku Zengoro XV; eldest son succeeds as Zengoro XVI the next year, at age 16.
1933 Kyoto City Art Museum opens.
1934 Mushakojisenke magazine inaugurated.
1935 Tokugawa Art Museum opens.
1937 Outbreak of Sino-Japanese War (-1945). Law of the Order of Cultural Merits (Bunka Kunsho) promulgated. Showa Kitano Dai Chanoyu held (Showa Era Grand Chanoyu at Kitano). d. Seisai Keio (Omotesenke XII).
1938 Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art opens. b. Jimyosai Sosa (Omotesenke XIV).
1939 Outbreak of World War II (-1945).
1940 Tantansai (Urasenke XIV) forms Tankokai association to unify Urasenke followers. The three Sen families jointly hold commemorative tea offering ceremony at Daitokuji for 350th Rikyu Memorial. Nezu Museum of Art opens (Tokyo).
1941 Pearl Harbor attack and beginning of Pacific War.
1942 Sotchusai Sosa, Hisada Mutekisai, Horinouchi Fusensai and others together establish Senke Domonkai association for Omotesenke chado followers.
1944 Kuwata Tadachika’s study on Sen Rikyu published. d. Raku Seinyu (58).
1945 8.6 Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, killing 200 thousand people and destroying 90% of city. (Mushakojisenke XI).
1946 1.1 Emperor Hirohito (Showa) renunciates divinity. 1st Japan Art Exhibition sponsored by Ministry of Education.
1948 Kurashiki Folk Art Museum opens (Okayama).
1949 Kondo hall of Horyuji temple burns down (due to inadequate safety measures) (Nara). Yukawa Hideki awarded Nobel Prize for physics. Tantansai has Konnichian registered as non-profit foundation. Also establishes the International Chado Culture Foundation as well as Tankosha Publishing Company.
1950 Promulgation of Law for the Protection of Cultural Assets. Korean War breaks out. 2.2 200th Memorial for Itt6 (Urasenke VIII) at Daitokuji. Kinkaku pavilion of Rokuonji burnt down by a youth protesting degradation and commercialization of Buddhism. Hounsai goes abroad on his first chado mission.
1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty; Japan-U.S. mutual security treaty. d. chajin and businessman (president of Hakutsuru sake brewery) Kano Kakuo Jihei (90), founder of Hakutsuru Museum.
1953 Television broadcasting begins. 7.21 d. Yukosai Chosho (Mushakojisenke IX) (65).
1954 Government act to designate Bearers of Important Intangible Cultural Assets (Living National Treasures). Fujita Art Museum opens. Potter Hamada Shoji of Japanese mingei movement gets designation 1955.
1956 b. Zabosai Soshitsu (Urasenke XVI).
1957 Mugensai (Urasenke XIV) becomes first chado figure ever to receive the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon. d. entrepreneur, politician, and sukisha Kobayashi Itsuo (1873-1957) (85), founder of the Hankyu train and dept. store conglomerate and Takarazuka theater, whose villa is opened to the public after his death, as the Itsuo Art Museum. Urasenke Tokyo Branch building completed.
1959 March, Crown Prince Akihito marries and breaks tradition for crown prince to marry from among ranks of imperial family or former peerage. d. potter and cuisine artist Kitaoji Rosanjin (77). d. Nihonga painter Yokoyama Taikan (91). d. entrepreneur, politician, and sukisha Goto Keita (1882-1959) (78), president of the Dai-Tokyo Kyuko conglomerate. The Goto Art Museum opened in Tokyo 1960 preserves his fine collection of antiques.
1960 Hatakeyama Memorial Hall opens.
1962 Urasenke Chado Kenshujo (Urasenke Tea Study Center; present Urasenke Gakuen Professional College of Chado) founded.
1964 Olympic Games held in Tokyo. Tekisui Art Museum opens. Urasenke builds tea house and does tea demonstrations at New York World’s Fair Japan Pavilion. With sudden death of Urasenke XIV, Tantansai, Hounsai becomes Urasenke XV.
1966 d. Potter Kawai Kanjiro (77). Exhibition of Lord Matsudaira Fumai’s beloved treasures, at Shimane Prefectural Museum.
1968 Kawabata Yasunari awarded Nobel Prize for Literature.
1972 Government-authorized professional college of chado established by Urasenke (Urasenke Gakuen Chado Senmon Gakk6). Normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and People’s Republic of China.
1977 Kitamura Museum opens (Kyoto). Kanbayashi Research Center opens (Uji).
1978 Raku Museum opens (Kyoto). World’s first university credit course on the history of the Way of Tea established by Urasenke at the University of Hawaii.
1979 Chado Research Center (Urasenke Center) built (Kyoto). Exhibition “Chanoyu: Japanese Tea Ceremony” travels around U.S.A. as part of “Japan Today” project. First Friendship & Cultural Exchange Urasenke Youth Ship mission to China. d. Sokuchusai Mujin (Omotesenke XIII).
1984 Nomura Museum opens (Kyoto).
1989 1.7 Akihito succeeds to throne after death of his father, Emperor Showa. ENDS SHOWA ERA AND BEGINS HEISEI ERA OF MODERN PERIOD.
1994 With Hounsai (Urasenke XV) as leader, the three Sen families hold Rikyu 400th Memorial service and commemorative chakai at Daitokuji. Commemorative Sen Rikyu exhibition at Kyoto National Museum. Tianjin University of Commerce Urasenke Junior College of the Way of Tea founded (China).
1997 Hounsai becomes first chajin to receive Imperial Order of Culture. 1998 d. Eiraku Zengoro XVI; eldest son (b.1944) succeeds as Zengoro XVII.
1999 d. Urinsai Tokuo (Mushakojisenke X). 2002 12.22 Hounsai retires from iemoto position; Zabosai succeeds as Soshitsu XVI.
2003 Zabosai gives Prime Minister Koizumi Jun’ichiro a tea name.