Culture Tea master and peace activist, Sen Sōshitsu XV, dies aged 102

Sen Sōshitsu XV (十五代千宗室; photo credit: Kenta Sujino via Asahi)

He was born in Kyoto in 1923, the year of the Great Kanto Earthquake, as the eldest son of the 14th head of the Urasenke tea school. While a student at Doshisha University, he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Navy through the student mobilization program during World War II. While there, he was chosen to become a kamikaze pilot, but he survived the war because he was not deployed on a suicide mission. In 1949, he was ordained at Daitokuji temple, the family's ancestral temple in Kyoto's Kita Ward. In 1950, he became the "wakasosho" heir apparent, and began traveling across the United States to promote the way of tea. After the death of the 14th head, he succeeded as the 15th Urasenke head in 1964. He retired in 2002, passing the iemoto position to his eldest son and adopting the honorary name Sen Genshitsu. Sen Soshitsu XV devoted himself to "tea diplomacy." One notable occasion was in 1986, when he served tea to then-Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana during their visit to Kyoto.

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Sen Sōshitsu XV, on 9 May 1986, with Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, a tea ceremony at Nijo Castle in Kyoto .

Bio  Sen no Rikyu

The founder of the Sen school of tea ceremonySen no Rikyū (千利休, 1522-1591) was a tea master of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1600) and the founder of the Sen school of tea ceremony. His grandfather, Tanaka Sen'ami, is said to have been one of the dōbōshū (同朋衆, special retainers to the...

• JREF
• 29 Jun 2016
• Category: History