“Peacefulness through a bowl of tea” will always be with us
I was shocked by the news that came from Japan late last night. It said that Sen Genshitsu, the 15th-generation grand master of Urasenke School of Japanese Tea Ceremony, had passed away. News earlier this year was reporting that he was still visiting overseas at age 102… Apparently, he had been in poor health for the past few days.
Coincidentally, it was one day before the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. I wonder how Grand Master felt on this day every year.
For me, a student of Urasenke School, it’s more natural to call him “Daisosho 大宗匠.”
In November 2016, we Urasenke Tankokai Seattle Chapter members participated in the Sotanki memorial tea gathering in Kyoto. Since such an opportunity occurs only once in every ten years, I felt quite lucky to be one of such members to visit Kyoto after studying tea ceremony for only two years or so.
At the welcome dinner, Daisosho welcomed us who came from abroad with a warm smile. He was supposed to attend the dinner only at the beginning and leave soon after his opening remarks that night, because he was to leave for Tokyo very early the next morning. But he ended up staying until the very end, greeting each one of us. When we were sitting hesitantly at the table, he urged us to get in line at the buffet, saying, “The food’s getting cold. Go get the food. Don’t be shy.”
Together with my tea friend, I mustered up the courage to ask if we could take a photo together with him. No problem! He immediately posed for a photo.
Time passed. I kept on practicing tea ceremony. And we Seattle Tankokai members are honored to visit Kyoto again next March. I was looking forward to seeing Daisosho again…
It’s no longer possible. The photo above is the only one I took with Daisosho.
Although Daisosho is no longer with us, his legacy is with us. The spirit of “peacefulness through a bowl of tea” will always be with us.
Thank you so much, Daisosho. Please rest in peace…
Here is my previous article about Daisosho. Who he was, what he did… In case you don’t know about him, I would appreciate it if you read this.