Recent events[May 2015]

KOBORI Sojitsu (the 13th Grand Master of the Enshu Sado School )

A poem by the famous 9th century poet Ariwarano Narihira goes:
'If it were not for Cherry blossoms in the world, How peaceful and calm The heart in spring could be!'. The cherry trees this year, however, left us little time for any kind of emotional turbulence and fully blossomed earlier than usual. It happened in the blink of an eye, as if even the cherry blossoms had adapted to the pace of this new internet society we live in today.

Now, let me tell you about what I got up to in March:

1st Participated in the Kobori Masakazu commemoration ceremony in Kobori district of the city of Nagahama in Shiga. Enshu originates from this district. Also participated in an official ceremony commemorating the Omi-Kohoan monastery with the mayor of Nagahama.

2nd Co organized the 'Enjoying Tea' event with the Meirekikai association and the Rotary Club of southern Tokyo.

3rd Recording of 'Keep on smiling' program for FM Osaka.

4th Tea lessons. Attended meeting of the association of parents of students of Gakushuin.

5th Tea lessons followed by a tea ceremony at noon in the city.

6th Trained inner muscles in the morning. Tea lessons in the afternoon at the Bunmeikai club.

7th Went to the Tokyo Art Club to prepare for the tea ceremony commemorating Kobori Masakazu scheduled for the next day.

8th Held the 369th ceremony commemorating Kobori Enshu - 666 people attended.

9th Meeting of the administrators of the federations of Enshu school and branch chiefs.

10th Trip to Fukuoka.

11th Traveled to Kyoto from Fukuoka in the evening

12th Tea lessons in the morning in the Yakushiji temple in Nara. Returned to Kyoto in the afternoon and gave a lecture on 'A year in the life of a Tea Master' at the Nomura Museum. Also gave a showing of my film 'Iemoto, My Father'.

13th Meeting at Gakushuin.

14th Participated in a symposium on Fujiwara Teika at Japan Women's University and gave a lecture on Enshu and Teika.

15th Attended the graduation ceremony of the Gakushuin kindergarten. Invited to tea ceremony in the evening.

16th Filming at Tokyo MX TV station

17th Took the hokuriku bullet train soon after services began to give tea lessons in Kanazawa. Enjoyed the GranClass carriage.

18th Traveled to Nagoya in the morning and gave tea lessons in the afternoon.

19th Returned to Tokyo and gave tea lessons from the afternoon.

20th Traveled to Kobe to give tea lessons

21st Invited to attend a tea cermeony in Kobe

22nd Participated in the 28th conference held in the open Nissho Hall. Discussed the theme of Chanoyu and the love foreign things with Seizo Hayashiya, Yoshio Kumakura and Sosetsu Ikeuchi. As always, the conference was very educational.

23rd Attended the Gakushuin High School graduation ceremony in the morning which was then followed by a reception. Invited to a tea ceremony in the evening.

24th Meeting in the morning. Examined a number of tea utensils which would be used at a tea ceremony at the end of the month.

25th Attended three meetings related to Gakushuin for six hours and was little tired by the end of it.

26th Usual inner muscle training in the morning. Attended a meeting of the Japan Arts Council in the evening.

27th Went to Yakuoin temple to prepare for a tea ceremony the next day.

28th Chaired a thick tea tasting session organized to support the regions devastated by the disaster on March 11th, 2011. When I left the house in the morning the cherry blossoms were only two-tenths bloomed but by the time I returned home they were fully bloomed.

29th I organized the first formal tea ceremony of the year. Cherry blossoms were the main theme so the timing could not have been better.

30th The second day of the formal tea ceremony. At noon, I attended the last performance of the Kanze No theater which is soon to be relocated. The 26th Kanze No master Mr Kanze Seiwa and I were classmates. Seiwa gave a wonderful performance. In the evening, I hosted a tea session.

31st The last day of the formal tea ceremony. As it gradually gets warmer outside, so it does in the tea ceremony room. I played my role as host, taking care not to sweat.