Sen So-oku’s Lecture From Season 1 Of GEISAI University Is Now Complete

The third and final lecture from Collecting and Value, the second session of GEISAI University’s first season, has now been completed.


On this day, the lecture room took on a more somber atmosphere than usual, with trappings culled from the long history of the tea ceremony and the universe which has grown around it.



The lecture hall was converted into a tatami room.
Our professor for the evening was Sen So-Oku, head of the Mushakōjisenke, a family descended directly from tea ceremony master Sen no Rikyū. The professor brought with him a collection of chadogu (tea ceremony utensils) assembled specially for the occasion. After dutifully laying several chashaku (tea scoops) atop the tatami, he informed us that the display contained pieces said to have been created by Sen no Rikyū himself. We couldn’t help but be struck by their power, the very aura lent by this authenticity. Regardless of the true origin of objects like these, there is no denying the effect the claims can have. You could call it the culmination of a certain manner of branding; branding which carries the pedigree of a pantheon with 400 years of tradition.


At 19:00, Sen So-Oku made his entrance, accompanied by the Chairman. The lecture was about to begin.

“The chashaku is the one item which a tea master makes himself. Among the various chadogu, it is the one which mostly closely reflects its maker. For this reason, when a chashaku makes its appearance in the ceremony, we in the tea world consider it the same as an entrance by the tea master themselves, and will make contact with the item. I hope you will think of it not as a mere tool, but as something with a larger meaning, more like a person.


Thus began our talk with one of the tea ceremony’s biggest names. People lined the tatami-covered room shoulder to shoulder, and you truly could feel a mysterious presence lingering in the air.

“Under normal circumstances, we would have here both a chashaku and tsutsu (a bamboo storage tube), but today, I’ve decided to display just the chashaku. This means that, like you, I’m looking at this scene for the first time.”

“All human faces possess the same elements - eyes, mouth, and nose - but when they are placed side by side, we begin to see the individuality of each. They all come in many types. In the same way, you will notice expressions in each chashaku which reveal their character.

As with the other talks in session 2, the theme of the lecture was “collecting and value,” and our professor was kind enough to review with us the history of tea. “The fastest way to learn the history of tea is to study the history of the utensils that serve it,” he explained.

Ink drawings from China’s Sung Dynasty,
Shigaraki ware jars,
Ceramic chatsubo (jars for tea leaves),
Sen no Rikyū’s lacquered tea caddy,
A raku ware chawan (tea bowl) called Mukikuri, which was created by the head of the family,
Another red raku ware chawan named Muichibutsu, which has been deemed an important item of Japan’s cultural heritage.


Sen So-Oku once spent a year outside of Japan helping to spread knowledge of the country’s cultural legacy, and he has developed a speaking style which can be easily understood, even by those being exposed to the tea ceremony for the first time. One by one, he kindly explained the origins of each chadogu.

Among Sen no Rikyū’s greatest achievements was the transformation of the tea ceremony from an art in which the tea was made for the vessel to one in which the vessel was made for the tea. This concept – the idea that tea itself is beautiful – was further developed by future generations, especially the tea master’s grandson Kobori Enshū.

Enshū’s tea ceremony was known as “kirei-sabi” and he was said to prefer the use of white chawan. This stood in contrast to Sen no Rikyū, who used all black. Today this history has produced the terms “Sen no Rikyū black” and “Enshū white.”


The tea ceremony began to enter its latter period in the Edo era, with the emergence of the Tea Master Daimyo Matsudaira Fumai. In contrast to Sen no Rikyū and Enshū, who possessed great prowess as craftsmen, Matsudaira Fumai was known as a collector of chadogu, influencing future generations of collectors, all the way to the Meiji era.

One of the most prized items from Matsudaira Fumai’s collection was an inscribed bamboo flower vase named “Onjou-ji”.

The vase was made by Sen no Rikyū in an attempt to criticize the concept of luxury items but its origin would later grant it great value, bestowing upon the person who possessed it an impressive authority. That it eventually found its way into the collection of a noble could be seen as an ironic twist of fate. Sen So-Oku, however, had a different viewpoint, stating that this may have been Sen no Rikyū’s intention all along.

Another man who became famous for collecting in more modern times is Masuda Takashi, the first president of Mitsu Bussan. In Masuda’s lifetime, yobitsuki chawan (items assembled from broken fragments of ancient chadogu) were considered little more than damaged goods. After he began to collect them, however, these objects also took on a new value.


Here, Sen So-oku’s talk came to an end. All in all, the lecture lasted for two uninterrupted hours and covered an astonishing period of history from the Muromachi era to modern times.

This was actually the first time that any of our talks had continued past 9 pm. Sen’s energy was such that even the Chairman couldn’t find the heart to ask him to stop.


When the lecture was ended, many of the students stared with fascination at the various chashaku. Given that Kaikai Kiki audiences are more accustomed to focusing on art’s future, one wonders how this new universe unfolded inside them. We look forward to the fruit these lectures will bear.

Thus, after weeks of lectures going back to July, Season one of GEISAI University came to a close. We are proud to announce that all talks were filled to capacity and would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who came.


We would also like to inform that you we are now accepting applications for season 2.

For further information, click here.

Lastly, we want to remind everyone that GEISAI#13 will take place on October 18th at Kaikai Kiki’s Miyoshi studio. We hope you look forward to it.

Photo：Masao Sekigawa