Page 55 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

were temporarily set aside in the small world of the tearoom and all the
guests could share in the appreciation of a welcoming tearoom or the
host's thoughtfulness in choosing utensils.
For shoguns and daimyo, tea had added associations. Because of
its enthusiastic patronage by the Ashikaga shoguns, Nobunaga, and
Hideyoshi, chanoyu had also become an expression of wealth and power,
a vehicle of elite interaction, and one of the central social rituals of
warrior society. While shoguns and daimyo in the Edo period patronized
tea masters of the various lineages descended from Sen no Rikyü, they
also maintained their own traditions of tea, appropriate for the imposing
chambers of castles and yashiki. leyasu himself was a passionate enthusi-
ast of tea and collector of fine utensils. He received instruction from the
tea master and man of culture Kobori Enshü, who also instructed Hide-
yoshi as well as the second and third Tokugawa shoguns. Formal and
informal tea gatherings were held in Edo Castle,in the Edo residences of
the daimyo, and in their provincial castles. No daimyo could afford to be
ignorant of the niceties of correct etiquette or be unable to entertain his
fellow daimyo in his own tearoom. Shoguns and daimyo competed in the
elegant simplicity of their tearooms and gardens, in their collection of
precious utensils, and in calligraphy, to display the tokonoma of the
tearoom. Most prized were those that had belonged to the Ashikaga
shoguns, or to the sixteenth-century tea masters Takeno Joo (1502-1555),
Murata Shukô (1421-1502), and Sen no Rikyü. The daimyo passion for tea
also provided a vigorous stimulus for the artists and craftsmen of their
own day. The work of the finest carpenters, garden designers, potters,
metalworkers, bamboo craftsmen, and papermakers was all in high
demand.
The traditions of daimyo tea were established by daimyo like
Furuta Oribe (1544-1615), Kanamori Sówa (1584-1656), and Katagiri Se-
kishü (1605-1673). The daimyo tea master Furuta Oribe, a 30,000 koku
daimyo and disciple of Rikyü, is said to have instructed Tokugawa Hide-
tada, the second shogun, in the art of tea. He was suspected of treason by
leyasu at the siege of Osaka Castle and forced to take his own life. His
students in the art of tea included Kobori Enshü, Hon'ami Kôetsu (1558-
1637), and many daimyo. Oribe had innovative tastes in ceramics, garden,
and teahouse design, which he transmitted to the daimyo who studied
within him. Kanamori Sôwa, the daimyo of Takayama Castle in Hida,was
a connoisseur of tea utensils who studied tea and Zen at Daitokuji in
Kyoto. In the capital he became familiar with court nobles as well as Zen
monks. His tastes in tea aesthetics combined Zen simplicity with courtly
elegance and refinement. Katagiri Sekishü, daimyo of the Koizumi do-
main in Yamato Province, served as tea master to the fourth Tokugawa
shogun, letsuna. He practiced the more studied, plain, and rustic Rikyü
tradition of wabicha but was on close terms with Sówa, Enshü, and other
daimyo tea devotees. Sekishü had many daimyo as his students and was
particularly influential in shaping daimyo taste.
Some later daimyo devoted such interest to chanoyu that they
came to be known as sukiya daimyo, or literati daimyo. Among these
were Matsudaira Fumai (1751-1818) of the Matsue domain, Sakai Sôga
(1755-1790), of the Himeji domain, as well as Matsudaira Sadanobu and li
Naosuke, already mentioned. The enthusiasm for tea was particularly
strong in certain daimyo houses such as the Owari branch of the Toku-
gawa family, the Maeda of Kaga, the Hosokawa of Kumamoto, the Ma-
tsudaira of Takamatsu,and the Date of Sendai. As in other fields, daimyo
patronage of tea encouraged the refinement and categorization of cul-
tural traditions related to tea. These daimyo patrons were serious stu-
dents who recorded their tea gatherings, utensils, and aesthetic ideals in
tea diaries (o cha kaiki). This was part of a much larger phenomenon of

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