Sowa-ryu transmits the aesthetic of Kanamori Sowa, an early-Edo tea master, and is known for a refined style called hime-Sowa, "Sowa the graceful", which holds warrior-class solidity together with courtly elegance. It was closely linked to Kyoto court society and supported the tea culture around the imperial palace.
Lineage
Sowa was born into the family of the lord of Hida Takayama and withdrew to Kyoto while still young to devote himself to tea. He was in close contact with the retired emperor Gomizuno-o and the Konoe family, and was involved in tea gatherings around the palace and in the garden design of the Sento Imperial Palace. Transmission passed through his students, producing several branches organised under the name Sowa-ryu by the modern period.
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