Tanaka Senshō was a tea master active from the Meiji into the Showa period who founded the Dai Nihon Chado Gakkai with the aim of studying and spreading tea practice without confining it to a single school. That aim makes him an unusual figure in modern tea history, where transmission is organised by house.
Life
He studied the practice of several schools while young and founded the Dai Nihon Chado Gakkai in 1898, promoting research and teaching that crossed school boundaries.
Influence on tea
Working from a criticism of the hardening of school lines in the Meiji period, he pursued academic study of the practice as it had come down from Rikyu, and reached a wide audience through publishing, lectures, and open courses.
Legacy
The society continues to operate and retains a distinct position as a place where tea is studied across schools rather than within one.
About this article
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Term info
- Life dates
- 1875–1960
- Category
- Term
Related terms
- Chado (The Way of Tea)chado
The Japanese practice of preparing and serving powdered green tea, treated as a lifelong discipline rather than a beverage ritual.
- Wabiwabi
Finding sufficiency of mind within insufficiency and plainness; one of the root concepts of tea practice.
- Ichigo ichie (one time, one meeting)ichigo ichie
The principle that every gathering is unrepeatable, and should therefore be treated as if it will never occur again.
- Matsudaira FumaiMatsudaira Fumai
The Matsue daimyo (1751–1818) whose collecting and cataloguing organised the ranking of tea utensils.
- Ii NaosukeIi Naosuke
The late-Tokugawa statesman (1815–1860) whose Chanoyu Ichie Shu gave ichigo ichie its lasting formulation.
- Dai Nihon Chado GakkaiDai Nihon Chado Gakkai
A tea organisation founded by Tanaka Senshō that deliberately teaches across school lines rather than within one.