| 2018 New Year’s Exhibition Chanoyu Kettles and Related Items —Spotlighting Those Favored by the Generations of Urasenke Iemoto— Simultaneous Exhibition: The Twelve Animals of the Chinese ZodiacSunday 7 January – Sunday 4 March, 2018Well known is the fact that Japan’s chado, or literally “way of tea,” also goes by the name chanoyu, “hot water for tea” — a name which draws our attention to just how basic and important the act of “putting the kettle on” is in order to prepare tea and to enjoy chado. To begin the year 2018, the Chado Research Center is featuring an exhibition of chanoyu kettles favored by the generations of Urasenke iemoto counting from the era of the family’s founder, Sen Rikyu, in the 16th century. Introduced, also, are many of the range of items related to the use of kettles in chanoyu, including portable braziers, frames for sunken hearths, and charcoal-handling equipment. Further adding to the exhibition’s historical interest is a special display of chanoyu related archeological finds unearthed in Sakai, the hometown of Sen Rikyu. |
| Simultaneous exhibition The celebratory, invitational first tea gathering that the Urasenke Head Family hosts every year is referred to as Hatsugama, the year’s “first kettle.” The felicitous articles which are used on this occasion often are on the theme of the animal of the year according to the junishi, the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. The simultaneous exhibition, entitled “The Twelve Animals of the Chinese Zodiac,” consists in all the mizusashi (water jars) and a number of the kogo (incense containers) created for the Urasenke Hatsugama over the last twelve years by Kyoto ceramist Eiraku Zengoro, the 17th in the Eiraku family line of craftsmen and artisans whom the three Sen families descending from Sen Rikyu have patronized through the generations and are known as the Senke Jusshoku. |
| Hours: 9:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. |
| Closing time for entry and tea service: 4:00 P.M. |
| Days closed: Every Monday unless the Monday is a National Holiday, in which case the next day, Tuesday, will be closed. |
| Admission fee: Regular: JPY700. University students, JPY400. Jr. and Sr. High students, JPY300. Children below Jr. High, and students of membership schools, free. |
Access:
Horikawa Teranouchi bus stop on city bus route nos. 9, 12, and 67.
The Center building faces the east side of Horikawa street, 1/2 block north of Teranouchi street. No visitors’ parking lot.
Map to the Chado Research Center Galleries (pdf)