Sohen-ryu Jishuken is a branch of the Sohen school
which was founded by Yamada Sohen (1627-1708),
the leading disciple of Sen no Sotan,
grandson of Sen no Rikyu.
It is a true Edo way of tea whereby the way of tea
that originated in Kyoto was adopted,
raised and perfected by the common people of Edo.

About Jishu-ken

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Sohen-ryu Jishu-ken is a branch of the Sohen school which was founded by Yamada Sohen (1627-1708), a close disciple of Sen no Sotan, grandson of Sen no Rikyu.

 

Ogasawara Tadatomo, the lord of Yoshida-jo castle in Sanshu (now Toyohashi), was concerned about the tea ceremony, which had become extravagant and luxurious after Rikyu’s suicide. He respected the original Wabi-cha and believed that Sotan was a true tea master who sought the spiritual tea, and requested that Sotan be invited from Kyoto to become the tea server. Due to his old age, Sotan recommended his close disciple, Sohen, as his replacement.

 

In 1658, Sohen set off for his new post in Sanshu Yoshida in response to Marquis Ogasawara’s request, and for the next forty-three years served as the Ogasawara family’s tea server for four generations, establishing the Sohen school.

 

In his final years, Sohen moved to Edo when the Ogasawara family was assigned to Bushu Iwatsuki and settled in Honjo by the Sumida River, where he taught Wabi-cha directly handed down by Soden to feudal lords and the people of Edo. Many prominent figures were among them; Kira Kozuke no Suke was one of his tea friends and Otaka Gengo was Kira’s disciple. The story of the tea ceremony at the Kira-tei residence in Honjo Matsuzaka-cho on the night before the raid into Kira’s mansion is all too well known. 

 

At the same time he moved to Edo, Sohen attempted to hand over the second generation of the school to Okamura Sohaku (name Shigekatsu, 1673-1734) who was his leading disciple, alter ego and also a financial supporter. When Sohaku firmly declined, he passed the second generation over to Soin, the groom of his granddaughter, and granted Sohaku the names of “Jishu-ken” and “Usetsu-an” to become independent as a branch.  

 

For more than 300 years, “Jishu-ken” maintained its independence while respecting the order of the original “Sohen-ryu” school, and thereafter, upon the Meiji Restoration, a member of the Hosoda family who was a senior disciple of Suigetsuni, the wife of the seventh generation Souga, took over the name. Since then, it has been passed down from generation go generation by the Hosoda family (the head of confectioner Eitaro) until now. 

 

The tea of Jishu-ken is based on the essence of Wabi-cha which was admired by Marquis Tadatomo, as ssen in the way Jishu-ken maintained the heart of tea founder Sotan, the school founder Sohen and Sohaku who were averse to the trend toward extravagance, money power, competition for utensils, self-advertisement and commercialism of the tea masters to pursue self-interest.   

 

Meanwhile, another characteristic of Jishu-ken is that it is a true Edo way of tea whereby the way of tea that originated in Kyoto was adopted, raised and perfected by the common people of Edo.