Kobori Enshu
A tea ceremony master of the early Edo period, founder of the Enshu style of tea ceremony, and an administrator in the Tokugawa Shogunate, who, in addition, excelled in architecture, civil engineering, Japanese garden design, and calligraphy
1579-1647
Kobori Enshu was a warrior and tea ceremony master of the early Edo period, noted as the founder of the Enshu style of tea ceremony. He was born in the village of Kobori in the Sakata District, Omi Province (present-day Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture), as the eldest son of Kobori Masatsugu, a retainer of Toyotomi Hidenaga's. His given name was Masakazu, and he was also called Sakusuke. He used the Buddhist names Soho and Kohoan. After studying Zen under Soen Shun'oku, the head priest of Daitoku Temple, he acquired the Buddhist name Daiyu. At first he followed in the steps of his father and served Toyotomi Hideyoshi and later Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1608 he assumed the position of shogunate administrator for civil engineering and construction for the keep of Sunpu Castle, and later was promoted to junior fifth rank and appointed as governor of Totomi Province (today's Shizuoka Prefecture). Enshu went on to oversee numerous construction projects for the Tokugawa Shogunate and the imperial court, construction projects involving the Honmaru Reception Hall of Fushimi Castle, Nijo Castle, the resident temple for retired Emperor Go-Mizunoo, the imperial residence for empress consort Tokugawa Masako, Edo Castle, and Shinagawa Goten (the shogun's residence in Shinagawa). Enshu excelled in architecture, civil engineering, and Japanese garden design, and in his late years he served as magistrate of Fushimi District, Kyoto.
In the field of literati pursuits, Enshu was an acclaimed intellectual and tea ceremony master. He authored travelogues in the style of Ise monogatari (The Tales of Ise) and was a talented calligrapher who skillfully assimilated the style of Fujiwara no Teika. He interacted with numerous intellectuals, including such individuals as Konoe Nobuhiro, Shokado Shojo, Takuan, and Kinoshita Choshushi, and studied the art of the tea ceremony under Furuta Oribe. After Oribe's death, Enshu established his own style of tea ceremony, which became known as the Enshu style, and he was appointed as tea ceremony master to the shogun. Inspired by a unique sense of beauty, Enshu inscribed phrases from classic Japanese poems on tea containers, tea scoops, tea bowls, and other tea ceremony utensils that he collected or appraised. Later, the utensils thus inscribed and owned or discovered by Enshu came to be called chuko meibutsu (literally, "restored famous pieces") and to be highly valued. Some well-known teahouses favored by Enshu were Bosen Teahouse, a designated national treasure, located in Koho-an, a subtemple built by Enshu himself within Ryuko-in on the grounds of Daitoku Temple; Mittan Teahouse, also a national treasure, in Ryuko-in Temple; and Hasso Teahouse located within Konchi-in, a subtemple on the grounds of Nanzen Temple. Bosen Teahouse was destroyed by fire in 1793, but was later accurately rebuilt by Matsudaira Fumai. Moreover, as a talented designer of Japanese gardens, Enshu left behind gardens noted for their beauty, such gardens as the Ninomaru Garden in Nijo Castle, the Tsurukame Garden in Konchi-in Temple, and the garden of Koho-an.
Related People, Things and Events
Books
Related Works
Handwritten letters by Enshu Kobori
Past Exhibitions
| Title | shusai | Place | open | close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Videos
Institutions Holding Related Materials
The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.
The National Archives is an organization for preserving, as historical materials, public records and archives of importance transferred from state organs, and providing them for public use, with the aim of achieving appropriate preservation and use of such public records and archives that are kept in the National Archives or state organs as historical materials.
As Japan’s representative museum, Tokyo National Museum collects, preserves, displays, and researches the cultural properties of Asia with a focus on Japan, and also provides educational programs.
Kyoto National Museum collects, preserves, displays, researches and provides educational programs focusing on cultural properties from Heian- through to Edo- period Japan, when the capital was located there.
Keio Museum Commons [KeMCo] functions as a "hub" of Keio's cultural assets, which spans a variety of fields including art, archaeology, literature, history, and medicine, and the educational and research activities behind it. At KeMCo, we aim to create a place where various communities can interact and generate new discoveries and ideas based on cultural properties (objects) in an environment where digital and analogue technologies are fused together.
日本ならびに東洋の精神文化を研究する慶應義塾大学の研究所。株式会社麻生商店（現・麻生グループ）社長麻生太賀吉氏が、同商店20周年記念事業の一環として、日本並びに東洋の精神文化を研究する研究所として、1938年12月に福岡市内に設立した財団法人斯道文庫を前身とする。所蔵コレクションのうち「センチュリー赤尾コレクション」は、 旺文社社長であった故赤尾好夫氏が、1979年に設立した財団法人センチュリー文化財団旧蔵のコレクションで、文字文化に関する資料が中核をなしており、さらに絵画資料や工芸品等も良質なものが含まれています。
小堀遠州が作庭した二之丸庭園などがある。
方丈庭園の枯山水「虎の児渡しの庭」は小堀遠州により作庭されたもので、国指定名勝。
External Links
小堀遠州の作り出した総合芸術を具現するための茶会を開催し、遠州の事跡、業績、これを知る書簡、文書などの調査・研究、小堀遠州にかかわる書跡、絵画ならびに工芸品の展観・講演、さらにこれに関する出版刊行を行っている公益財団法人のページ。
小堀遠州が開祖である遠州茶道について紹介。彼の建築や書画などを幅広く紹介している。
References
- 小堀宗慶 著,東京堂出版
- 小堀宗慶 著,東京堂出版
- 波多野幸彦 著,主婦の友社
- 「小堀遠州」の項。
- 「小堀遠州」の項。
- 「小堀遠州」の項。