Chanoyu News

Sadly, Mr. Hisashi Yamada (founder of the NYC Urasenke Chanoyu Center) passed away last week. You can read a bit about his fascinating, tea-centered life in his obituary (the first I've ever written) and in this NY Times profile.

If you're interested in learning more about the art of chanoyu, be sure to check out the Modern Teaism demo at the World Tea Expo!

Also, if you're interested in architecture and/or design, be sure to check out this tiny teahouse by Terunobu Fujimori. It's the fourth pageview into the sampling Tashcen has provided. You can see more of his tea architecture on Dezeen.

The Art of Tea

The art of tea is broad and varied. From the fine craft of Taiwanese oolong rolling to Modern Teaism to teabag fashion, tea has inspired many an artist. It also recently inspired the curators at the Yale art museum, who put together an impressive collection of teaware for chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony (which is, in itself, considered to be an art form). My favorite image was this chanoyu flower container that was repaired with gold lacquer and metal pins. How better to emphasize the value of age than to repair something wooden with gold lacquer?!