This year marks the four-hundredth anniversary of a landmark moment in Japanese history: the visit of Emperor Go-Mizunoo to Nijō Castle in Kyoto, where he was received as a guest of Tokugawa lemitsu, the third shogun of the Tokugawa lineage. The occasion represented a carefully staged demonstration of the shogunate's power and legitimacy. It also reminds us how Emperor Go-Mizunoo was a central cultural catalyst during a period of major social transformation. To commemorate this anniversary, events and exhibitions are being held throughout Kyoto.

The Nomura Museum has taken this opportunity to focus on the Kan'ei Era, in which this historic encounter took place. Our exhibition draws primarily on chakaiki written accounts of tea gatherings, as recorded by the participants themselves — to explore the evolving world of chanoyu (often called the "tea ceremony") as it was practiced at that time.

The Kan'ei Era was graced by several tea masters of exceptional distinction, each of whom developed his own individual vision of the practice of tea. Sen Sōtan, grandson of the great Sen-no-Rikyū the legendary sixteenth-century master who contributed immensely to the chanoyu that we know today — carried forward and deepened his grandfather's austere wabi aesthetic (briefly: a sensitive embrace of rustic simplicity). Kanamori Sōwa, by contrast, brought to chanoyu a genteel elegance, finding his most devoted following among the court nobility. And Kobori Enshū brought courtly chanoyu into the world of the warrior aristocracy. Each of these figures left a distinct and lasting imprint on the practice of tea.

The ceramic arts flourished no less remarkably during this period. Hon'ami Kōetsu, Raku Dōnyū, and Nonomura Ninsei were among the outstanding artists whose works were often cherished at tea gatherings. Alongside these individual masters, the bold and robust stoneware of the Seto and Mino regions continued to be highly regarded. Equally important were the ceramics produced at kiln sites such as Hagi, Karatsu and Satsuma, whose aesthetics had been profoundly shaped by contact with the Korean peninsula. These latter wares, with their unassuming beauty and often unpredictable asymmetry, fit well with the spirit of wabi, which, to one extent or another, would eventually permeate the world of chanoyu. That all of these particular objects were used at specific tea gatherings is something we know thanks to the chakaiki that have survived through today.

During the Kan'ei Era, a notable cultural shift occurred — in a realm once exclusively occupied by Kyoto, increasing attention was being given to cultural developments in Edo (today's Tokyo, which had been undergoing remarkable urban growth since the Tokugawa shogunate established its headquarters there only two decades earlier).

Another distinguishing feature of that era was what may be characterized as a form of "salon culture." With the literary, artistic and chanoyu gatherings of Emperor Go-Mizunoo (especially after his abdication) at its apex, a network of overlapping salons emerged — those of court nobles, warrior elites, and townspeople and cultural figures. These salons actively interacted and exchanged ideas, forming a distinctive cultural landscape that sets this period apart from others.

Among the new forms of culture that emerged during the Kan'ei Era, this exhibition focuses on chanoyu. We invite you to enter this world through the objects on display, to gain a sense of how the world of tea had transformed — from the Momoyama Era of upheaval in the late 1500s, when figures such as Rikyū were active, into something markedly different.