The Tea Ceremony

Together with Honami Koetsu, he is regarded as one of the outstanding figures to have studied tea under Furuta Oribe. But he studied with Oribe as a youth when he still used the name Kobori Sakusuke Masakazu. He later propounded a tea of Ôkirei sabiÕ, literally Ôbeauty and rustÕ, that is, an elegant but faded aesthetic. He told people to get heady (ÔyouÕ, literally ÔdrunkÕ) on the blossoms in spring, the winds in summer, the moon in autumn and the snow in winter Ð his so-called Four Headinesses. These has their origins in courtly aesthetics. But he also advocated TeikaÕs kana writings, and the wandering garden that one can find today at the Katsura Villa demonstrates his combined tastes. Many of EnshuÕs utensils were inscribed with classical poems. He was employed as architect and garden designer by the shogunate, and had many important achievements to his name. He made many teahuts such as the Mittan at the Ryuko-in of the Daitoku-ji, the Hasso-no-seki at the Konchi-in of the Nanzen-ji, the Yojo-taime at his own mansion in Fushimi, etc. Most representative of those surviving today are the Hosen and Chokunyu-ken at the Koho-an of the Daitokuj-ji.. The Yojo-taimoku is a Rikyu-like hut, but the others (notably the Mittan) incorporate aspects of the shoin. His grave is at the Koho-an, and surely the teahuts there show is ideals best.