The Tea Ceremony

On the first day of the 10th month of 1587, Hideyoshi held a tea gathering at the Kitano Shrine and at Matsubara. He had held such gatherings before, but this was to be the largest and probably the most famous ever in history. From the 8th month advertisements were put up inviting all to attend.
There was to be no segregation by rank, and all who loved tea could come, bringing their utensils; those who could not afford tea could brew barley water. People came from as far as Hakata in Kyushu one was Kamiya Sotan. In all, 1500 tea enclosures were set up. Hideyoshi himself served tea to 803 people. The Prayer Hall of the Kitano Shrine was divided into three with Hideyoshiﾕs golden utensils and teahut in the centre, and his favourite wares and implements on either side. The tea enclosures of the common people fanned out from this, row upon row. Hideyoshi, with Tsuda Sokyu, Imai Sokyu and Rikyu acted as hosts, serving tea to all who came. The day was recorded in a ﾔRecord of the Great Kitano Tea Gatheringﾕ (Kitano dai-chanoyu-no-ki). Yet, although it was scheduled to run for ten days, the month before the party was cut down to a single day, no one knows why. However, the event sets chanoyu as a major cultural pursuit within the Japanese realm.