Chikamatsu Shigenori
Chikamatsu Shigenori was a retainer of the Owari Tokugawa clan, and an amateur tea enthusiast, known for his writings on the subject.
Shigenori's 1739 manuscript "Legends of the Tea Ceremony" consists of seven volumes, containing over three hundred tea-related anecdotes, some of which he experienced himself, and some of which he merely heard secondhand. The text circulated in manuscript form for many decades, before being printed (published) in 1804, after Shigenori's death, under the title "Stories from a Tearoom Window." The volume was then republished in 1816, in response to popular demand. The text speaks of the values of tea as articulated by Sen no Rikyû, with emphasis on modesty and respect, and appreciation of simplicity, critiquing what Shigenori perceived as an excessive focus on rigid technique, and extravagant over-valuing of tea implements.
References
- Constantine Vaporis, "The Tea Ceremony: Chikamatsu Shigenori's Stories from a Tearoom Window," in Vaporis (ed.), Voices of Early Modern Japan, Westview Press (2012), 179-181.
