Tea Ceremony
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Poem (One of the "Tsugi-Shikishi Poem Papers") (detail)
Attributed to Ono no Tōfū Heian period, 10th century (Important Cultural Property, On exhibit from September 30, 2025)Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 4
August 19, 2025 (Tue) - November 9, 2025 (Sun)Tea drinking and its role in society changed over time. In the 12th century, Zen monks introduced a new kind of tea drinking from China: green tea was ground into a powder and mixed with hot water. Monks drank this tea as a medicine and to stay awake during meditation.
Before long, the samurai also began to drink tea and competed for prizes in blind tasting competitions. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the elite samurai who ruled Japan focused on the aesthetics of tea drinking. They collected valuable Chinese works like paintings and tea bowls, displaying and using them during tea gatherings.
A century later, Sen no Rikyū (1522–91) established the foundations of the tea ceremony. When serving tea, he used valuable Chinese works together with simple utensils. He also stressed humility and the beauty of imperfection. Elite samurai practiced his style and its variations as a social, aesthetic, and spiritual pursuit.
| Designation | Name | Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance |
Period | Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number |
CMT | ||
| Part of the "Collected Poems of Lady Ise" (One of the "Ishiyama Fragments") | Attributed to Fujiwara no Kintō (966–1041) | Heian period, 12th century | Gift of Mr. Matsunaga Yasuzaemon, B-2429 | On exhibit through September 28, 2025 | |||
| Highlight | Important Cultural Property | Poem (One of the "Tsugi-Shikishi Poem Papers") | Attributed to Ono no Tōfū (894–966) | Heian period, 10th century | B-3256 | On exhibit from September 30, 2025 | |
| Highlight | Water Jar with Lugs, Named "Tatsuta Gawa (Tatsuta River)" | Bizen ware | Azuchi-Momoyama–Edo period, 16th–17th century | Gift of Mr. Hirota Matsushige, G-5305 | |||
| Apple-Shaped Tea Container, Named “Mochizuki (Full Moon)” | Satsuma ware | Edo period, 17th century | Gift of Mr. Matsunaga Yasuzaemon, G-4821 | ||||
| Highlight | Tea Bowl, Named "Oshi Ido" | Korea, Passed down by the Matsudaira clan of Oshi Domain | Joseon dynasty, 16th century | Private collection | |||
| Tea Bowl, Named "Kimura" | Korea | Joseon dynasty, 16th–17th century | Gift of Mr. Hirota Matsushige, TG-2705 | ||||
| Bowl with Flowering Plants | Zhangzhou ware, China | Ming dynasty, 17th century | Gift of Mr. Hirota Matsushige, TG-2550 |