Ueda Sōko

Furuta Oribe, Sen no Rikyū, Ueda Sōko (上田宗箇) (1563 – 30 May 1650) was a warlord who lived during the Momoyama and early Edo Periods.

Today his death plaque is enshrined at the Sangen-in sub-temple of Daitoku-ji, beside that of his long time teacher in the Way of Tea, Furuta Oribe.

Sōko was given a fief of 17,000 koku of rice in west Hiroshima (present day Hatsukaichi and Ōtake) and the role of Chief Retainer of the Geishū Domain for the Asano.

The school of Japanese tea ceremony continues in its 16th generation today, with an unbroken bloodline to Ueda Sōko.

In 1585 (Year 13 of Tenshō), Sōko was recruited as a samurai under Toyotomi Hideyoshi and awarded land equivalent of 10,000 koku of rice in Echizen.

After three years serving Iemasa, Sōko was solicited by Asano Yoshinaga to join his clan ruling Kishū Province.

Sōko was very close to Furuta Oribe and reverence for his teacher can be seen in the design of Wafūdō (tea villa built on the grounds of Hiroshima Castle).

[3] In the left wall of the alcove of an Oribe-kaku tearoom there is a window made with woven wicker that opens to the shōban-datami space.

Oribe favoured the spacious, kusari-no-ma style tea room that takes its name from a hanging kettle suspended by a chain from the ceiling.

[3] Sōko assisted Oribe in establishing a distinct genre of chanoyu for the warrior class referred to as buke sadō (武家茶道) or 'warrior tea'.

Pine trees were planted on the crossing bridge from the shoin residence to the tea pavilion to suggest crossing over to Jōdo (Buddhist Pure Land)[7] During battle campaigns, Sōko would pass the time waiting for enemy forces by carving tea scoops.

[8] The only extant calligraphy work of Sōko is the single line scroll 'I welcome no layman to my abode'[9]「門無俗士駕」(mon (ni) zokushi (no) ga nashi).

The implication of the characters is "Upon mastering oneself through discipline and cultivating morality, those without such education and taste for the arts cease to appear at one's door".

[8] Throughout a life lived in the turbulent Warring States period, Sōko pursued a style of chanoyu that developed quietude for the mind and strength of spirit, deeply influenced by Zen morality.

Following Oribe's ideas, Ueda Sōko designed the Wafūdō tea complex inside Hiroshima Castle to cater for the new sukiya onari format.

The tea gathering would proceed from the sukiya (wabi-cha tearoom) to the kusari-no-ma (formal room with hanging kettle).

Upon concluding chanoyu, the shōgun would cross to the shoin reception complex via a covered bridge where traditional entertainment from the time of the Ashikaga shogunate would take place.

(Designated National Place of Scenic Beauty) Garden of the Hachisuka Family on the grounds of Tokushima Castle.

Sōko constructed a second wafūdō tea house complex on the main residence of the Ueda family on the grounds of Hiroshima Castle.