Ueda Sōko-ryū
Ueda Sōko-ryū (上田宗箇流) is a cultural aesthetic practice, or tradition, of Japanese tea ceremony that originated within the samurai class of feudal Japan.
Ueda was given a fief in the West of Hiroshima prefecture yielding 17,000 koku of rice (around 2,788 tonnes) and became Asano's chief retainer for the Geishū Domain.
Sōko was assigned a fief 17,000 koku of rice in the West of Hiroshima prefecture to go with his appointment as Asano's Chief Retainer.
This new Sōden System placed Ueda Sōko's style of Tea into a form that was able to be transmitted in a systematic format through generations.
Jōō continued to employ Nakamura Kaidō and Nomura Ensai as Chaji Azukari throughout the Meiji Period, and the two families served in this role until 1955 (30th Year of Shōwa).
Objects are handled with a composed and stable posture; at navel height, 3 cm behind the tip of the knees and with the space of an egg open under the arms.
Oribe held daimyō status and was originally a retainer of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi before serving the Tokugawa clan.
Sōko exiled to Shikoku following the Osaka Campaign for three years before being invited to serve the Asano clan as their chief retainer and tea master in the Hiroshima domain.
He also received a residency on the grounds of Hiroshima Castle and there constructed a shoin reception hall and his tea hermitage called ‘Wafūdō’ (和風堂).
The Ueda Clan originally relocated to their secondary residence (shimoyashiki 下屋敷) and then settled in the Furue (古江) district of Hiroshima in the early years of the Shōwa Era (1926–1989).
Ueda Sōko's grandfather Shigeshi and father Shigemoto both served Niwa Nagahide and achieved military fame during the unsettled times of the Genki (1570–1573) and Tenshō (1573–1592) Eras.
Soon after settling in Hiroshima, Sōko's eldest son Shigehide was called to reside in Edo Castle as a type of hostage to the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Posthumous Buddhist name: 〔清涼院前上林諸大夫竹隠宗箇大居士〕 Born in 12th year of Keichō Era (1607 / 慶長12) in the Wakayama Castle town of the Kishu Domain (紀州和歌山城下).
In the 3rd year of Keian Era (1650 / 慶安３) he inherited the family estate at the age of 20 when both his father Shigemasa, then grandfather Sōko passed away in succession.
He was especially skilled in ceramics and made many tea bowls and other classic pieces favoured by the daimyō chanoyu connoisseurs of the Genroku era.
He later took the name Sawamizu (沢水) and had a close friendship with the Domain's Chief Confucian Scholar Yamana Ungan Yoshikata (儒臣山名雲巌義方).
He served under the titles Kazue (主計) and Motobashi (元喬), then in the 2nd year of the Kyōhō Era (1717 / 享保２) changed to Bizen Shigeyuki (備前重行), and finally as Yoshiyuki (義行).
Yoshiyori restored the 100-year-old Hiroshima Wafūdo and had regular acquaintance with Gion Nankai (祗園南海), the Confucian Scholar of the Kishū Tokugawa Clan.
Posthumous Buddhist name: 〔曹源院殿一滔滴水大居士〕 Youngest child of Matsudaira Kunai Shōsuke Nagakata (松平宮内少輔長賢) of the Asano Clan's Aoyama Naisho Branch (浅野青山内証分家).
First called Yujurō (友十郎), in December of the 5th year of Hōreki (1755 / 宝暦５) he was adopted into the Ueda Clan as the successor of Yoshitaka and assumed the title Mondo (主水).
He travelled to Edo in the 8th year of the Tenmei Era (1788 / 天明８) and after his returned to Hiroshima assumed the roles Bizen (備前), Shima (志摩) and then Mondo (主水).
Following the Meiji Restoration he had the foresight to hand the territory of the Ueda Clan back to Hiroshima Domain prior to the reclamation of the Emperor.
He put great passion and zeal into composing books on chanoyu and organising the tea equipage of the Ueda estate together with his Grand Retainers.
He later took the further names Shunoku Shōin (春舎松陰) and Rantei (蘭亭), was especially renowned for his skill in waka poetry, well-versed in Japanese and Chinese literature and was revered as a leader.
The reconstruction was made on the current grounds of the Ueda Tradition, 137 years after the loss of Hiroshima Castle in the Meiji Restoration.
Ueda Sōko founded a unique tradition of chanoyu alongside his duties as the Chief Retainer of the Domain of Hiroshima and Shō-Daimyō (小大名) of a fief of 17,000 koku of rice.
In 1632 (9th year of the Kanei Era 寛永九), a man by the name of Nomura Yahee no Jyō Moriyasu 野村彌兵衛尉盛安 of Suō Yanai (周防柳井 modern day Shimane Prefecture) relocated to Hiroshima to seek instruction in chanoyu from Ueda Sōko.
Kakei Seidō (加計静堂) then succeeded Chikkadō to serve as the 17th generation Grand Retainer before his death in 1955 (30th year of the Shōwa Era).
Served as the Grand Retainer of Chanoyu for the Ueda Clan and by governing a stipend of land worth 100 koku of rice.
As both the Nomura and Nakamura did not have heirs, Ritsu received orders from the Ueda Clan to succeed them as the next generation Grand Retainer of chanoyu.
