English

This NHK programme follows the changing fortunes of a small tea caddy called the Tsukumo Nasu. During the Sengoku period, the tea ceremony was used for political purposes, and possession of the Tsukumo Nasu itself became a symbol of supreme power. The Tsukumo Nasu survived the turmoil and destruction of the Sengoku period and is preserved in the Seikado Bunko Art Museum in Tokyo.

At the time, many European visitors wrote about the Japanese enthusiasm for the tea ceremony, including the Jesuits Frois, Almeida and Rodriguez and the Spaniard Avila Hiron. Rumours also spread from Japan. Even the Dutch explorer Jan Huygen van Linschoten, who had never been to Japan, wrote with amazement about the value of tea utensils in his book Itinerario, published in 1596. For example, he wrote of tea sets: “They esteem them as much as we esteem diamonds, rubies and other precious stones.

Louis Frois, in his History of Japan, wrote specifically about the Tsukumo Nasu: “In the capital, Lord Sootai (Matsunaga Hisahide) has in his possession an earthenware vessel for powdered tea, not much larger than a pomegranate. It is said to be worth 25,000 to 30,000 cruzados and is called ‘Tsukumugami’. Hisahide had acquired the Tsukumo Nasu, formerly owned by the Ashikaga Shoguns, at great expense, but as Luis Frois notes: “Hisahide was forced to give Oda Nobunaga his most expensive tea utensil, worth more than 40,000 cruzados, in order to please him”.

In a letter by the same Frois, recounting the Honnoji incident in which Nobunaga was killed by treachery, he writes that Nobunaga’s attachment to tea utensils was extraordinary. Just before he was killed in that incident, Nobunaga had over 60 tea utensils with him. Frois writes that some were happy that these tea utensils turned to dust and ashes with him. This was because, according to them, these utensils had devastated Japan.

Why was it that the warlords of the Sengoku period spent so much money on utensils for drinking tea? This question is answered in the TV programme, which can be viewed on the NHK World website until 28 October 2024.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/timetide/20231028/3022038/

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(Frederik Cryns)