Windows on Tea: Online Lecture by Urasenke Tea Master Kimura Sōkei

In conjunction with the exhibition ‘Windowology: New Architectural Views from Japan', Japan House London explored the relationship between windows and tea, with a special lecture by tea master Kimura Sōkei from the London branch of Urasenke, one of the major tea schools in Japan.

Chashitsu, the Japanese teahouse, has a distinctive structure which allows for many types of windows to be featured within a small area. Chashitsu are designed to be used for chadō (or chanoyu), the Japanese way of tea: a teahouse is designed in such a way that guests can sit comfortably for several hours. In this event guests were introduced to a lesser-known aspect of chadō, as Kimura Sōkei explained how windows interact with the space by diffusing the changing, natural light within a small enclosure, and the connection between the architecture of the teahouse and the Japanese way of tea.