Tea Gathering at Casa Batlló, Barcelona

A tea gathering was held at Casa Batlló, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Barcelona, Spain. The event was organized by Hideaki Kimura, with whom I had the great pleasure of collaborating on this occasion.

We were honored by the presence of Consul General Watanabe of the Consulate-General of Japan in Barcelona, who kindly offered his words of congratulations.

Performing temae using a chabako in one of Gaudí’s masterpieces created a unique atmosphere—one that felt unmistakably Japanese, yet somehow not quite Japan.

At first, we had considered borrowing tatami mats and a folding gold-leaf screen from the Consulate-General and holding the tea gathering in a more traditional setting. However, I wanted instead to make the most of the extraordinary surroundings and the architecture of Casa Batlló itself.

We therefore chose to perform the chabako temae in the ryūrei style, serving tea at a table and chairs. In the midst of Gaudí’s extraordinary world, the traditional gestures of the Way of Tea took on an entirely new character, creating a beautiful dialogue between Japanese tea culture and Catalan modernist architecture.