A Tea Gathering at the Hyogo Prefecture Paris Office — 2018

Once again this year, we held an event devoted to Hagi ware and the Way of Tea at the Hyogo Prefecture Paris Office in the Opéra district.

The office has kindly served as our Paris venue since 2016, and I am deeply grateful for its continued support.

The exhibition featured works by Takao Tahara, a leading young artist of Hagi ware.

A large number of works that we had not been able to display in full at our exhibitions in Lyon and Grenoble were brought together here, allowing visitors to see a particularly extensive selection.

For the tea gathering, at the request of the Hyogo International Association, we created a tea setting featuring daimyō utensils from the Banshū region, selected from the collection of the Seigadō Bunko. We also offered tea prepared using the chabako temae.

The hanging scroll bore a somewhat formal but deeply meaningful phrase:

“A noble person makes it a virtue to love others.”

The words are attributed to Mori Tadaoki, the 6th lord of the former Akō Domain in Banshū, and are drawn from the Chinese classic Book of Rites (Liji).

Taking inspiration from France’s national motto, “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité”, we gave the tea gathering its own interpretation:

A tea gathering of freedom, tea shared equally, and friendship among all.

Over the two days, we were delighted to welcome a great many visitors. They had the opportunity to pick up and appreciate Hagi ware in their own hands, hear directly from its creator about his work, and enjoy freshly ground, fresh-tasting matcha.