Tea Gathering at Highclere Castle

A morning nodate tea gathering was held at an ancient castle in a town west of London, England.

The castle is well known in Japan as the setting for a certain famous television drama.

My heartfelt thanks to the Earl of Carnarvon and his staff for making this special occasion possible.

The tea bowl I used was a nerikomi bowl by Yūsuke Matsubayashi of Asahiyaki, now the 16th-generation head of the Asahiyaki kiln.

Created by combining and kneading together clay from St Ives in England and Uji in Japan, the bowl itself beautifully embodied the connection between Britain and Japan.