Konnichian — The Urasenke Home

Important Cultural Property and Historical Site

(Not open to the public)

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Konnichian "Hut of This Day" The tiny one-tatami-plus-daime room adjacent to the Kan'untei is the Konnichian, the tearoom whose name is synonymous with Urasenke.       The story of how the room got its name is well known. At the age of seventy-one, Sotan gave his son Koshin Sosa charge of Fushin'an and built a tearoom in the back garden as his retirement retreat. Upon its completion, Sotan invited his Zen master, the priest Seigan Soi, to a tea gathering. On the appointed day, Seigan failed to appear on time, and after waiting a while, Sotan went out. When Seigan finally arrived, he found Sotan's message inviting him to come back the next day. Seigan scribbled his now-famous answer, "A negligent monk expects no tomorrow," and went home.       Returning soon after, Sotan found the message and quickly grasped its meaning. Feeling shame for his insolence, he went to Daitokuji to apologize for his behavior that day. Later, he named the new tearoom "Hut of This Day," referring to the phrase Seigan had written.       The tearoom represents the epitome of the thatched-hut style formulated by Rikyu. On the left side of the three-quarter size tatami (daime) where the tea is made is a built-in utensil cabinet, and on the far side is a wooden board inset. The fenestration of the outer wall features a small "poem card window" (shikishi mado) beneath a large window covered with two sliding shoji panels. A "crawl-through doorway" (nijiriguchi) is also located beneath this window at the south end of the one-tatami guests' area. At the opposite end of the mat, a portion of the wall is set aside for hanging a scroll.       During a dawn tea gathering, the sunlight filtering through the trees strikes the shoji over the window in the east wall above the tatami where the host sits. The atmosphere created truly exemplifies Sotan's wabi spirit.

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