Dr. Rebecca Corbett, Japan Studies Librarian, East Asian Library, University of Southern California, “The Play of Tea” 「お茶の遊び」
The Buddhist nun Tagami Kikusha (1753-1826) practiced tea culture, calligraphy, painting, and music (shichigenkin), and a broad range of poetry including haikai, waka, and kanshi. Records of her tea gatherings, including many held during her thirty years spent on the road, show that she operated at an elite level of tea practice. During the last years of her life, once she returned to her home region of Chōfu, she invited local children to join her tea gatherings. Ranging in age from 5-8 years and both girls and boys, these children sat as guests with Kikusha acting as host. They also composed hakai poetry at the gatherings, and practiced calligraphy. These activities are suggestive of a world of tea practice in which play and children’s edification were the main functions, which is a hitherto unexplored aspect of Edo period tea culture.
尼僧田上菊舎（1753-1826）は茶道、書、画、七弦琴をたしなみ、更に幅広い分野の詩歌―俳諧、和歌，漢詩―に優れた文人である。彼女の茶会記は、その多くは彼女の30年にも及ぶ旅の空での茶の湯を含めるものだが、彼女の茶の極めて高いレべルへの到達を知らしめる。晩年、菊舎は出身地の長府に戻るが、そこでの茶の湯の集まりには地域の子供たちを参加させた。5歳から8歳の男女の子供たちは亭主菊舎の下、客として連なり、茶の湯のほか、俳句を詠み、書を行った。これらの活動は、遊びと子供たちへの啓発を主とする茶の湯の一世界を示唆している。それは江戸期茶の湯文化の従来知られなかった新領域を示すものである。
