Daisosho SEN Genshitsu was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters from Chung-Ang University, Korea, for his thesis "The Spirit of Tea: Focusing on the Evolution of Tea Culture as it Passed from China and Korea to Japan, and its Relationship to Literature." On August 25, 2008, dressed in cap and gown, he received the certificate from Chung-Ang University President PARK Myung-soo, in a ceremony held at the school's Art Center.
Dr. Sen became a guest professor at the university in 1991, and in March of 2006, he enrolled in the post-graduate course of the Department of Japanese Language and Literature, to become a student as well. Each time he went to present a lecture as guest professor, he attended an intensive seminar. While keeping a very busy schedule both within Japan and abroad, he was able to find time to put together his 170,000-character-long thesis. He says that much of his writing was done in the early hours of the morning.
This is his second non-honorary doctorate. He achieved his first, a doctoral degree in philosophy, from Nankai University in Tianjin, China, in 1991. (Through his career, he has been the recipient of fifteen honorary doctoral degrees from various universities in Japan and abroad.) He says that one of his goals in undertaking to write this time's thesis was to appeal to the general public about the importance of maintaining a spirit of challenge no matter what age you may be.
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