6th Chado Culture Award

The presentation ceremony for the 6th Chado Culture Award was held on February 26, 2008, at the 111th General Meeting of the Chado Urasenke Tankokai Inc. NPO, which took place at the Righa Royal Hotel Kyoto. Tankokai Vice Chairman SEN Masako, who was among the seven-member selection committee that met in November 2007 to decide the nominees, announced the winner: Professor KURASAWA Yukihiro of Takarazuka University of Art and Design. There were two winners of the Chado Culture Advancement Award: MIYAZAKI Kanchi XIV, the fourteenth generation in the Miyazaki Kanchi line of kettlesmiths of Kanazawa, and Ritsumeikan Asia-Pacific University (President, Monte CASSIM). Also, it was announced that Hawai'i Past Governor George ARIYOSHI had been selected to receive a Special Award for Meritorious Achievements. The reasons that they won the awards were explained as follows:        Kurasawa, a Doctor of Letters, has researched the comprehensive culture of chado from the standpoint of philosophy, the science of arts, and Japanology, and established a new perspective on the idea of art in medieval Japan. He has also positioned chado within the world's history of spiritual culture, contributing to our understanding of the significance of chado's existence.        Miyazaki, whose family kettlesmith line was purveyor to the chief of the Kaga Clan since the Kanbun era (1661-73), has single-heartedly devoted himself to creating kettles using the traditional techniques passed down to him, and by this he has supported the culture of chado.        Ritsumeikan Asia-Pacific University has offered a chado class in English and, through chado, students from Japan and abroad have deepened their understanding of Japanese culture. The university has striven to educate truly international-minded people who will lead society in the next generation.        Governor Ariyoshi has striven to promote Urasenke chado on the Hawaiian Islands and, consequently, has also been influential in the dissemination of Urasenke chado all over the U.S.A.