SEN Genshitsu Visits Busan
| SEN Genshitsu was in Busan, South Korea, the two days of April 22-23, 2015, for the opening of a chashitsu (tea room) at the Busan University of Foreign Studies, and to present a program at Dongseo University in commemoration of the 50th anniversary this year of normalized relations between Japan and South Korea. The Busan University of Foreign Studies (BUFS) is known for its formidable Division of Japanese Communication, which attracts many students. To provide these students with a good cultural understanding of Japan, chado classes are going to be offered, and for this purpose, a chashitsu was constructed by the university. It is an eight-tatami room built within a large classroom. The opening ceremony for the chashitsu took place the morning of April 23, with SEN Genshitsu, who has been influential in the realization of these developments at the university, taking part. Preceding the ceremony, he met with BUFS President CHUNG Haelin, Chairman PAIK Sungae, and others of the university, and they had a lively discussion about the need to increase the cultural exchange between Japan and South Korea. |
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| Scene at the meeting between SEN Genshitsu and BUFS officials preceding the chashitsu opening ceremony. | SEN Genshitsu receives articles of appreciation from BUFS President CHUNG Haelin |
| There were many attendees at the chashitsu opening ceremony, including BUFS President Chung and Chairman Paik, Consul-General MATSUI Sadao of the Japanese Consulate-General in Busan, and President PARK Myunghum of the Urasenke Tankokai Busan Association. Following an address by BUFS President Chung, Dr. Sen presented him with the donation document concerning the name plaque and the naming of the chashitsu by Urasenke Iemoto Zabosai SEN Soshitsu. In reciprocation, President Chung presented Dr. Sen with articles which expressed the university’s appreciation. Iemoto Zabosai had chosen to give the chashitsu the name "Tokushin'an." This name, written in Zabosai's hand, was revealed when SEN Genshitsu and the other representatives unveiled the plaque. After the plaque unveiling, the chashitsu shoji were put aside to reveal Tokushin'an's interior, and Dr. Sen gave a short speech. Then the chashitsu was put to its first use. With the assistance of members of the Tankokai Busan Association, BUFS Chairman Paik performed the tea-making to serve tea to Dr. Sen and the others. Those seated outside the chashitsu also were served sweets and usucha by the Urasenke Tankokai members. |
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| The name plaque has been unveiled. | SEN Genshitsu gives a speech. |
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| At the first use of the chashitsu, BUFS Chairman PAIK Sungae does the tea-making. | BUFS students who attended the ceremony send SEN Genshitsu off. |
| The program at Dongseo University took place that same day, April 23, in the afternoon. Although this fell during the university's exam period, approximately two hundred students attended, joined by other attendees from the general public and from Urasenke’s two Tankokai associations in South Korea (the Tankokai Seoul Association and the Tankokai Busan Association), for a total of nearly five hundred attendees. The first part consisted in an offertory tea ceremony for peace, wherein SEN Genshitsu solemnly prepared a bowl of tea and placed it on an offering table which was set in front of a hanging scroll that read Heiwa kinen, meaning “prayer for peace.” The flag of South Korea and that of Japan stood to the sides. A number of important people took their seats on the stage to share in drinking a bowl of koicha prepared by SEN Genshitsu, in a gesture of friendship and unity. The participants in this included Dongseo University President CHANG Jekuk and others of the university, Consul-general MATSUI Sadao, President KUBOTA Mitsunori of the Busan Japanese Association, BUFS President CHUNG Haelin, Tankokai Busan Association President PARK Myunghum, as well as Tankokai Seoul Association President CHAE Heebyung. |
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| Dongseo President CHANG Jekuk presents an opening address. |
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| Seated at a special tea-making table, SEN Genshitsu prepares the tea offering. | The tea offering is made as a "prayer for peace," as is written on the scroll. |
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| Scene during the tea-sharing portion of the ceremony. |
| Consul-General MATSUI Sadao presented an address, and then began the second part of the program, which consisted in a lecture by SEN Genshitsu entitled “A Bowl of Tea, Aspiring for Peace.” At the end of the lecture, Dr. Sen’s closing message, aimed especially at the students in the audience, was, “Warm-heartedness is what the world needs now. Please put your education at this university to use and extend your hand to people in difficulty, people who are suffering.” The lecture was followed by a demonstration of how a simple tea-gathering is conducted. Urasenke Konnichian Deputy Tea Master KURAKAZU Sokaku provided the explanations, while the Vice-President of the Tankokai Busan Association, CHUNG Kwisoon, provided the Korean translation. |
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| Consul-General MATSUI Sadao gives address. | SEN Genshitsu delivers lecture. |
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| Scene of the demonstration. The guest roles are played by members of the Tankokai Busan Association. |
| Outside the auditorium, members of the Tankokai Busan Association made tea for those who stopped by for this. |
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