Hisada school (久田流)
The Hisada family are a "chake" (a family known as traditional masters of the tea ceremony). There are the Takakura Hisada family, who were tea masters of the Omotesenke school under the Sansenke (three houses of Sen, [Omotesenke, Urasenke and Mushakojisenke]), and the Ryogae-machi Hisada family, called the Hisada school. The ango (pen name ending with the character 'an') of the Hisada family is Hanshoan, which is the name of the tea house called Nijo nakaita-no-seki (two tatami mats with a board in between) of the third generation Sozen.
Through to the Genroku era
It is said that the founder of the Hisada family was Sanefusa HISADA, a samurai retainer of Yoshizane SASAKI, who was a later Muromachi period descendant of the Misono clan of the MINAMOTO no Mitsusue line of Seiwa-Genji (Minamoto clan). The story passed down in the oral tradition holds that Sanefusa was the husband of SEN no Rikyu's younger sister Soen, and that even though there is no supporting documentation, this account is recognized by the Omotesenke school and the Takakura Hisada family. According to the story, at the time of the marriage, Rikyu gave Soen a chashaku (bamboo tea spoon for making Japanese tea) he had carved for the occasion, which he called 'large furisode,' along with a scroll called 'Fujin shitsuke temae' (tea ceremony procedures for women). This Fujin temae is thought to be the origins of the tea ceremony procedures taught by the Omotesenke school and Hisada family today. Sanefusa's child, Fusamasa, took the tonsure and became a monk, assuming the name Soei, and it is assumed that he was a tea master, the first in the Hisada family. The third generation head of the family, Sozen HISADA, who excelled at handicrafts, was not only famous for his Sozen wicker baskets, but also left many fine works such as tea bowls, spoons and the like.
Hisada family lineage
Takakura Hisada family
The fourth generation head of the family, Fukyusai (不及斎) had two sons, and for unknown reasons the second son became the successor to the Hanshoan. Subsequent successions within the Hisada family were influenced by the successions within the Omotesenke, and there are many instances of troubled successions. When the seventh generation head of the Hisada family, Kokosai Soya, passed away, he was survived by his second son, Tatsuzo; however, because his son had been born only the previous year, Muneyoshi SEKI (関宗厳) was adopted as his guardian, and became the eighth generation Munetoshi. After that, since the ninth generation head of the Omotesenke, Ryoryosai (an older brother of Kokosai Soya) passed away, Tatsuzo succeeded him as the tenth generation head of the Omotesenke school. Upon the death of Munetoshi while he was staying in Osaka due to a delinquent behavior, the Hisada family line was temporarily broken. Then, the family adopted the grandson of Unnunsai Yoho (云々斎楊甫), the eighth generation head of the Sumiyama family, who were in-laws of the seventh generation Joshinsai of the Omotesenke school, who became the ninth head of the Hisada family, known as Soyo. However, Soyo died prematurely, so the Hisada family adopted a child of Kyukosai, the tenth generation head of the Omotesenke, who became the tenth generation head of the Hisada family, known as Soetsu. Because Soetsu also died an early death at 40 years of age in 1895, the 11th generation head, Mutekisai Soya, was taken in by Omotesenke school, the family line was therefore again temporarily disrupted. Mutekisai Soya received the support of the 12th generation head of the Omotesenke, Seisai, and restored the line in 1917, which persists to this day.
History of the Takakura Hisada family
The Ryogae-machi Hisada family
Sogen, the eldest son of Fukyusai, the fourth grandmaster of the Hisada family, relocated to Ryogae-machi, and established the Ryogae-machi Hisada family. He named his school the Hisada school, and actively spread his teachings throughout the Tokai region; however, in 1864 the residence in Ryogae-machi was consumed in a fire caused by a war, and has not been rebuilt to this day. In the Tokai region, there was also the Bishu Hisada school, and after Mitsuyoshi SHIMOMURA in Otaka (Midori Ward in present day Nagoya City) studied the teachings of the Hisada school under Eiho, a student of the sixth generation grandmaster Sosan, he established his own independent school.
History of the Ryogae-machi Hisada family