Kitamura Yuan (北村祐庵)
Yuan KITAMURA (1648-1719) was a wealthy farmer, a master of tea ceremony and an epicure in the Edo period. His name was Dosui. Different kanji such as 祐庵, 幽安, 幽庵 and 柚庵 were used for his name Yuan.
Brief Personal History
Yuan was born in a wealthy farmer family in Katata, Omi Province. He learned tea ceremony from Yoken FUJIMURA, one of the Four Great Retainers of SEN no Sotan, and founded a school. He was an epicure and there are several episodes about him including that he could tell the production areas of the food he ate. He is said to have invented the Yuan Yaki (Japanese grill, using meat or fish which are marinated, impaled on long skewers and broiled over hot coals). He was also good at landscape gardening and the Garden of the Isome clan still exists in Otsu City.